Re: whoops... no... that is not what I meant.


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Re: whoops... no... that is not what I meant.

Posted By: Forrest of B.org Date: 12/18/06 1:58 p.m.
In Response To: whoops... no... that is not what I meant. (MrHen)

Sorry to respond to such a long thought-out post with just a short little question, but it's nagging me in the back of my head and I can't really think past it until I get an answer:
: In a simple analogy, I will use the highway example again.
On a highway, all the cars are "moving" along the highway in such a way that, if you were to drive backward down the highway, you would not see the same cars back there by that last offramp as you saw the last time you drove past it, because those cars have moved on further down the highway. This makes me think that we may have an even more fundamental difference, not just in the nature of what constitutes time travel, but as to how time itself actually works.
So, with that foreword, the question I have for you is: right now, in our universe, assuming that we've just got a plain-jane timeline with no time travel involved, does there exist (in a tenseless sense of the word) a past time in which your great-great-great-grandfather is alive? That is, is there another time, some other position along a fourth axis, in which some object exists that does not exist now (in precisely the same sense of all these words that we would say there is another place in the world where something exists that does not exist where you are)? In other words, are you conceiving of time as just another dimension exactly like space, or is there something weird or different about it (other than the way in which we perceive it)?
I ask this because if you do, then the highway analogy doesn't seem to really work at all. If the length of the highway is time, and time is just another dimension like space, then we in 3D space looking down on the Highway of Time (analogous to your "Time God") wouldn't see cars moving along it; we'd see long objects stretching down the length of the highway, unmoving and unchanging from our perspective. If the length of the highway is time and the width of the highway is space (lets ignore height for now), then cars on the highway would be a bunch of flat ribbons, whose paths trace out their movement in space across time. If there was time-travel involved in this "timeline" (someone leaving the highway, driving back down and then getting back on the highway at an earlier point), we as the time-gods would see that one of these ribbons wraps around down an offramp, along some side road and then back onto the highway at an earlier onramp. If it does this and stays on the same level of the highway, and doesn't have any problems with there being no way for it to get back on because other ribbons are in the way, then you have a picture of unilinear time with loops; the time traveller was already accounted for in the timeline. But if the ribbon must overlay other ribbons in order to get back onto the highway, then you've just introduced another dimension into the picture (the vertical in our model), and that's what I'm calling hyper-time.
Note again that we as 3D observers, "time gods", aren't watching any motion in this scene at all; we're just tracing the paths of these ribbons on a highway. The whole scene is still to us. From the perspective of some individual ribbon, which only perceives 1D chunks of itself and other ribbons and the highway, in sequence according to the path of the full 2D ribbon, then there is change and motion. And if some ribbon were able to exit the highway and drive backward and then get back on and find that things have changed because of his doing so, then he would now be on what we 3D time-gods perceive as a different "plane" of the Highway of Time (picture a multilevel highway, I guess). And this ribbon, only being able to move in 1D space (the offramp-sideroad-onramp would be like a temporally dilated wormhole), would be unable to access any other "planes" by any means whatsoever.
This also means that it doesn't make sense to "move backward" along the axis of time, any more than a tree branch can extend out and then back in on itself; itself is in the way. I'm finding it really hard to say this in words that can't be misinterpreted because we tend to use the language of change both to describe features of static things as well as changing features of things, so note that I don't mean "extend" here in any sort of active sense, of the tree branch changing size or shape; I'm just trying to describe it's shape. We can say that it extends out and then bends up and out again and then down and so on, but it can't just turn around 180 degree and extend back into itself; it has to extend up or down or something first, and then back into itself. So, if you understood that, I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can't just reverse time for yourself and move backwards in time within the timeline; you would be overlapping with your past self if you did that. You have to somehow leave the timeline to do it; wormholes (which would be like the tree branch looping around and back into itself), magic teleportation (the cop out a lot of time travel stories seem to use), or something like that.

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Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

The Garden of Forking Paths Document 11/29/06 8:50 p.m.

Re: The Garden of Forking Paths Forrest of B.org 11/29/06 10:11 p.m.

