I can’t think of a title, and I’m not all that sure what to write about this time. I guess this would be a good opportunity to just talk about what’s been on my mind lately. Well, it WOULD be if I could remember what’s been on my mind lately. Oh well. It isn’t that big of a deal, I suppose.
Oh! I know something fun! Let’s talk about time travel! More specifically, I suppose, why I think that it might actually bear some semblance of possibility. To do that though, I ought to talk in depth about time travel. Perhaps some rhetorical questions to get the audience thinking?
What is this? A Buzzfeed article?
Anyway. If you had a time machine, there’s something you would change. That’s a given. Everyone regrets some part of their past. Some more than others, and some less. Now, when changing the past, there exists a risk known as the butterfly effect. Though this is still a factor to consider when living your life normally without the fluctuation of time in an unnatural form.
So, the butterfly effect, what is it?
I’m sure you’re all familiar with dominoes, or JENGA. Every action, every event that occurs, causes another. If the dominoes were to be slightly bigger as they got further away from you, and you knocked the closest one over, the dominoes knocked down would get progressively larger.
However, what if that one domino was connected to a million other lines of dominoes that followed the same rules? That’s the butterfly effect at it’s fullest potential, which is otherwise referred to as “causality”. It’s why the theory of parallel timelines exists. One action separates our timeline from the rest. It is an infinite process that would, in theory, create an infinite number of timelines.
Some things that are impossible to us, might be possible to a different “us” simply because of a decision that was made differently in the past for them. This brings us to our first major issue with time travel.
Is it safe to even insert an extra person into a period of time? The very presence of something that wasn’t meant to be there originally could majorly offset the course of history. It is unrealistic to believe that time travel would be of zero consequence if nobody was aware of the time traveler. They are still present in that place, so every movement they make alters something.
Another issue with time travel. It would likely result in the extinction of the human race. Aside from the previously mentioned issue, there is a high likelihood that someone with malevolent intentions would find their way into the possession of the machine.
So, then, if time travel is so dangerous, is there a form of it that may be safe?
Yes.
Isn’t that surprising? It’s simple, though. While you would be unable to return to the past, you can continue to exist in the present. Each instant that passes, the current present makes way for the future. Consider simply living as a form of “present-time manipulation”, as all the possibilities of time travel are still available to you. You are still capable of causing major changes with even the smallest movements. You blinking could bring about the heat death of the universe, or the birth of a baby. Every action, no matter how insignificant, results in something.
We cannot predict the future. Not truly. We cannot understand exactly how each and every thing that happens in any amount of time will alter our future. However, if we strive for “good” we are more likely to reach it. Peace is a possibility locked behind a breath of air, a conversation, perhaps even just a step.
So, then, I ask you this. With this power over time that you hold- with this time travel technology that you grasp with your very being- what will you do?
Godspeed, wanderer.
