Exploring the Illusions of Time Travel: Are We Misled?
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Chapter 1: The Fascination with Time Travel
Many individuals have pondered the concept of time travel, often inspired by films and intriguing theories. Some even speculate that UFOs might be visitors from a distant future. Surprisingly, researchers are publishing credible, peer-reviewed papers exploring the very possibility of time travel, with experiments involving subatomic particles seemingly attempting to reverse their temporal path.
However, there's an intriguing aspect to consider: our understanding of time is quite flawed, making the notion of time travel even more perplexing.
Our cognition often distorts our perception of time, leading us to erroneous conclusions.
Section 1.1: The Nature of Time
To begin with, we lack a solid definition of time itself. Despite millennia of contemplation, the question of whether time exists objectively remains unresolved. When we contemplate our homes and their locations, we mistakenly believe they remain static over time. For instance, we assume that if we could journey back six months and twelve hours, our homes would occupy the same position.
Yet, this assumption is misleading. The Earth is continuously rotating, meaning our homes were actually positioned on the opposite side of its axis just 12 hours ago. If you're near the equator, that distance is about 12,742 kilometers (or 7,926 miles).
Moreover, the Earth orbits the Sun, so a year ago, it was situated on the opposite side, approximately 300 million kilometers (about 186 million miles) away—far enough that light takes about sixteen minutes to travel that distance.
Nothing occupies a fixed position throughout time. Einstein elegantly demonstrated the interconnection of time and space in what he termed the fabric of space-time. Both time and space are dynamic; they stretch, compress, and transform, defying the notion of permanence.
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In this TEDx talk, Katharine Blackwell delves into the fascinating concept of mental time travel, exploring how our minds navigate through past memories and future possibilities.
Section 1.2: The Illusion of Stability
Our perception tricks us into believing that our homes are fixed points in space. We don't directly experience the Earth's rotation; instead, we observe the changing day and night cycle. Likewise, Earth's orbit around the Sun manifests as seasonal changes, leading us to ignore the fact that our homes are in constant motion through space.
In reality, the speed at which you and your home are moving is astonishing. At the equator, the Earth's rotational speed is roughly 1,600 kilometers (or 1,000 miles) per hour. The planet orbits the Sun at an average of 107,000 kilometers (67,000 miles) per hour, while the Sun, along with our solar system, spirals around the Milky Way's center at approximately 828,000 kilometers (514,000 miles) per hour.
Even more astonishing, our galaxy moves at about 400,000 kilometers (250,000 miles) per hour within its local group, all while hurtling towards the Great Attractor—an enormous gravitational entity influencing the cosmos as space itself continues to expand.
Chapter 2: The Challenge of Temporal Navigation
As such, both you and your home are perpetually in motion at extraordinary speeds along intricate paths. Just a second ago, you and your home were approximately 1,100 kilometers away from your present location. Due to the lack of precise measurements regarding all motion components, accurately pinpointing your previous location is nearly impossible.
Even a slight error of 0.001% in distance or direction could place you either deep underground or outside Earth's atmosphere.
The crux of the issue for any theoretical time traveler isn't merely the act of reversing time, but rather the insurmountable question: where exactly do you wish to go in a universe characterized by uncertain motion and no fixed reference points?
But the complexity doesn't end there. Although we don't feel the dizzying speeds imparted by celestial motions, we are still subject to their effects. Consider a scenario in which you're riding in a car; when the driver suddenly brakes, you experience inertia, propelling you forward in the direction the vehicle was moving.
This illustrates the law of momentum conservation. Each moment, we inherit the speed and direction from all the celestial movements we are part of. Twelve hours ago, the Earth's rotation momentum was in the opposite direction, and six months ago, its orbital momentum pointed the other way as well.
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To visualize the challenges faced by scientists attempting to send subatomic particles back in time: they aren’t envisioning time travel as we typically imagine it. Instead, they are trying to reverse time within a minuscule system, akin to playing a video in reverse.
If this concept were applicable to a human time traveler, it would resemble a person aging backward until they revert to infancy, with all experiences and knowledge also playing in reverse.
While this might sound intriguing if one yearns for a fresh start, it diverges significantly from the typical depictions of time travel in popular media, where travelers observe time rewinding around them from the comfort of a machine.
Realistically, such a scenario would necessitate reversing the entire universe, an implausible feat. One might argue that we would need an entirely different universe to generate the power for such a time machine.
Ultimately, much of this may not be entirely new to you. The challenge lies in our reluctance to confront these realities when we consider time travel—our minds often mislead us through omission.