Time travel - an idea
Discussion
I was working with a bit of software recently that simulates water. You can set up a 3D world, give the water object a starting point then run a simulation that calculates how that water reacts to the 3D environment. Once this is done, I can move back and forward along the timeline. Clever stuff.
I started thinking about where this could go and figured there isn't really a limit - it's just a matter of computing power.
We know the universe consistently abides by a series of laws. We may not fully understand them all yet but it seems inevitable we will one day.
If you can disregard free will, it's possible that state the universe at any one point in time is merely the culmination of a vast number of events, processes, reactions etc.
If we could somehow record that state - say, take a snapshot of the state of every atom at one or several points in time - then (with enough computing power) we could calculate out how they arrive at that state by reverse engineering all those events.
This effectively gives us a computed simulation of the universe that would allow you to move back and forward through time. The grandfather paradox isn't an issue because you're only viewing, not interacting.
Given computing power has advanced something like ten million percent in my lifetime, that side of things is probably achievable. It's just the small matter of capturing the state of the universe but I'm sure somebody can figure that out
What do you reckon, sciency folk. Any sense in the theory?
I started thinking about where this could go and figured there isn't really a limit - it's just a matter of computing power.
We know the universe consistently abides by a series of laws. We may not fully understand them all yet but it seems inevitable we will one day.
If you can disregard free will, it's possible that state the universe at any one point in time is merely the culmination of a vast number of events, processes, reactions etc.
If we could somehow record that state - say, take a snapshot of the state of every atom at one or several points in time - then (with enough computing power) we could calculate out how they arrive at that state by reverse engineering all those events.
This effectively gives us a computed simulation of the universe that would allow you to move back and forward through time. The grandfather paradox isn't an issue because you're only viewing, not interacting.
Given computing power has advanced something like ten million percent in my lifetime, that side of things is probably achievable. It's just the small matter of capturing the state of the universe but I'm sure somebody can figure that out
What do you reckon, sciency folk. Any sense in the theory?
Simpo Two said:
The simulation will only use the data you give it. You cannot know who stepped on a butterfly in 1634, or whether they stepped over it.
Absolutely but that's not quite what I'm suggesting.On a more sensible scale, let's say this game of Boules is our data point:
From the data we have - the displacement of gravel where they hit the ground, their weight and friction values - couldn't we calculate the trajectory they must have taken to arrive there, therefore simluating the events preceding that moment?
First of all, thanks for humouring me. 
I've never heard of the uncertainty principle and the majority of the wiki page went over my head but I think I understand enough to see why it's a problem. It does sound a bit like infinity - i.e. the name given to something we haven't really grasped yet.
Am I right in thinking that's only an issue if you're taking data from a single point in time? So if you could get data from multiple points in time you could calculate both the position and the momentum?
I was thinking about weather forecasts today because they seem to be a real life example of this idea. Granted they use up enormous computing power and are still a bit rubbish but as technology improves, so does the simulation. Is it really too much to imagine that if computing power advances at, what, ten million percent over the next 50 years as it has the last, this kind of simulation could go deeper and deeper into the natural world?
I've never heard of the uncertainty principle and the majority of the wiki page went over my head but I think I understand enough to see why it's a problem. It does sound a bit like infinity - i.e. the name given to something we haven't really grasped yet.
Am I right in thinking that's only an issue if you're taking data from a single point in time? So if you could get data from multiple points in time you could calculate both the position and the momentum?
I was thinking about weather forecasts today because they seem to be a real life example of this idea. Granted they use up enormous computing power and are still a bit rubbish but as technology improves, so does the simulation. Is it really too much to imagine that if computing power advances at, what, ten million percent over the next 50 years as it has the last, this kind of simulation could go deeper and deeper into the natural world?
Edited by durbster on Friday 14th June 20:27
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