How is traveling backward in time possible?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the concept of traveling backward in time, exploring the theoretical implications and challenges associated with this idea. Participants examine the nature of time, the physical laws governing it, and the philosophical ramifications of time travel, with references to established theories in physics.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions the feasibility of time travel, arguing that once matter has changed states, it cannot revert to a previous state, suggesting that the universe's prior configurations are non-existent.
  • Another participant asserts that, as far as current understanding goes, time travel is not possible.
  • Some participants discuss the notion that time is a continuum and critique the idea of jumping backward in time, labeling it as inconsistent with known physics.
  • A participant references the "block time" concept, noting that some physicists, including Einstein, support this model, which posits that material objects are 4-dimensional and do not move through time in the traditional sense.
  • One participant introduces a perspective on mass and momentum, stating that as an object approaches the speed of light, its mass increases, and they present rules regarding time's behavior at light speed and beyond.
  • Another participant challenges the idea that time could move in the opposite direction if one exceeds the speed of light, describing it as a mathematical fiction without real-world basis.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the possibility of time travel, with some supporting theoretical models like block time while others reject these concepts as inconsistent with established physics. The discussion remains unresolved, with multiple competing perspectives presented.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference various theoretical frameworks and concepts, such as block time and the relationship between mass and time, but these ideas are not universally accepted and remain subjects of debate.

Bararontok
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How is it possible to go back in time when all the matter in the universe cannot be reverted to its original states once the matter has experienced changes in its states? Once all matter has experienced changes in state, the previous states of all matter are already considered non-existent, so how is it possible to go back to a state of the universe that no longer exists?
 
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As far as we know it is not possible.
 
Bararontok said:
How is it possible to go back in time when all the matter in the universe cannot be reverted to its original states once the matter has experienced changes in its states? Once all matter has experienced changes in state, the previous states of all matter are already considered non-existent, so how is it possible to go back to a state of the universe that no longer exists?

The conceit of most "going back in time" concepts is that time is a continuum that still exists and that one can JUMP backwards into somehow, as opposed to a backwards regression of events. This totally defies all known physics and is utter rubbish.
 
phinds said:
The conceit of most "going back in time" concepts is that time is a continuum that still exists and that one can JUMP backwards into somehow, as opposed to a backwards regression of events. This totally defies all known physics and is utter rubbish.

Hi phinds, I assume it's the "block time" concept we were discussing in another thread that you are here identifying as rubish. That other thread is the one that reviews Paul Davies's book "About Time" that has quite a bit to say about block time (he sometimes calls it timescape). One of his statements says that most physicists (including Einstein) embrace the block time concept.

Of course, in this model, material physical objects are 4-dimensional, embedded in a 4-dimensional universe. And material bodies therefore do not move at all--being frozen into place as 4-dimensional objects strung out along their world lines (extending into the 4th dimension). So, it's left up to consciousness to do the moving. One picture has consciousness moving along the world line at the speed of light--which accounts for the same speed of light for all observers.
 
In a nutshell, your mass possesses a correlation with your momentum, to the point you become ridiculously massive once you approach the speed of light. As you most likely know, an object's mass is directly porportional to the effect of time on it. Thus, the following rules are valid according to the laws of physics and general relativity:

1. Time stops utterly at light speed.
2. Time begins to move in the opposite direction once you exceed the speed of light.
 
pulsartoaster said:
2. Time begins to move in the opposite direction once you exceed the speed of light.

Yes, but that's a mathematical fiction that as far as is known has no basis in reality.
 

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