Weekly Insights for Thinkers

Does time travel exist?

By Michael Alan Prestwood

Author and Natural Philosopher

07 Jul 2024
Published 2 years ago.
Updated 4 weeks ago.

Does time travel exist?

We experience time as a one-way street. Within spacetime, we experience four dimensions: three spatial and one forward time dimension. Einstein’s theories show time can bend under gravity, and jumping into the future is likely possible. So, yes, time travel in that sense is possible, and proven. However, that’s not what most people are asking. The key question is can we travel back in time, and that appears to be impossible. Traveling to the past remains a paradox in physics, wrapped in the mysteries of spacetime.

So far, observations show that spacetime only bends in ways that preserve causality.

From a philosophical viewpoint, the interesting thing is that if it is possible, it is possible now. The needed materials and ideas are in the universe now, awaiting our discovery. To push the boundaries of this idea a bit, some solutions to Einstein’s general relativity equations suggest closed time-like curves, enabling travel through time. Despite these philosophical and speculative notions, most scholars say no, traveling back in time is not possible. It appears the laws of physics do not permit time travel to the past, and none of our observations to date support the idea.


That Science FAQ, 

was first published on TST 2 years ago.

By the way, the flashcard inspired by it is this.

Front: What speculative structure would allow returning to the past?
Back: Closed timelike curve
All this is part of the broader TST project.
Tidbits make it possible to build slowly and honestly, without losing track of where an idea came from.
TouchstoneTruth treats writing as an ongoing practice rather than a sequence of finished products.

The end!

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