What are the implications of time travel in popular culture?

[xild]

I was a moderator at the MKaku website and I can assure you that we were not uptight there. We often discussed such ideas as time travel. We had a theoretical physics section as well as others that dealt with such things. Heck, we even had a Science Fiction section, just for fun.

MKaku is a big fan of science fiction and enjoys discussing ideas now matter how rediculous they might seem. Dr. Kaku was on "Unscreweed" for crying out loud.

No, we were not an uptight group of people.

Then was was she banned?

 

[xild]

i tried registering on that site but my email has already been banned so that i cannot. interesting.

i can't even begin to speculate on why that is; i feel it must be an error.

i'm trying to contact john for myself for i have my own questions. one of them is this: why would someone pretend to be a time traveler from the future, theoretically speaking; what would they have to gain?

on the site, the physicist (if I'm not mistaken) reported that john wishes as few contacts as possible (for his own reasons). but he apparenly will spend time with a physicist. why, i ask? why the need for validation from relatively primative scientists? how on Earth could sufficiently advanced science be explained to those of a limited viewpoint? how would we explain superstring theory to the anceint egyptians? they wouldn't believe us and call us frauds. it sounds to me as if this john character is in his own self-reinforcing delusional world if he isn't a bona fide time traveler. he can always excuse himself by suggesting that current science just can't understand his advanced science. in fact, anyone with sufficient background in science fiction knows that if you just go through a portal created by chronaton particles, you can travel to any point in time instantaneously and always argue that it's just that the chronoton hasn't been discovered yet because it isn't sought for. what a problem...

may your journey be graceful,
phoenix

Phoenix, why are they banning you from so many sites on time travel?

If you want I will send you the text of the link you can't see, or I will simply post it in here. Let me know.

 

[xild]

I just finished reading the whole thing- I haven't read the debunking websites yet, but I'm assuming he hasn't been debunked yet as this is still a topic of discussion.

If it is bunk, a lot of time and effort went into this, and this guy is no dummy- he would have had to do quite a bit of physics research to pull this off.

One thing that stuck out to me, was that he mentioned the civil war resulting from loss of civil rights- people were being invaded and having their houses searched by the government. This correlates with the increased security resulting from 9/11. It is being scaled back, however it would be very easy to imagine it cascading out of control, were the US to suffer another terrorist attack. Sacrifice of personal liberties to ensure public security- he made reference to this belief in regards to the civil war. However I find it incredulous that he didn't even make a faint reference to the 9/11 incident. He seemed to favor March 21st as a significant date- but no year, so that could be 2004, 2008, or even 2015. Could he pull it off if he had sufficient time, means, and motivation? No doubt he could do the phyics reseach- the pictures would have required him to actually build a replica. I remain a skeptic as always, but here's my proposition.

If he's wrong-*shrug* another wacko hits the dust. But if he's actually a time traveller-god help us all. And he was right- no one will take him seriously- at least not until 2004 if events escalate. With a bleak future like that, I'm sure we'd all rather think he's a babbling idiot.

EDIT: There's a very quick current way to verfiy everything he's saying. Because according to him, in 2001 or 2002 CERN accidently created a microsingularity. His explanation is that by bombarding a microsingularity smaller than the size of an electron, WITH electrons you broaden the event horizon, and thus the gravitational field. He forthermore says that by overlapping the fields from 2 microsingularities you can travel through time. I believe his says this is discovered through a super-collider at CERN, but that the supercollider isn't completed until 2007-conflicting story, but I may have the details mixed up.

Anyone familiar with a discovery of a microsingularity at CERN?

As an aside, I emailed this pamela girl inviting her to comment in this post about the validity(or her view of) his authenticity. We'll see if she stops in

the original website was promoted last night on Coast to Coast AM.

I am fascinated with this person. I would love to meet him and travel with him even. His theories sound credible to me.

He was apparently right about CERN, that has been validated as has...well, check the website listed for the things he alluded to which have come true.

any of us can see that if there is a question about several states in this upcoming election that there very well could be the start of a civil war in this country. Then again, John may have been projecting. Based upon his story, and simple gut instincts. I happen to anxiously await the election.