*sniff* Duality *sniff *NM* treellama 11/30/06 2:51 a.m.

That's not fair. RyokoTK 11/30/06 5:26 a.m.

Re: That's not fair. McNutcase 11/30/06 5:40 a.m.

Re: That's not fair. RyokoTK 11/30/06 8:51 a.m.

Re: That's not fair. McNutcase 11/30/06 9:25 a.m.

Re: That's not fair. RyokoTK 11/30/06 9:59 a.m.

Re: That's not fair. D-M.A. 11/30/06 10:05 a.m.

Re: That's not fair. RyokoTK 11/30/06 10:22 a.m.

Ahaa, I see what you mean now, point taken. *NM* D-M.A. 11/30/06 10:33 a.m.

define "well" MrHen 11/30/06 10:24 a.m.

Re: define "well" RyokoTK 11/30/06 11:31 a.m.

Re: define "well" Aaron Sikes 11/30/06 12:19 p.m.

Re: define "well" Forrest of B.org 11/30/06 1:26 p.m.

Re: define "well" Aaron Sikes 12/1/06 6:01 a.m.

Mmm... House of Leaves MrHen 11/30/06 8:00 a.m.

Re: The Garden of Forking Paths Vid Boi 11/30/06 8:13 a.m.

Re: The Garden of Forking Paths sdwoodchuck 11/30/06 12:39 p.m.

So, what was your conclusion? *NM* Frungi 11/30/06 3:57 p.m.

Re: So, what was your conclusion? sdwoodchuck 11/30/06 6:18 p.m.

in your theory, the dreams... MrHen 12/1/06 4:44 a.m.

Re: in your theory, the dreams... thermoplyae 12/1/06 6:42 a.m.

Re: So, what was your conclusion? Frungi 12/4/06 6:31 p.m.

Re: So, what was your conclusion? Forrest of B.org 12/4/06 9:07 p.m.

Time Travel and the Psychology of Gods Forrest of B.org 12/4/06 9:25 p.m.

Re: Time Travel and the Psychology of Gods Frungi 12/5/06 8:46 a.m.

Re: Time Travel and the Psychology of Gods Forrest of B.org 12/5/06 4:29 p.m.

heck, I would buy 'em MrHen 12/5/06 6:39 p.m.

Philosophy anyone? Icarus 12/6/06 8:29 a.m.

Re: Philosophy anyone? Forrest of B.org 12/6/06 10:46 a.m.

Re: The Garden of Forking Paths *LINK* Hamish Sinclair 12/2/06 5:06 a.m.

Re: The Garden of Forking Paths Document 12/2/06 6:17 p.m.

Re: The Garden of Forking Paths Document 12/4/06 7:03 p.m.

Official Bungie Canon? Shoeless 12/7/06 7:00 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Bob-B-Q 12/7/06 10:14 a.m.

Define "all" MrHen 12/7/06 10:20 a.m.

Re: Define "all" Document 12/7/06 4:20 p.m.

Re: Define "all" Document 12/7/06 4:21 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Chris Biberstein 12/11/06 10:28 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Shoeless 12/11/06 12:00 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Forrest of B.org 12/11/06 12:03 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? MrHen 12/11/06 1:45 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? *LINK* Frungi 12/11/06 3:22 p.m.

uh, thanks... MrHen 12/11/06 6:01 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Forrest of B.org 12/11/06 9:44 p.m.

I like being confused... MrHen 12/12/06 5:13 a.m.

Re: I like being confused... Forrest of B.org 12/12/06 3:53 p.m.

Re: I like being confused... Frungi 12/12/06 5:51 p.m.

Re: I like being confused... Forrest of B.org 12/12/06 9:42 p.m.

timelines and their glory MrHen 12/13/06 5:14 a.m.

Re: timelines and their glory Forrest of B.org 12/13/06 8:05 a.m.

Mmm... trippy... MrHen 12/13/06 8:20 a.m.

