Traveling at Faster than the Speed of Light
I think this will be my last post about this topic, but I wanted to say just a few more things about it. After having read the link in Mr. Chiang's response to my question several times, I can't honestly say that I got much out of it. But I have formulated my own thoughts on the issue.
If you were able to travel at faster than the speed of light, I would imagine that you might would be able to see yourself coming once you arrived. This would be very similar to hearing a golfer hit a golf ball seconds after he or she actually hit it. While you might see yourself coming, you wouldn't actually see yourself coming, because you would obviously already be there. Light would just be catching up to you and carrying your image with it. I don't know how likely I think this is, but I guess I can't rule it out.
If you think of the world we live in as being more than just three-dimensional, time travel becomes more feasible, yet perhaps more out reach. You could think of time as being a forth dimension. Just as in three dimensions, you can walk along a two dimensional plane with out changing your third coordinate, you could possibly change your time coordinate without changing your other coordinates. Similarly, you could maintain your time coordinate and move to another location in our three dimensional world. This would represent teleportation perhaps. But this really represents traveling at a speed of infinity.
Next comes my skepticism with not being able to change future events if indeed time travel was possible. If you are truly able to interact with the past, I think you would have to be able to change it too. Otherwise, what kind of interacting are you really able to do?
Next, if time travel were possible, whether by traveling faster than the speed of light, or any other means, why hasn't any one come back from the future to tell us about it? I would think that would make it onto CNN, and if not Nick could at least get it into the Crimson White. I know that if I had invented a time machine, I would use it. Why wouldn't they? Perhaps it will be invented so far from now that the idea to come back to this point in time to tell us about it would be as unlikely as me deciding to go tell homo erectus. I don't know though, because if I had a time machine, I would use it often. I might just go see homo erectus and make a documentary.
If you were able to travel at faster than the speed of light, I would imagine that you might would be able to see yourself coming once you arrived. This would be very similar to hearing a golfer hit a golf ball seconds after he or she actually hit it. While you might see yourself coming, you wouldn't actually see yourself coming, because you would obviously already be there. Light would just be catching up to you and carrying your image with it. I don't know how likely I think this is, but I guess I can't rule it out.
If you think of the world we live in as being more than just three-dimensional, time travel becomes more feasible, yet perhaps more out reach. You could think of time as being a forth dimension. Just as in three dimensions, you can walk along a two dimensional plane with out changing your third coordinate, you could possibly change your time coordinate without changing your other coordinates. Similarly, you could maintain your time coordinate and move to another location in our three dimensional world. This would represent teleportation perhaps. But this really represents traveling at a speed of infinity.
Next comes my skepticism with not being able to change future events if indeed time travel was possible. If you are truly able to interact with the past, I think you would have to be able to change it too. Otherwise, what kind of interacting are you really able to do?
Next, if time travel were possible, whether by traveling faster than the speed of light, or any other means, why hasn't any one come back from the future to tell us about it? I would think that would make it onto CNN, and if not Nick could at least get it into the Crimson White. I know that if I had invented a time machine, I would use it. Why wouldn't they? Perhaps it will be invented so far from now that the idea to come back to this point in time to tell us about it would be as unlikely as me deciding to go tell homo erectus. I don't know though, because if I had a time machine, I would use it often. I might just go see homo erectus and make a documentary.
posted by Anonymous at 12:17 PM
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