The Possibilities of a 2-Year Time Warp Mailbox

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The discussion centers around the movie "The Lakehouse," which features a unique premise involving a mailbox that allows two characters to exchange letters across a two-year time gap. Participants explore various hypothetical uses for such a mailbox, with suggestions ranging from solving complex computational problems to investing in lottery tickets. There is a humorous acknowledgment of the potential legal issues that could arise from winning the lottery multiple times. The conversation also touches on the limitations of the two-year time frame, questioning why the characters don’t simply arrange a meeting, and highlighting the paradoxes inherent in time travel narratives. The discussion concludes with a mention of how the concept could be adapted into a Stephen King-style story.
Alkatran
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I went to see the Davinci Code yesterday and saw a preview for a movie called the Lakehouse (or something similar). The 'catch' for the movie is apparently a mailbox that let's the two people, who live in the house 2 years apart, send letters to each other (the woman puts a letter in, and it shows up 2 years ago in the mailbox for the man to get, and vice versa).

Now, in the movie they apparently just use this thing for love letters. What would you do with a 2-year into the past mailbox?

My first inclination would be to solve some computationally difficult problems (prize money for breaking RSA codes, anyone?), then I'd try to create paradoxes. :biggrin:
 
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Are you mad? Just invest in some lottery tickets and spend the rest of your days on easy street surrounded by wonderful architecture, fast cars and slow women!
 
brewnog said:
Are you mad? Just invest in some lottery tickets and spend the rest of your days on easy street surrounded by wonderful architecture, fast cars and slow women!

Very nice.

But see, I was aiming at something that wouldn't end up with me being investigated for winning the lottery 5 times in a row. :smile:

I mean, the odds of winning the lottery fives times in a row are probably enough to get you convicted of fraud (beyond a reasonable doubt)!
 
Alkatran said:
Very nice.

But see, I was aiming at something that wouldn't end up with me being investigated for winning the lottery 5 times in a row. :smile:

I mean, the odds of winning the lottery fives times in a row are probably enough to get you convicted of fraud (beyond a reasonable doubt)!


You only have to do it once though really, on a good week, once you've got a few dishonest millions then it's easy to invest honestly to live like a lord!
 
I would put a wireless router in the mailbox so that we could get a "real time" connection going, and I could surf the net as it would exist 2 years from now. Then go on etrade and take over the world.
 
why doesn't the person in the future simply say "hey meet me here in 2 years", where here is wherever the chick is standing...
 
Wishbone said:
why doesn't the person in the future simply say "hey meet me here in 2 years", where here is wherever the chick is standing...
:rolleyes: Because it's a movie. :smile: It would be a more interesting plot if it were maybe 20 years rather than just 2 years, because you're right, 2 years makes it pretty easy to just arrange a meeting location, unless we've just spoiled the ending. :-p
 
Wishbone said:
why doesn't the person in the future simply say "hey meet me here in 2 years", where here is wherever the chick is standing...
Because the guy is intelligent enough to understand that the chick will no longer be a chick two years later :smile:.(unless ofcourse she is the eternal Moonbear :biggrin: )
But seriously, the paradox is that, he should meet the lady the moment he sends that letter( if the lady is punctual that is ), and of course he can ask the lady to tell him all that he wrote afterwards, without actually writing and know what his future holds.And the worst part is that he can't change his future, because it has already happened.
In short, time travel paradoxes suck !
 
Sounds like "Frequency" with a boy/girl plot, rather than a father/son plot. I wonder how the inevitable paradoxes will be remedied?

I'm curious to see it, but not enough to see it.
 
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It could be a great Stephen King book. "The Mailbox"
 

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