Pretend to be a time traveler day!!!

[screwnutty]

Now why am I not surprised?

I don't know why you find that "surprising!"

 

[2243]

Does anyone else believe there's literally no future? Just past and present...and since the present is constantly progressing, the alleged "future" is just a continuation of the progression of the present.

--(Past 1)--(Present 1 = "Now")
--(Past 1)--(Present 1, Past 2)--(Present 2 = "Now")
--(Past 1)--(Present 1, Past 2)--(Present 2, Past 3)--(Present 3 = "Now")
The past is empirically defined by what has happened.
The present is empirically defined by what is happening.
The future cannot be empirically defined by what will happen because all events in time are too volatile to be predicted.
I suppose one can theoretically define the future, but theories are supposed to be founded upon some factual data. One can also hypothetically define the future, but hypotheses about time are essentially guesses that cannot be tested since we've not yet harnessed time.


Hm...?

I think in quantum mechanics there are two main views:

1. The future is unpredictable and determined by random events which occur in the present.

2. There are many possible futures, determined by random events that occur in the present, which already exist and each will take place in separate dimensions.

So, I guess you find the first one agreeable. Hmm.. I'm thinking I like the second one.

 

[Kulindahr]

Are we pretending to be serious about this now??

 

[The_Reaper]

Could be fun....

Although, it might look odd falling on my knees infront of the University's Huskie Dog statue and screaming no....

 

[cityboy-stl]

I want to travel to Sunday morning so I can look up Saturday night's Powerball numbers.

 

[Kulindahr]

Go to Washington D.C.

Find a time when the President is going to appear.

When you see Bush, talk to your lapel, and say, "Mr. Secretary, the calibration was off -- it's already happened." Sigh loudly, and say, "We're screwed...."

 

[dousedfirepants]

I think in quantum mechanics there are two main views:

1. The future is unpredictable and determined by random events which occur in the present.

2. There are many possible futures, determined by random events that occur in the present, which already exist and each will take place in separate dimensions.

So, I guess you find the first one agreeable. Hmm.. I'm thinking I like the second one.

I think I do. But the second one is so...fatalistic. A predetermined future on the basis of specific and current events? And it's so...unfathomable to me. (It's nice to see people with functioning brains on this forum!)

Are we pretending to be serious about this now??

Who's pretending? Ha...nah. I just tend to make everything boring.

 

[Kulindahr]

I think I do. But the second one is so...fatalistic. A predetermined future on the basis of specific and current events? And it's so...unfathomable to me. (It's nice to see people with functioning brains on this forum!)


Who's pretending? Ha...nah. I just tend to make everything boring.

I saw a TV show (one of those educational channels) with some physicists on it who had dabbled in the realm of temporal physics.
My favorite model they talked about said that at any given moment there is an infinity of possible futures, but that with every decision, random happening, choice, accident -- what they called "events" -- a lesser infinity of possible futures is closed off (yes, one infinity can be greater than another). So the "actual" timeline is singular, but the future, if you could travel in that direction, has as many possibilities as there are particles in the universe plus minds capable of making decisions.
One guy said that he considered it possible to travel into the future, though not the past, but noted that it would be pretty much suicide: with an infinity of futures, the odds of you landing in the one that actually came to pass would be effectively zero.



Was that boring enough to be up to your standards?