Time travel in The Terminator (1 Viewer)

[TheDeparted]

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.

This, my friend, is where you are mistaken.

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!

I guess it all comes down to the "minor details" of the realities of moving through time.

Assuming again that only the Earth's rotation is a factor here, our vector through space is always changing because Earth's gravity keeps pulling us back toward it as it rotates. When you step into a portal through time, does the earths' accumulated angular momentum get "played back" for you as you travel, or will you be separated from the gravity well of Earth, flinging you off into space?

 

[saintmdterps]

Just wanna ask again, why do you all think a machine is necessary for time travel?

 

[TheDeparted]

Just wanna ask again, why do you all think a machine is necessary for time travel?

It's only necessary if you want to [significantly] alter your speed/direction through time.

Unless you have other ideas?

 

[DomePatrol5657]

I'm thinking time travel starts with a phone booth:

 

[2009ring]

Who remembers this time travel show from the early 80's?

 

[Sun Wukong]

Who remembers this time travel show from the early 80's?

Are they just flying through space with no ship or even protective equipment? That seems like poor judgement.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Who remembers this time travel show from the early 80's?

Used to love this show

Loved Quantum Leap even more.

How does a time travel thread get to 4 pages before someone brings up Dr Sam Beckett?

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Used to love this show

Loved Quantum Leap even more.

How does a time travel thread get to 4 pages before someone brings up Dr Sam Beckett?

Didn't you know. Sam's been found. He leaped into the body of some guy down here named Pride.

 

[bonnjer]

Who remembers this time travel show from the early 80's?

Was that the show where the guy had the little medallion around his neck or am I remembering something else?

 

[saintmdterps]

It's only necessary if you want to [significantly] alter your speed/direction through time.

Unless you have other ideas?

The power of the mind. I see no reason not to use only our minds for time travel/astral projection. Just because I don't know how to do it doesn't mean it can't be done. if I had more discipline and focus, using my mind for such lofty ideals instead of messing with my truck, I could probably manage. If I can do it, so can anyone else.

 

[soupcan dan]

 

[Hedon James]

The power of the mind. I see no reason not to use only our minds for time travel/astral projection. Just because I don't know how to do it doesn't mean it can't be done. if I had more discipline and focus, using my mind for such lofty ideals instead of messing with my truck, I could probably manage. If I can do it, so can anyone else.

You must really like your truck! As for me, I'm still working on my Jedi mind tricks to persuade beautiful women that they WANT to show me their bodies without my asking. It worked once, but I can't figure out what I did successfully...

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

The power of the mind. I see no reason not to use only our minds for time travel/astral projection. Just because I don't know how to do it doesn't mean it can't be done. if I had more discipline and focus, using my mind for such lofty ideals instead of messing with my truck, I could probably manage. If I can do it, so can anyone else.

so you're thinking to time travel as consciousness projection?
maybe
though pretty much every signal needs a receiver, so how would you find 'host' consciousnesses
maybe we could establish a consciousness time share - or at least like an air bnb model

 

[Zack Lee]

we're going to do a Time Bandits thread aren't we?