[text; failed anon]

[thesleeperwakes.livejournal.com]

Time-travel is an interesting business. The concept of being able to visit a time of your choosing has fascinated many (on my world, at least) for quite some time. We could possibly verify historical events! We could see the future of mankind! We could meet famous figures, both past and future! Why, then, have we not yet perfected the technology?

The reason for the lack of Time Machines and Time Travelers is very likely to be this: time-travel is risky. One wrong action, one misstep, and the future could be altered forever. I believe they call this the "butterfly effect." For example, imagine that you've just gone back in time to the Cretaceous era to view dinosaurs in their natural habitat. At some point during your visit, you crush a small butterfly under your foot. 'Oh well!' you think. 'It's just one insect!' However, a sort of "ripple" has just been formed, much as ripples in a pond when one throws a stone into the water. There's the one ring at first, and more ripples follow, spreading outwards and growing as time passes. By killing that one butterfly, the creature that would have fed on that insect has that much less sustenance, and could very well die. Anything that might have fed on that animal might die as well, and so on, and so forth. It creates a sort of "chain" leading up to present-day. By then, the consequences of killing that one insect might possibly have "snowballed" into something much more drastic.

What is time-travel, anyway? I believe that H.G. Wells explains it best in The Time Machine: 'Clearly,' the Time Traveller proceeded, 'any real body must have extension in four directions: it must have Length, Breadth, Thickness, and--Duration. But through a natural infirmity of the flesh, which I will explain to you in a moment, we incline to overlook this fact. There are really four dimensions, three which we call the three planes of Space, and a fourth, Time. There is, however, a tendency to draw an unreal distinction between the former three dimensions and the latter, because it happens that our consciousness moves intermittently in one direction along the latter from the beginning to the end of our lives.'

So, dear DramaDramaDuck, what are your thoughts on time-travel? Is time-travel worth the effort and risk? If it was possible, what would you choose to do if you had the opportunity to travel to any specific time you wished, be it a point in your own life, history, the future, etc.?

If any of you have time-traveled, please tell me how you've accomplished it.

[[ooc: Striketext is ooc-ly striked out. She intended to delete that sentence, but failed to do so before posting.]]

Comments

[thesleeperwakes.livejournal.com]

[There is, she just doesn't see it.]

[hok-ton.livejournal.com]

In my universe, escaping the curse of time-dilation was always difficult. One becomes used to losing a hundred years here and there after a while.

Why do you wish to travel back?

You are one of the few on here, I believe, who would consider my universe a step up from that of Earth. We have our horrors just as you. And they are likely much worse. It is simply that there are those whose dedication to good has outlasted the influence of evil.

[thesleeperwakes.livejournal.com]

[hok-ton.livejournal.com]

If the people of import remain alive and well when you return, nothing is lost. Little really changes in a hundred years.

The past is difficult to change. Events within it either remain the same despite meddling, or the changes spark new universes. Would it not be easier to search for another world where you were able to fix the problem?

Perhaps that is the difference. When one has seen how much worse things can be, one appreciates the little good their is all the more.

[thesleeperwakes.livejournal.com]

[tl:dr in 3...2...1]

[hok-ton.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you misunderstand the nature of the universe I hail from. A hundred years means nothing because nothing of import changes. So a new war machine is built. Perhaps a comet piloted by the brain of a dead child, or a monster that eats continents whole. Yes, war is now more efficient - but we do not play games of war for efficiency, we play war games to keep humanity innovating and creative. In the century that gave us child comets, some ten new planets might have been colonized, and a hundred more terraformed. Population pressures and lack of resources are a thing of the distant past. Death is a blessing of the short-lived, godhood within reach of the powerful. Tell me, why should I care for a lost century? At most, the minimal changes will have made the games interesting again.

You are aware that there are many 'worldhoppers' on this community? If you could find a better universe, there are those among us who would be able to get you there. Though your continued existence would still be your responsibility.

Humanity has a tendency to idolize the past. There is always a golden age, one of perfection and perfect order - usually distant in the future or far in the past. It is difficult for us to be satisfied with what we have - and that dissatisfaction is one of our greatest strengths and weaknesses all at once.