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hunter

(38,310 posts)
26. The past is as mutable as the future and we exist only in the now.
Fri Mar 22, 2013, 01:05 PM
Mar 2013

In other words, "now" shapes both the future and the past, and neither is any place you can visit.

You are free to change either the future or the past, but so is every other little bit of matter-energy in the universe, and this all collapses into a consensus of "now" which is the only thing that actually exists. There are probable pasts, and probable futures, but there isn't any "there" in the past or future to go to.

Wherever you are going, here you are, and wherever you've been, here you are. From our forward leaning cultural perspective which models the past as something immutable, an anchor of sorts in an incomprehensibly fluid universe, we say "Wherever you go, there you are."

This is a consequence of all things being energy. Energy doesn't experience time. You are energy, everything is energy, and it's all moving at the speed of light, which is the only "speed" of anything, no slower, no faster. What we see as energy, and what we see as mass, is all about perspective and relativity. The three dimensional universe + time we perceive is not the canvas upon which this universe is written.

Our perspective is a consequence of our genes and our evolution. There's no reason for minds like ours to comprehend anything not directly related to the propagation of our genes. Most of us have minds flexible enough to get beyond the simple model of a flat earth and a dome of the heavens; we can understand that the earth is spherical, and our planet is orbiting the sun, which orbits the central mass of the galaxy, etc., etc., etc. with all sorts of complications. But it's incredibly difficult for us to grasp non-intuitive things like how all the math of quantum physics, Special Relativity, Maxwell's Equations, etc., etc., fits together. There are various models of the universe, some better than others, but still no "Universal Theory of Everything," which may be beyond minds like ours for the simple reason that the universe is very big and we are very small.

Time constraints? nt Old and In the Way Mar 2013 #1
Please explain Yavin4 Mar 2013 #2
Sorry, cannot get into detail Old and In the Way Mar 2013 #7
how do you know you haven't? why should they reveal themselves to you? Tuesday Afternoon Mar 2013 #3
Good points. nt Zorra Mar 2013 #27
Why would they want to visit any point in time of recorded human history? LonePirate Mar 2013 #4
Disaster tourists csziggy Mar 2013 #17
First rule of Time Travel... sadbear Mar 2013 #5
I'm pretty sure I'm traveling in time (a little faster than I'd like even). n/t PoliticAverse Mar 2013 #6
Yep, forward... Iggo Mar 2013 #16
Pleased to meet you, Yavin 4! Aristus Mar 2013 #8
Every single living thing, every object on this planet, the planet itself, tho solar system it Ikonoklast Mar 2013 #9
The real time travelers, like me, are not allowed to talk about it. kwassa Mar 2013 #10
But Aren't You Talking about it here? Yavin4 Mar 2013 #11
Perhaps the gods of Olympus were actually time travelers Art_from_Ark Mar 2013 #12
If you throw a Time Traveller party, will anyone show up? magellan Mar 2013 #13
Well, maybe *you* haven't. KamaAina Mar 2013 #14
If it's possible... sibelian Mar 2013 #15
There was a time traveller that predicted Obama's election, and re-election and made a fortune HipChick Mar 2013 #18
I stopped going back into the past to buy items to sell now at a huge profit . olddots Mar 2013 #19
all our recent time tourists are currently in padded asylum cells struggle4progress Mar 2013 #20
Is man still alive? Has woman survived? HereSince1628 Mar 2013 #24
They're invisible? nt MADem Mar 2013 #21
If somebody time traveled Proud Liberal Dem Mar 2013 #22
Those who talk the most about time travel... VOX Mar 2013 #23
We have. The astronauts on the ISS are moving ahead in time. talkingmime Mar 2013 #25
The past is as mutable as the future and we exist only in the now. hunter Mar 2013 #26
Ever hear of John Titor? EvilAL Mar 2013 #28
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