Re: timelines and their glory Frungi 12/13/06 1:43 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Chris Biberstein 12/12/06 12:37 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Forrest of B.org 12/12/06 4:02 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Chris Biberstein 12/12/06 4:43 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Forrest of B.org 12/12/06 9:52 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Chris Biberstein 12/13/06 4:17 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Forrest of B.org 12/13/06 6:06 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Chris Biberstein 12/16/06 5:42 p.m.

what? why? MrHen 12/16/06 5:47 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? kyjel 12/16/06 6:40 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Shoeless 12/17/06 4:13 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Frungi 12/18/06 5:09 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Chris Biberstein 12/18/06 8:47 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Frungi 12/18/06 9:22 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Chris Biberstein 12/22/06 9:58 a.m.

questions and answers MrHen 12/22/06 12:44 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Shoeless 12/22/06 1:24 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Shoeless 12/18/06 10:21 p.m.

rabbit trail, sorry... MrHen 12/13/06 5:23 a.m.

Re: rabbit trail, sorry... Chris Biberstein 12/13/06 4:29 p.m.

and the problem was... where? MrHen 12/13/06 7:06 p.m.

Re: and the problem was... where? Forrest of B.org 12/13/06 9:13 p.m.

ah, my bad. I understand. :) *NM* MrHen 12/14/06 4:54 a.m.

Re: ah, my bad. I understand. :) Forrest of B.org 12/14/06 1:22 p.m.

I am the same way. ;) MrHen 12/15/06 5:18 a.m.

Re: I am the same way. ;) Forrest of B.org 12/15/06 7:27 a.m.

Branching MrHen 12/15/06 9:46 a.m.

Re: Branching Forrest of B.org 12/15/06 11:04 a.m.

Actually, I think I did understand. MrHen 12/15/06 4:32 p.m.

Re: Actually, I think I did understand. Forrest of B.org 12/17/06 11:55 a.m.

Oh, okay, then we do disagree. MrHen 12/17/06 6:50 p.m.

Re: Oh, okay, then we do disagree. Forrest of B.org 12/17/06 10:08 p.m.

so where do you get hyper-time? MrHen 12/18/06 5:13 a.m.

Re: so where do you get hyper-time? Forrest of B.org 12/18/06 8:20 a.m.

whoops... no... that is not what I meant. MrHen 12/18/06 9:49 a.m.

Re: whoops... no... that is not what I meant. Forrest of B.org 12/18/06 1:58 p.m.

right, yeah, that is the identity problem MrHen 12/18/06 4:41 p.m.

Re: right, yeah, that is the identity problem Forrest of B.org 12/18/06 9:55 p.m.

ohhh... MrHen 12/19/06 5:44 a.m.

Re: ohhh... Forrest of B.org 12/19/06 9:20 a.m.

back to the math ;) MrHen 12/19/06 11:07 a.m.

Re: back to the math ;) Forrest of B.org 12/19/06 1:36 p.m.

wait, so my model is too... real? ;) MrHen 12/22/06 1:57 p.m.

Sort of. Forrest of B.org 12/22/06 3:22 p.m.

and the light turns on... MrHen 1/7/07 4:41 p.m.

Re: and the light turns on... Forrest of B.org 1/8/07 8:12 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Shoeless 12/13/06 8:11 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Chris Biberstein 12/13/06 4:34 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Shoeless 12/14/06 8:01 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Frungi 12/15/06 8:02 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Forrest of B.org 12/15/06 8:51 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Frungi 12/15/06 9:22 a.m.

hehe, Infinity MrHen 12/15/06 9:51 a.m.

Re: hehe, Infinity Forrest of B.org 12/15/06 11:16 a.m.

Re: hehe, Infinity treellama 12/15/06 12:18 p.m.

Re: hehe, Infinity Forrest of B.org 12/15/06 1:15 p.m.

Re: hehe, Infinity treellama 12/15/06 2:09 p.m.

Re: hehe, Infinity Forrest of B.org 12/15/06 3:15 p.m.

Re: hehe, Infinity treellama 12/15/06 4:12 p.m.

Re: hehe, Infinity Frungi 12/15/06 6:34 p.m.

