Time travel in The Terminator (1 Viewer)

[St. Geezy]

While those movies are great, the 2nd one shouldn't be possible. The first time traveler was Einstein the dog. If you remember, he SKIPPED an entire minute and then reappeared. That means he wasn't on Earth for that minute. So how do you visit your future self? You skipped all those years, you weren't on the planet.

Agree...That whole plot point of traveling to the future to change "future history" was contrived and poorly written. Couldn't Doc just go back a week or so before the robbery and tell Marty about it so it could be stopped? Why go all the way back to 1985 to tell him?

 

[FullMonte]

While those movies are great, the 2nd one shouldn't be possible. The first time traveler was Einstein the dog. If you remember, he SKIPPED an entire minute and then reappeared. That means he wasn't on Earth for that minute. So how do you visit your future self? You skipped all those years, you weren't on the planet.

I'll give you the same analogy that I used in the other thread.

Imagine time as driving along I-10 from Florida (the past) to California (the future).

Einstein drove to New Orleans, and got on a plane and flew to Houston, then continued driving towards California. He never drove on the section of I-10 between New Orleans and Houston. He never existed in that segment of time.

Now, as far as Marty (or whoever) going visit their future self. That's completely possible. Because they drive to New Orleans, and get on a plane. They fly to Tucson Arizona, and drive around town for a bit. Then, they get back on a plane, fly back to New Orleans, and continue driving. Therefore, they exist in all segments of the timeline.

 

[Mojomajik9]

 

[eaton co saint]

OK... Time travel has been solved, now explain the Highlander movies <?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

[Sun Wukong]

OK... Time travel has been solved, now explain the Highlander movies <?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

Sean Connery is a Scottish guy playing an ancient Egyptian who, due to his immorality, is pretending to be a Spanish guy who, for whatever reason, has a Scottish accent. Christopher Lambert is a French guy playing a Scottish guy who is taught to use a Japanese sword by Connery. There is a lot of decapitation and lightning.

But wait! In the sequel, it is revealed that they're all actually aliens who came to Earth long ago! Michael Ironside is an evil alien General. The Earth is sort of post-apocalyptic and in eternal night because they had to build a giant shield to replace the ozone layer.

Of course, this movie was a disaster, so Highlander III ignores literally all of it. It's called Highlander III but it is obvious that nothing in Highlander II ever happened. No aliens, no ozone shield, no post-apocalyptic setting. And then Mario Van Peebles shows up and it turns into a retread of the first Highlander, with Lambert trying to get his mortality back. Again. Even that he already did that in both Highlander AND Highlander II. But since Highlander II has been stricken from the record, I guess he only did it once before.

And then they made a bunch of other movies and TV shows that I'm not sure anyone actually watched.

 

[THENZA]

And then they made a bunch of other movies and TV shows that I'm not sure anyone actually watched.

Oh, be sure my friend. I didn't have cable as a kid.

Highlander, Xena, Hercules, Forever Knight, TONS of British comedy.

That was my ****.


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[Lurkaholic]

Okay so what was going on there? The whole "only organic material can pass through" story runs a bit shallow to me. I mean, do they really HAVE to go through naked?

And before any of you bleeding heart T-800 sympathizers come out with "muh time displacement equipment!" let me pose this to you: How is the time displacement equipment supposed to just know that it's all organic. Like, if you can just wear human skin (like the terminators do) then why don't people just wear stupid fur coats or something.

I don't know. I'm not a scientist. But I feel like there's a better way to figure this out that doesn't involve totally nude time travel.

Isn't cotton organic?

 

[saintmdterps]

Okay so what was going on there? The whole "only organic material can pass through" story runs a bit shallow to me. I mean, do they really HAVE to go through naked?

And before any of you bleeding heart T-800 sympathizers come out with "muh time displacement equipment!" let me pose this to you: How is the time displacement equipment supposed to just know that it's all organic. Like, if you can just wear human skin (like the terminators do) then why don't people just wear stupid fur coats or something.

I don't know. I'm not a scientist. But I feel like there's a better way to figure this out that doesn't involve totally nude time travel.

Well, the whole thing would be much more acceptable if it were Sarah Connor who went through the time machine nekkid.

Also, why do we feel a "machine" is necessary for time/space travel?

I'm a believer in the parallel universe theory. Every time we make a choice, we create a reality in which the opposite choice was made. So, going back to effect change upon a given event would only affect the universe in which that change occurred. Hence, there is a universe in which Denzien does not have a Mini, and in which BHM did not build a sketchy scaffold, and contains all the differences engendered by those choices.

It's all quite simple, really; the Universe resembles a tree with many forks and branches and it is possible to travel back down our particular branch and take a different fork. What we do there will just create a different branch but will have no effect upon the existing branches.

 

[saintmdterps]

Agree...That whole plot point of traveling to the future to change "future history" was contrived and poorly written. Couldn't Doc just go back a week or so before the robbery and tell Marty about it so it could be stopped? Why go all the way back to 1985 to tell him?