He seems sincere, no?

 

[xild]

Yes that truly would be a tragedy, but who says those writers don't have a sick sense of humor?.

As far as why they would go back. Well don't you think if you had a chance to go back to the time of christ and witness it firsthand, it's a lot more interesting than just reading the bible? If indeed time travel does exist, they are no doubt keeping a low profile. One thing we can learn from John Titor was his exploitation of the common perception. Even if you DID claim to be a time traveller, and were genuine. And short of taking people for a ride, who's going to believe you? No without making some accurate near-future predictions that come true. Now if he'd even HINTED at 9-11, he'd have made a believer out of me. But he didn't drop so much as a hint before he left- Stating all these rules of non-intervention etc, etc. In psychological circles this is known as a self-reinforcing delusion. Indeed he made absolutely no predictions prior to leaving, except those far enough in the future that he wouldn't be held accountable when they didn't come true. John titor isn't a real name- as he himself pointed out- TIme Travel OR. if he was truly a historic observer, he could have interacted without even revealing himself and accomplished the same goal. If he were adhering to those self imposed "TT rules" he supposedly followed, he wouldn't have mentioned it. It's simply narcissism. He needed to feed his ego, and he suceeeded. This is some wacko. I'm pretty well satisfied of it.

I'm not agreeing with Titor or disagreeing, but let me play devil's advocate for a moment...

When he says he was in our time because he was a history buff, and not a historian, because education in his world would not allow one to become an expert. He had an interest in it.

Why would he bother to start posting on the Internet, for ego purposes? How about this. He has a double of himself in this worldline, who is now supposedly a toddler. Wouldn't it be interesting for that child, as he was growing up, to see, and address, and allow us to follow his progress, as he the toddler, was growing up. Surely John the man left word with his beloved family as to where they could find and track his story on the net.

Let's see in time if the "Titor" in this worldline comes into play at sometime when he is able to write to us.

Why wouldn't he have mentioned time travel rules? I don't see that as being consequential at all. He mentioned it. So what?

The guy didn't seem to care if we believe him or not. If he was feeding his ego and that was his intent, we know these type of people cannot simply disappear and stay out of the story after only a few months participation. In fact, I personally don't have experience with an internet persona such as his. He refrained from arguments, only suggesting we remember the red sea parting...cryptic.

And, if he had hinted of Sept 11, that may have caused some people to warn others from going to work that day. Among his rules were not to discuss these types of things.

Okay, enough for now.

 

[notal33t]

Gimme the MONEY!

I'm not agreeing with Titor or disagreeing, but let me play devil's advocate for a moment...

When he says he was in our time because he was a history buff, and not a historian, because education in his world would not allow one to become an expert. He had an interest in it.

Why would he bother to start posting on the Internet, for ego purposes? How about this. He has a double of himself in this worldline, who is now supposedly a toddler. Wouldn't it be interesting for that child, as he was growing up, to see, and address, and allow us to follow his progress, as he the toddler, was growing up. Surely John the man left word with his beloved family as to where they could find and track his story on the net.

Let's see in time if the "Titor" in this worldline comes into play at sometime when he is able to write to us.

Why wouldn't he have mentioned time travel rules? I don't see that as being consequential at all. He mentioned it. So what?

The guy didn't seem to care if we believe him or not. If he was feeding his ego and that was his intent, we know these type of people cannot simply disappear and stay out of the story after only a few months participation. In fact, I personally don't have experience with an internet persona such as his. He refrained from arguments, only suggesting we remember the red sea parting...cryptic.

And, if he had hinted of Sept 11, that may have caused some people to warn others from going to work that day. Among his rules were not to discuss these types of things.

Okay, enough for now.

---------------------
An honest to BOG Time traveler! WOW!
I would LOVE to be in his shoes for ONE trip...
I'd pick a day when a super lotto was historically known not to have been won. Nothing trivial mind you, just one of those $200,000,000 ones, and buy a ticket for it with the historically known winning numbers. It comes to mind, as to why the heck Titor, didn't do just that!
Oh well the temporal prime directive must have gotten in the way... OOOPS there goes the alternate timeline theory... After all if a temporal paradox is impossible under "alternate timeline cosmology". WHY NOT?
Easy street how sweet it is!

 

[ExecNight]

Ok i am new to this John Titor story..

With a glimpse at the situation i realized that this story totally reminded me the movie K-Pax..


The character in the movie (Kevin Spacey) and John's characteristics match very well..Their answering style to questions are the same..

By the way K-Pax is based on the 1995 Gene Brewer novel of the same name..and the movie is released 10/26/2001..


You can think i am insane but if you ask me this was just for the movie..Or might very well be Kevin Spacey or someone writing his conversations work just to be seen more real and we know actors sometimes do such things to be seen very very real with their characters..

Now John Titor appeared in Nov 2000 disappeared in March 2001..Can someone find out when the movie started being shot because i couldn't in my too little free time..If it matches then i think its too interesting to be just a coinsidence...

 

[ExecNight]

My claims are getting stronger..Tho i am not sure it was the director or Mr.Spacey anymore but look at this information...

Although the film is set in New York, only exteriors were shot there. "We shot some in New York and a lot of it here (in Los Angeles)," Gordon said. "Basically, it's an L.A.-based shoot. It was the nicest film (during production). I think all of us had an absolutely great time. We had no problems. I hate to say this, but we really didn't. We had a wonderful shoot. Everybody got along just unbelievably well. We started shooting on Nov. 13, 2000 and we finished on Mar. 3, 2001. I think we shot a total of about three weeks in New York."

The paragraph taken from http://www.drivingmrspacey.com/K-PAXArticles.htm go to the bottom of the page and its the fourth paragraph when you go up...


November 13 2000 they began shooting K-Pax...March 3 2001 they finished shooting..

Again what a great coinsidence? hehe


EDIT: The site claims some of the info are fact and the rest is just fiction for fun..Hmm the dates are prolly true but well i am going to search for a better source just to be sure..



EDIT#2: Found something else but just the day they started shooting...

For K-PAX - which is released in the US by Universal - filming began on location in and around New York almost exactly a year ago (on November 13, 2000), with a cast that also includes Alfre Woodard and Mary McCormack.

Source is http://www.preview-online.com/nov_dec2001/feature_articles/kpax/page2.html

Ok i am pretty sure now so i am done for the day..

 

[Sharayah]

Can I Ask A Physics Question?

 

[physicsuser]

Time machine could never exist because someone would come back and destroy it before it could be developed?

 

[Altune]

The theory of the sigularities could not work in a portable unit. Just one of the BH would weigh in the thousands of pounds and would take imense ammounts of power to contain it if possible not to mention two of these bad boys in one box.
Theory sounds cool although I would have to agree a well thought out hoax.

 

[flexten]

"Time machine could never exist because someone would come back and destroy it before it could be developed?"

No, someone would come back and invent it before it was invented.

Best

 

[interval]

There is one glaring problem in the John Titor story that I am surprised
no one has caught; among the series of photos John posted is one
captioned (I'm paraphrasing) "This is one of my instructor holding a
laser over the singularity power source", the red beam is clearly
bending. It would require a tremendous gravity well, like that of a
microsingularity, to bend a beam of laser light, indeed. Anyone else
notice something strange about that picture?

 

[brandon.irwin]

One of the interesting things I found was that Titor predicted that the bovine virus has a 40 year incubation period. I was reading an issua of popular science a few months back, and they found that to be true.

I think we'll know if he's right by the end of this election (civil war is supposed to break out).

 

[Zantra]

why won't this thread DIE

 

[Evo]

None of his "predictions" have come true so far. It's an obvious hoax.

 

[bross7]

You could argue that some of the statements involving the wavering of the West towards Isreal and some of the stuff about the economics of the US playing a role are coming true, but it is going to take the first shots to be fired for any of the stuff to be true and the convienient method of giving dates doesn't prove anything.

In the year 2009 you will have a birthday, but only 1, unless you are bad at math.

 

[Zantra]

he hasn't made any SPECIFIC predections.. that's the key to getting people to believe you.. make vague predictions that give a general timeframe and could be interpreted umpteen different ways, and you're suddenly Nostradamus-- or John Edwards (crossing over fame)

 

[elkoweb]

they were talking about Mr Titor on coast to coast on friday night. 10/10/04

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yes, I can always tell by the hit rate here. It threw me the first time.

 

[Zantra]

We should charge for access just to this thread, and Greg would become independantly wealthy


DIE THREAD! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! *STABS THREAD REPEATEDLY*

ok the demarol kicked in.. I'm better now

 

[Zantra]

you know, I was thinking about all the hits we got, and it occurred to me just now that I may have inadvertently posted a link to PF on that time travel website under the Titor thread as an invite to debunk. So anyone who looked up John Titor would see that link. I don't know why I never connected the two.

No need to thank me Greg-allthough a special title would be nice

 

[bross7]

he hasn't made any SPECIFIC predections.. that's the key to getting people to believe you.. make vague predictions that give a general timeframe and could be interpreted umpteen different ways, and you're suddenly Nostradamus-- or John Edwards (crossing over fame)

It's all coming together John Edwards is actually John Titor running for Vice President where his twin brother John Edwards, the "ghost host", will relay vital information to the American public.

It is a sham in the same way that when 9/11 happened people starting manipulating Nostradamus' quatraines to become blatantly obvious that they were referring to the attacks.

 

[poolwin2001]

I saw the photos of the 'Instruction manual'.In my opinion this is the most stupid thing.Even now,paper is becoming obsolete and he expects us to believe that even after the invention of TM,we will still be using paper.Where will we get wood to make them?Especially after a nuclear war.

 

[disunity]

There is one glaring problem in the John Titor story that I am surprised
no one has caught; among the series of photos John posted is one
captioned (I'm paraphrasing) "This is one of my instructor holding a
laser over the singularity power source", the red beam is clearly
bending. It would require a tremendous gravity well, like that of a
microsingularity, to bend a beam of laser light, indeed. Anyone else
notice something strange about that picture?

would you be referring to the fact that the light beam is horribly bent by "gravity", while the man with the cigar is standing a couple feet away, seemingly unaffected?





seriously, i had as much fun as anyone with this, but the book being written by his mother is just too damn much.

remember, you're never quite as smart as you think you are, but everyone else is always as dumb as you suspect.

 

[QuantumTheory]

The theory of the sigularities could not work in a portable unit. Just one of the BH would weigh in the thousands of pounds and would take imense ammounts of power to contain it if possible not to mention two of these bad boys in one box.
Theory sounds cool although I would have to agree a well thought out hoax.

Actually, currently scientist are working on creating quantum computers which work by creating minature black holes.

Look at the latest Scientific American magazine of Oct. 2004.

They compare it with scientific breakthoughs as follows:

1) Our current laptop
2) "The Ultimate Laptop". Which works by maniupulating particles
3) The quantum computer which creates black holes.

It sounds far fetched; I know. But you should read the magazine.

I'd quote something from it but I'm only 16 and do not have a job yet. My parents would not buy it for me while I was at safeway

 

[scarecrow]

2004 past -- and the only civil unrest I can think of is the presidential election.
2005 is here -- and Israel and Palestine are "almost" making progress towards peace.

Maybe that 2% difference between Titor's worldline and ours makes a HUGE difference in our worldline...it takes only one outcome to change everything else.

 

[selfAdjoint]

2004 past -- and the only civil unrest I can think of is the presidential election.

Iraq? Not the war but after. About as much civil unrest as you could imagine. The world is not just the US, you know.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I thought we were going to make it past the Coast to Coast Titor show without a single post to this thread. Still, at 100 hits, as opposed to 10,000 per show, I would say that Titor mania is finally dying down.

 

[check]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo! Someone had to go and bring this thread back from the dead. Urg...
http://www.neowin.net/forum/fun/die_thread_die.jpg

 

[Evo]

Iraq? Not the war but after. About as much civil unrest as you could imagine. The world is not just the US, you know.