Re: hehe, Infinity treellama 12/16/06 3:38 a.m.

So... do I have this right? MrHen 12/16/06 6:35 a.m.

Re: So... do I have this right? treellama 12/16/06 11:25 a.m.

Re: hehe, Infinity treellama 12/15/06 2:21 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? treellama 12/15/06 9:55 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? McNutcase 12/15/06 11:12 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Forrest of B.org 12/15/06 1:20 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? McNutcase 12/15/06 9:32 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? MrHen 12/15/06 9:49 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? treellama 12/15/06 9:56 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? McNutcase 12/15/06 11:09 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Forrest of B.org 12/15/06 1:34 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Forrest of B.org 12/15/06 1:39 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? ukimalefu 12/15/06 6:29 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? McNutcase 12/15/06 10:23 p.m.

awesome, thanks! *NM* MrHen 12/16/06 6:49 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Chris Biberstein 12/16/06 5:51 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? kyjel 12/16/06 7:08 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Chris Biberstein 12/18/06 8:36 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Frungi 12/18/06 9:48 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Chris Biberstein 12/22/06 10:00 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Forrest of B.org 12/22/06 10:19 a.m.

what he said MrHen 12/22/06 12:38 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Shoeless 12/18/06 10:23 p.m.

*sigh* MrHen 12/17/06 5:08 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Frungi 12/11/06 3:35 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Chris Biberstein 12/12/06 12:23 p.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Shoeless 12/13/06 7:56 a.m.

Re: Official Bungie Canon? Forrest of B.org 12/13/06 8:32 a.m.

another example (albeit overused) MrHen 12/13/06 8:57 a.m.

Re: The Garden of Forking Paths *LINK* irons 2/23/18 1:11 a.m.

LOKE *NM* W'rkncacnter 2/23/18 4:06 p.m.

Re: LOKE *NM* *LINK* irons 2/23/18 4:14 p.m.

LOKE *NM* *NM* *NM* *NM* *NM* *LINK* W'rkncacnter 2/23/18 11:09 p.m.

Re: LOKE *NM* *LINK* irons 2/24/18 3:31 a.m.

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Pre-2004 Posts

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: Sorry to respond to such a long thought-out post with just a short little : question, but it's nagging me in the back of my head and I can't really : think past it until I get an answer: On a highway, all the cars are : "moving" along the highway in such a way that, if you were to : drive backward down the highway, you would not see the same cars back : there by that last offramp as you saw the last time you drove past it, : because those cars have moved on further down the highway. This makes me : think that we may have an even more fundamental difference, not just in : the nature of what constitutes time travel, but as to how time itself : actually works. : So, with that foreword, the question I have for you is: right now, in our : universe, assuming that we've just got a plain-jane timeline with no time : travel involved, does there exist (in a tenseless sense of the word) a : past time in which your great-great-great-grandfather is alive? That is, : is there another time, some other position along a fourth axis, in which : some object exists that does not exist now (in precisely the same sense of : all these words that we would say there is another place in the world : where something exists that does not exist where you are)? In other words, : are you conceiving of time as just another dimension exactly like space, : or is there something weird or different about it (other than the way in : which we perceive it)? : I ask this because if you do, then the highway analogy doesn't seem to really : work at all. If the length of the highway is time, and time is just : another dimension like space, then we in 3D space looking down on the : Highway of Time (analogous to your "Time God") wouldn't see cars : moving along it; we'd see long objects stretching down the length of the : highway, unmoving and unchanging from our perspective. If the length of : the highway is time and the width of the highway is space (lets ignore : height for now), then cars on the highway would be a bunch of flat : ribbons, whose paths trace out their movement in space across time. If : there was time-travel involved in this "timeline" (someone : leaving the highway, driving back down and then getting back on the : highway at an earlier point), we as the time-gods would see that one of : these ribbons wraps around down an offramp, along some side road and then : back onto the highway at an earlier onramp. If it does this and stays on : the same level of the highway, and doesn't have any problems with there : being no way for it to get back on because other ribbons are in the way, : then you have a picture of unilinear time with loops; the time traveller : was already accounted for in the timeline. But if the ribbon must overlay : other ribbons in order to get back onto the highway, then you've just : introduced another dimension into the picture (the vertical in our model), : and that's what I'm calling hyper-time. : Note again that we as 3D observers, "time gods", aren't watching : any motion in this scene at all; we're just tracing the paths of these : ribbons on a highway. The whole scene is still to us. From the perspective : of some individual ribbon, which only perceives 1D chunks of itself and : other ribbons and the highway, in sequence according to the path of the : full 2D ribbon, then there is change and motion. And if some ribbon were : able to exit the highway and drive backward and then get back on and find : that things have changed because of his doing so, then he would now be on : what we 3D time-gods perceive as a different "plane" of the : Highway of Time (picture a multilevel highway, I guess). And this ribbon, : only being able to move in 1D space (the offramp-sideroad-onramp would be : like a temporally dilated wormhole), would be unable to access any other : "planes" by any means whatsoever. : This also means that it doesn't make sense to "move backward" along : the axis of time, any more than a tree branch can extend out and then back : in on itself; itself is in the way. I'm finding it really hard to say this : in words that can't be misinterpreted because we tend to use the language : of change both to describe features of static things as well as changing : features of things, so note that I don't mean "extend" here in : any sort of active sense, of the tree branch changing size or shape; I'm : just trying to describe it's shape. We can say that it extends out and : then bends up and out again and then down and so on, but it can't just : turn around 180 degree and extend back into itself; it has to extend up or : down or something first, and then back into itself. So, if you understood : that, I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can't just reverse time : for yourself and move backwards in time within the timeline; you would be : overlapping with your past self if you did that. You have to somehow leave : the timeline to do it; wormholes (which would be like the tree branch : looping around and back into itself), magic teleportation (the cop out a : lot of time travel stories seem to use), or something like that.

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The Garden of Forking Paths	Document	11/29/06 8:50 p.m.
Re: The Garden of Forking Paths	Forrest of B.org	11/29/06 10:11 p.m.
sniff Duality sniff NM*	treellama	11/30/06 2:51 a.m.
That's not fair.	RyokoTK	11/30/06 5:26 a.m.
Re: That's not fair.	McNutcase	11/30/06 5:40 a.m.
Re: That's not fair.	RyokoTK	11/30/06 8:51 a.m.
Re: That's not fair.	McNutcase	11/30/06 9:25 a.m.
Re: That's not fair.	RyokoTK	11/30/06 9:59 a.m.
Re: That's not fair.	D-M.A.	11/30/06 10:05 a.m.
Re: That's not fair.	RyokoTK	11/30/06 10:22 a.m.
Ahaa, I see what you mean now, point taken. NM	D-M.A.	11/30/06 10:33 a.m.
define "well"	MrHen	11/30/06 10:24 a.m.
Re: define "well"	RyokoTK	11/30/06 11:31 a.m.
Re: define "well"	Aaron Sikes	11/30/06 12:19 p.m.
Re: define "well"	Forrest of B.org	11/30/06 1:26 p.m.
Re: define "well"	Aaron Sikes	12/1/06 6:01 a.m.
Mmm... House of Leaves	MrHen	11/30/06 8:00 a.m.
Re: The Garden of Forking Paths	Vid Boi	11/30/06 8:13 a.m.
Re: The Garden of Forking Paths	sdwoodchuck	11/30/06 12:39 p.m.
So, what was your conclusion? NM	Frungi	11/30/06 3:57 p.m.
Re: So, what was your conclusion?	sdwoodchuck	11/30/06 6:18 p.m.
in your theory, the dreams...	MrHen	12/1/06 4:44 a.m.
Re: in your theory, the dreams...	thermoplyae	12/1/06 6:42 a.m.
Re: So, what was your conclusion?	Frungi	12/4/06 6:31 p.m.
Re: So, what was your conclusion?	Forrest of B.org	12/4/06 9:07 p.m.
Time Travel and the Psychology of Gods	Forrest of B.org	12/4/06 9:25 p.m.
Re: Time Travel and the Psychology of Gods	Frungi	12/5/06 8:46 a.m.
Re: Time Travel and the Psychology of Gods	Forrest of B.org	12/5/06 4:29 p.m.
heck, I would buy 'em	MrHen	12/5/06 6:39 p.m.
Philosophy anyone?	Icarus	12/6/06 8:29 a.m.
Re: Philosophy anyone?	Forrest of B.org	12/6/06 10:46 a.m.
Re: The Garden of Forking Paths LINK	Hamish Sinclair	12/2/06 5:06 a.m.
Re: The Garden of Forking Paths	Document	12/2/06 6:17 p.m.
Re: The Garden of Forking Paths	Document	12/4/06 7:03 p.m.
Official Bungie Canon?	Shoeless	12/7/06 7:00 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Bob-B-Q	12/7/06 10:14 a.m.
Define "all"	MrHen	12/7/06 10:20 a.m.
Re: Define "all"	Document	12/7/06 4:20 p.m.
Re: Define "all"	Document	12/7/06 4:21 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Chris Biberstein	12/11/06 10:28 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Shoeless	12/11/06 12:00 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Forrest of B.org	12/11/06 12:03 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	MrHen	12/11/06 1:45 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon? LINK	Frungi	12/11/06 3:22 p.m.
uh, thanks...	MrHen	12/11/06 6:01 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Forrest of B.org	12/11/06 9:44 p.m.
I like being confused...	MrHen	12/12/06 5:13 a.m.
Re: I like being confused...	Forrest of B.org	12/12/06 3:53 p.m.
Re: I like being confused...	Frungi	12/12/06 5:51 p.m.
Re: I like being confused...	Forrest of B.org	12/12/06 9:42 p.m.
timelines and their glory	MrHen	12/13/06 5:14 a.m.
Re: timelines and their glory	Forrest of B.org	12/13/06 8:05 a.m.
