Is Time Travel Possible?

[MegaDestructor]

This may sound ridiculous but I just wanted to know if time travel as seen in movies are possible. Here are some examples:

 

Backward Time Travel (Back to the future)

 

Time Slips (Star Trek)

 

Time Loops (Groundhog Day)

 

Are any of these possible? Thanks.

 

 

 

 

[Farsight]

No, none of them are possible I'm afraid. Time travel is science fiction. I wrote an article about this a few years back:

 

https://bogpaper.wordpress.com/2013/09/29/science-sundays-with-john-duffield-time-travel/

 

Basically you can't travel backwards in time because we don't even travel forward in time. It's just a figure of speech. Stephen Hawking said you can “travel” to the future on a superfast train, but you're travelling through space. When the train moves fast the local rate of motion in your body brain and clocks reduces such that the local motion plus the macroscopic motion does not exceed the speed of light. Then in that fast-moving train you're living your life in slow-motion mode, whilst all other motion continues as before. But again this motion isn't through time, it's through space.

 

Something that takes this to extremis is the stasis box, which is another science fiction device. When I put you inside the stasis box, nothing moves at all. Things like air and blood and electrochemical signals in your brain, and electromagnetic waves. Hence you don't breathe or see or think. So when I open the door a week later, to you it’s like I opened the door just as soon as I closed it. You might then think you “travelled” to the future. But you didn't really travel to the future. You weren't moving at all. Instead everything else was. 

Edited September 4, 2017 by Farsight

[arkain101]

This may sound ridiculous but I just wanted to know if time travel as seen in movies are possible. Here are some examples:

 

Backward Time Travel (Back to the future)

 

Time Slips (Star Trek)

 

Time Loops (Groundhog Day)

 

Are any of these possible? Thanks.

First it would be helpful if you explained what you mean by time. Use a few examples and a short explanation on what exactly you are referring to.

 

The reason for this is because we will end up talking about different versions of the same thing, like different angles of view of a car. Each angle has a different view and therefore a different explanation of the car. We need to clarify which point of view your talking about so that any discussion is clear and useful.

 

One example is the future and the past.

 

Think of this:

 

When you look at the stars in the sky you are seeing the "past" right? But that view of the past is also shaping your "future" as to which happens next. So in this case, logically speaking, the past is effecting the future. You see how the language creates confusion? You need to be very clear about what type of time you are talking about otherwise nothing will be gained or learned.