The civil unrest Titor predicted was specifically domestic, he said there would be a "Waco like incident every month". Referring to the Waco, TX incident. Boy did he get that WRONG!

 

[scarecrow]

I did hear about John Titor from the other night's airing of Coast to Coast...and I was led to this forum by the guest Physicist they had on last night.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

An interesting show - one can get John Titor and Michio Kaku all in one format.

Note that Dr. Kaku was recently here for an online chat.
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=57221

Welcome to PF scarecrow.

 

[reaper]

what a load of bollocks.It goes to show how silly people really are.I read the whole link and nobody thought to ask a time traveller,which horse/team/ wins the big event tommorrow! the answer would have been sweet bollocks.Didnt anyone think in order for him to use the internet or post on the forums he had an ISP address.Which here in the UK you pay be credit card or at least bank details.He was here visiting for 4 month,and he thought i know i will open a bank account with my passport dated 2038 yeah really! I hope i offered some common sense here to anyone giving him any credibility

 

[Kakarot]

i thought this was debunked already. on another website i read that they had tracked him down by isp or something and that he admitted to making the whole thing up and that he took the idea from a book or something.

 

[scarecrow]

I believe his IP address only proved he was indeed in central Florida, where he claimed he was from.

 

[polyb]

i thought this was debunked already. on another website i read that they had tracked him down by isp or something and that he admitted to making the whole thing up and that he took the idea from a book or something.

After reading through this Titor stuff earlier this summer it seemed to me that there were some uncanny parallels to the book Alas Babylon.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

what a load of bollocks.It goes to show how silly people really are.I read the whole link and nobody thought to ask a time traveller,which horse/team/ wins the big event tommorrow! the answer would have been sweet bollocks.Didnt anyone think in order for him to use the internet or post on the forums he had an ISP address.Which here in the UK you pay be credit card or at least bank details.He was here visiting for 4 month,and he thought i know i will open a bank account with my passport dated 2038 yeah really! I hope i offered some common sense here to anyone giving him any credibility.

Well not that I'm giving him any credibility but your argument here isn't very good. It seems you didn't read very closely. He did have people asking him who won what sports game and declined to answer "on moral grounds" and he said that he was staying with his parents in this time.

 

[oldunion]

i just looked over the site. there's 3 new cases of mad cow, when a month ago they said cases were dwindling in europe. Also the information on china is interesting.

 

[Memphis213]

what a load of bollocks.It goes to show how silly people really are.I read the whole link and nobody thought to ask a time traveller,which horse/team/ wins the big event tommorrow! the answer would have been sweet bollocks.Didnt anyone think in order for him to use the internet or post on the forums he had an ISP address.Which here in the UK you pay be credit card or at least bank details.He was here visiting for 4 month,and he thought i know i will open a bank account with my passport dated 2038 yeah really! I hope i offered some common sense here to anyone giving him any credibility

Honestly, I think the only person who needs any common sense is yourself here sir...

There are a number of other options of connecting to the internet, public libraries, parents accounts, colleges, etc. etc. the list goes on.

Also, if you would have really "read the whole link" you would have known why he didn't give up information that could be used to gamble, etc.

I am not giving him credibility, but you are surely not taking anything away with your comments but your own personal dignity...Coming on this forum and calling everyone a bollock and speaking of how silly everyone is, while at the same time acting in the way you are describing doesn't help form a convincing arguement.

You are free to disagree and want to debunk this, just as anyone else does. But at least think longer before you start ranting and raving.

 

[Zantra]

/bump

Well here we are about midway through 05 and nary a "waco type incident" in sight. Although things like Bush and the Patriot act were by no means positive signs I'm going to go ahead and give this the big thumbs down and call it an entertaining story

 

[Ivan Seeking]

/bump

Well here we are about midway through 05 and nary a "waco type incident" in sight. Although things like Bush and the Patriot act were by no means positive signs I'm going to go ahead and give this the big thumbs down and call it an entertaining story

And with that, Zantra, you get the last word on John Titor.