Mmm... trippy...	MrHen	12/13/06 8:20 a.m.
Re: timelines and their glory	Frungi	12/13/06 1:43 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Chris Biberstein	12/12/06 12:37 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Forrest of B.org	12/12/06 4:02 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Chris Biberstein	12/12/06 4:43 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Forrest of B.org	12/12/06 9:52 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Chris Biberstein	12/13/06 4:17 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Forrest of B.org	12/13/06 6:06 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Chris Biberstein	12/16/06 5:42 p.m.
what? why?	MrHen	12/16/06 5:47 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	kyjel	12/16/06 6:40 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Shoeless	12/17/06 4:13 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Frungi	12/18/06 5:09 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Chris Biberstein	12/18/06 8:47 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Frungi	12/18/06 9:22 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Chris Biberstein	12/22/06 9:58 a.m.
questions and answers	MrHen	12/22/06 12:44 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Shoeless	12/22/06 1:24 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Shoeless	12/18/06 10:21 p.m.
rabbit trail, sorry...	MrHen	12/13/06 5:23 a.m.
Re: rabbit trail, sorry...	Chris Biberstein	12/13/06 4:29 p.m.
and the problem was... where?	MrHen	12/13/06 7:06 p.m.
Re: and the problem was... where?	Forrest of B.org	12/13/06 9:13 p.m.
ah, my bad. I understand. :) NM	MrHen	12/14/06 4:54 a.m.
Re: ah, my bad. I understand. :)	Forrest of B.org	12/14/06 1:22 p.m.
I am the same way. ;)	MrHen	12/15/06 5:18 a.m.
Re: I am the same way. ;)	Forrest of B.org	12/15/06 7:27 a.m.
Branching	MrHen	12/15/06 9:46 a.m.
Re: Branching	Forrest of B.org	12/15/06 11:04 a.m.
Actually, I think I did understand.	MrHen	12/15/06 4:32 p.m.
Re: Actually, I think I did understand.	Forrest of B.org	12/17/06 11:55 a.m.
Oh, okay, then we do disagree.	MrHen	12/17/06 6:50 p.m.
Re: Oh, okay, then we do disagree.	Forrest of B.org	12/17/06 10:08 p.m.
so where do you get hyper-time?	MrHen	12/18/06 5:13 a.m.
Re: so where do you get hyper-time?	Forrest of B.org	12/18/06 8:20 a.m.
whoops... no... that is not what I meant.	MrHen	12/18/06 9:49 a.m.
Re: whoops... no... that is not what I meant.	Forrest of B.org	12/18/06 1:58 p.m.
right, yeah, that is the identity problem	MrHen	12/18/06 4:41 p.m.
Re: right, yeah, that is the identity problem	Forrest of B.org	12/18/06 9:55 p.m.
ohhh...	MrHen	12/19/06 5:44 a.m.
Re: ohhh...	Forrest of B.org	12/19/06 9:20 a.m.
back to the math ;)	MrHen	12/19/06 11:07 a.m.
Re: back to the math ;)	Forrest of B.org	12/19/06 1:36 p.m.
wait, so my model is too... real? ;)	MrHen	12/22/06 1:57 p.m.
Sort of.	Forrest of B.org	12/22/06 3:22 p.m.
and the light turns on...	MrHen	1/7/07 4:41 p.m.
Re: and the light turns on...	Forrest of B.org	1/8/07 8:12 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Shoeless	12/13/06 8:11 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Chris Biberstein	12/13/06 4:34 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Shoeless	12/14/06 8:01 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Frungi	12/15/06 8:02 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Forrest of B.org	12/15/06 8:51 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Frungi	12/15/06 9:22 a.m.
hehe, Infinity	MrHen	12/15/06 9:51 a.m.
Re: hehe, Infinity	Forrest of B.org	12/15/06 11:16 a.m.
Re: hehe, Infinity	treellama	12/15/06 12:18 p.m.
Re: hehe, Infinity	Forrest of B.org	12/15/06 1:15 p.m.
Re: hehe, Infinity	treellama	12/15/06 2:09 p.m.
Re: hehe, Infinity	Forrest of B.org	12/15/06 3:15 p.m.
Re: hehe, Infinity	treellama	12/15/06 4:12 p.m.
Re: hehe, Infinity	Frungi	12/15/06 6:34 p.m.
Re: hehe, Infinity	treellama	12/16/06 3:38 a.m.
So... do I have this right?	MrHen	12/16/06 6:35 a.m.
Re: So... do I have this right?	treellama	12/16/06 11:25 a.m.
Re: hehe, Infinity	treellama	12/15/06 2:21 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	treellama	12/15/06 9:55 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	McNutcase	12/15/06 11:12 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Forrest of B.org	12/15/06 1:20 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	McNutcase	12/15/06 9:32 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	MrHen	12/15/06 9:49 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	treellama	12/15/06 9:56 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	McNutcase	12/15/06 11:09 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Forrest of B.org	12/15/06 1:34 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Forrest of B.org	12/15/06 1:39 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	ukimalefu	12/15/06 6:29 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	McNutcase	12/15/06 10:23 p.m.
awesome, thanks! NM	MrHen	12/16/06 6:49 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Chris Biberstein	12/16/06 5:51 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	kyjel	12/16/06 7:08 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Chris Biberstein	12/18/06 8:36 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Frungi	12/18/06 9:48 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Chris Biberstein	12/22/06 10:00 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Forrest of B.org	12/22/06 10:19 a.m.
what he said	MrHen	12/22/06 12:38 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Shoeless	12/18/06 10:23 p.m.
sigh	MrHen	12/17/06 5:08 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Frungi	12/11/06 3:35 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Chris Biberstein	12/12/06 12:23 p.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Shoeless	12/13/06 7:56 a.m.
Re: Official Bungie Canon?	Forrest of B.org	12/13/06 8:32 a.m.
another example (albeit overused)	MrHen	12/13/06 8:57 a.m.
Re: The Garden of Forking Paths LINK	irons	2/23/18 1:11 a.m.
LOKE NM	W'rkncacnter	2/23/18 4:06 p.m.
Re: LOKE NM LINK	irons	2/23/18 4:14 p.m.
LOKE NM NM NM NM NM LINK	W'rkncacnter	2/23/18 11:09 p.m.
Re: LOKE NM LINK	irons	2/24/18 3:31 a.m.



	Your Name:
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	Message: : Sorry to respond to such a long thought-out post with just a short little : question, but it's nagging me in the back of my head and I can't really : think past it until I get an answer: On a highway, all the cars are : "moving" along the highway in such a way that, if you were to : drive backward down the highway, you would not see the same cars back : there by that last offramp as you saw the last time you drove past it, : because those cars have moved on further down the highway. This makes me : think that we may have an even more fundamental difference, not just in : the nature of what constitutes time travel, but as to how time itself : actually works. : So, with that foreword, the question I have for you is: right now, in our : universe, assuming that we've just got a plain-jane timeline with no time : travel involved, does there exist (in a tenseless sense of the word) a : past time in which your great-great-great-grandfather is alive? That is, : is there another time, some other position along a fourth axis, in which : some object exists that does not exist now (in precisely the same sense of : all these words that we would say there is another place in the world : where something exists that does not exist where you are)? In other words, : are you conceiving of time as just another dimension exactly like space, : or is there something weird or different about it (other than the way in : which we perceive it)? : I ask this because if you do, then the highway analogy doesn't seem to really : work at all. If the length of the highway is time, and time is just : another dimension like space, then we in 3D space looking down on the : Highway of Time (analogous to your "Time God") wouldn't see cars : moving along it; we'd see long objects stretching down the length of the : highway, unmoving and unchanging from our perspective. If the length of : the highway is time and the width of the highway is space (lets ignore : height for now), then cars on the highway would be a bunch of flat : ribbons, whose paths trace out their movement in space across time. If : there was time-travel involved in this "timeline" (someone : leaving the highway, driving back down and then getting back on the : highway at an earlier point), we as the time-gods would see that one of : these ribbons wraps around down an offramp, along some side road and then : back onto the highway at an earlier onramp. If it does this and stays on : the same level of the highway, and doesn't have any problems with there : being no way for it to get back on because other ribbons are in the way, : then you have a picture of unilinear time with loops; the time traveller : was already accounted for in the timeline. But if the ribbon must overlay : other ribbons in order to get back onto the highway, then you've just : introduced another dimension into the picture (the vertical in our model), : and that's what I'm calling hyper-time. : Note again that we as 3D observers, "time gods", aren't watching : any motion in this scene at all; we're just tracing the paths of these : ribbons on a highway. The whole scene is still to us. From the perspective : of some individual ribbon, which only perceives 1D chunks of itself and : other ribbons and the highway, in sequence according to the path of the : full 2D ribbon, then there is change and motion. And if some ribbon were : able to exit the highway and drive backward and then get back on and find : that things have changed because of his doing so, then he would now be on : what we 3D time-gods perceive as a different "plane" of the : Highway of Time (picture a multilevel highway, I guess). And this ribbon, : only being able to move in 1D space (the offramp-sideroad-onramp would be : like a temporally dilated wormhole), would be unable to access any other : "planes" by any means whatsoever. : This also means that it doesn't make sense to "move backward" along : the axis of time, any more than a tree branch can extend out and then back : in on itself; itself is in the way. I'm finding it really hard to say this : in words that can't be misinterpreted because we tend to use the language : of change both to describe features of static things as well as changing : features of things, so note that I don't mean "extend" here in : any sort of active sense, of the tree branch changing size or shape; I'm : just trying to describe it's shape. We can say that it extends out and : then bends up and out again and then down and so on, but it can't just : turn around 180 degree and extend back into itself; it has to extend up or : down or something first, and then back into itself. So, if you understood : that, I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can't just reverse time : for yourself and move backwards in time within the timeline; you would be : overlapping with your past self if you did that. You have to somehow leave : the timeline to do it; wormholes (which would be like the tree branch : looping around and back into itself), magic teleportation (the cop out a : lot of time travel stories seem to use), or something like that.
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