Stephen King's 11/23/1963 is an interesting take on time travel. I'm only about 1/3 the way through, so I can't really give an adequate review yet, but so far, so good.

 

[FullMonte]

I really enjoyed that book...

 

[Hedon James]

All or most time travel sci-fi assumes that the Earth isn't moving, because that's inconvenient. They focus on fixed points on Earth, but that's bunk. If time travel was based on a fixed point within our universe (whatever that means):


The Earth spins at about 1,675 km/hour at the equator. Ignoring all other movement, time travel forward or backward by 12 hours would put you on the other side of the Earth (likely in a mountain, or above the surface - extremely unlikely to re-appear with your feet on the ground).


The Earth revolves around the Sun at 18.5 miles/sec. If you are on the trailing edge of the earth and time-traveled 1 second into the past, you would appear 18.5 miles above the Earth. And about half a mile due East of your original position. Again, assuming that all other movement through the Universe doesn't exist.


The Sun revolves around the center of our galaxy at about 500,000 miles/h or 139 miles/sec. So we're actually moving 139±18.5 miles per second...considering the scenario above, you're more than halfway to the Moon's orbit.


The Milky Way itself is moving through space around "The Great Attractor" at approximately 1,300,000 miles/hour or 361 miles/sec. So now we're moving at 361±139±18.5 miles/sec or somewhere between about 518.5 and 203.5 miles per second, relative to "The Great Attractor", depending on the phases of each of our orbits. And who knows how fast that is moving through our expanding universe?



The only logical way around this, I think (besides a bunch of really complex math and uncanny precision with your time travel device) would be to create "time markers" you can jump to. This pretty much eliminates any ability to go back to the time of the dinosaurs. But when you walk through the time portal you create, remember that you could be dumped out onto your head...so be careful!

WOW! Great thoughts and analysis here! You brought up stuff I hadn't even considered...then extrapolated the results to the next outcome. Some heady stuff here! I won't bother to check your underlying assumptions, as I assume that anyone who thought this through to the extent you have, certainly must've started with correct inputs.

And while it's hard to argue with your theory and theoretical solution...after all, this is what NASA actually does when launching objects into space, they don't have to account for a "zero time" effect. But they do have to account for the path of travel between starting and ending destinations, both of which are moving bodies. So your theory makes sense...outside of earth.

But with respect to earth-to-earth time travel, have you considered that the earth's atmosphere moves with the solid mass below it? I.E. you cannot helicopter 90 degrees (straight up) and hover for 12 hours, then land exactly on the opposite side of the world, despite only moving up and down; unless you actually leave the atmosphere, in which case it is possible, but then we won't be doing that in a helicopter. Perhaps a SpaceX or something similar?!

Think of this in terms of airflow over a moving vehicle. If the vehicle is moving through a space/time continuum at 65mph, there is a mass of air (similar to a localized atmosphere) that travels with the vehicle at that speed. If you stick your hand slightly out the window, you can't really feel any resistance, as you're hand is still in the vehicle's "atmosphere"; but stick your hand out as far as you can reach, and you feel 65mph winds! Now imagine that the Earth is that vehicle moving through space, and our atmosphere moving in space with it. Movement outside of the atmosphere, however, is when I believe your theory, and your math, starts to kick in and take over.

So, my theory is that as long as the time travel occurs with the same "atmosphere" as the time machine, no space markers are necessary as the time traveller will move with the same constant velocity as the atmosphere both objects (machine and traveller) are located within. Time travel outside of that common atmosphere, however, will absolutely require the time & space markers you described. But since we've been able to make those calculations since the late 1950's +/-, I'm assuming we've gotten a lot better at that in the future, and probably imparted those mathematical skills to the skynet machines who are collectively kicking our ***** in the future!

 

[B-Train]

See? You're all learning something.

You're welcome.

 

[crosswatt]

OK... Time travel has been solved, now explain the Highlander movies

Sean Connery is a Scottish guy playing an ancient Egyptian who, due to his immorality, is pretending to be a Spanish guy who, for whatever reason, has a Scottish accent. Christopher Lambert is a French guy playing a Scottish guy who is taught to use a Japanese sword by Connery. There is a lot of decapitation and lightning.

But wait! In the sequel, it is revealed that they're all actually aliens who came to Earth long ago! Michael Ironside is an evil alien General. The Earth is sort of post-apocalyptic and in eternal night because they had to build a giant shield to replace the ozone layer.

Of course, this movie was a disaster, so Highlander III ignores literally all of it. It's called Highlander III but it is obvious that nothing in Highlander II ever happened. No aliens, no ozone shield, no post-apocalyptic setting. And then Mario Van Peebles shows up and it turns into a retread of the first Highlander, with Lambert trying to get his mortality back. Again. Even that he already did that in both Highlander AND Highlander II. But since Highlander II has been stricken from the record, I guess he only did it once before.

And then they made a bunch of other movies and TV shows that I'm not sure anyone actually watched.

 

[DomePatrol5657]

These guys were Excellent at time travel: