Author Topic: Thoughts on Time Traveler's Immunity  (Read 1187 times)

Paradox244

  • Iokan (+1)
  • *
  • Posts: 12
  • Better Living Through Insanity
    • View Profile
Thoughts on Time Traveler's Immunity
« on: December 22, 2008, 06:32:01 pm »
Note:  For purposes of simplicity I am not considering the Marle Paradox in this theory.

The mechanism of TTI can be deduced through simple logic.  Imagine for a moment, that you go back in time, say five minutes, with a loaded gun.  You then shoot yourself in the head, killing you instantly.  If you were to do this, I believe that you would not disappear.  The act of killing your older self, posibally the act of time traveling period, would have no effect on the you who pulled the trigger.  The act of changing the timeline can be compared to a wave.  Upon the change, this wave would sweep across time, altering everything that occured after the wave began.  But, and this is key, you are behind the wave.  The wave, you see, only acts one way.  It will destroy the you who got into the time machine, but it can't wrap around and kick the you who stepped out of the machine in the ass.  You are behind it, and it can't knock you down.

By traveling through time, you have broken the normal chain of cause and effect.  The version of you that stepped out of the machine was, in effect, created ex nihlo the moment you arrived in the past.  If we assume that time travel breaks cause and effect, this explains at least one aspect of TTI.  Another example: After killing the older version of you, you enter the time machine once again.  This time you go forward in time ten minutes.  You then send an automated drone into the past to kill you before you left for the future.  You would not vanish.  Why?  Because the violation of casuality has broken the chain.  The you who sent back the drone is unconnect from either of the yous who were killed in the past.

This principal would explain at least one aspect of Time Traveller's Immunity.

chrono eric

  • Dimension Crosser (+1000)
  • *
  • Posts: 1161
    • View Profile
Re: Thoughts on Time Traveler's Immunity
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2008, 06:48:52 pm »
Good example, but it's all pretty well known already.

I like the wave analogy a lot actually, but it doesn't explain the principle of Dimensional Bastard and Dimensional Travellers Immunity, which has been demonstrated with a hypothetical proof in another interesting dicussion here. In DB and DTI, it's more that they have to exist because when a certain type of dimensional travel is associated with a particular time travel event, an irreversible paradox would occur that would affect multiple dimensions. The dimensional travellers are not "behind a causality wave" at all, but they still have to appear and disappear due to DTI and DB or a paradox would result.

Here's our discussion on that:

http://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php?topic=6571.0

So I think that TTI and TB (and DTI and DB) can simply be explained as necessary to prevent paradoxes, and that it doesn't have to be any more complicated than that.

Paradox244

  • Iokan (+1)
  • *
  • Posts: 12
  • Better Living Through Insanity
    • View Profile
Re: Thoughts on Time Traveler's Immunity
« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2008, 06:50:03 pm »
Do you have a link to the earlier thread?

chrono eric

  • Dimension Crosser (+1000)
  • *
  • Posts: 1161
    • View Profile
Re: Thoughts on Time Traveler's Immunity
« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2008, 06:51:04 pm »
Yeah sorry I posted and then edited my post afterwards when I got the link  :D.

Paradox244

  • Iokan (+1)
  • *
  • Posts: 12
  • Better Living Through Insanity
    • View Profile
Re: Thoughts on Time Traveler's Immunity
« Reply #4 on: December 22, 2008, 06:52:42 pm »
Thank you!

Eske

  • Enlightened One (+200)
  • *
  • Posts: 248
    • View Profile
Re: Thoughts on Time Traveler's Immunity
« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2008, 10:31:45 pm »
I like this idea because it validates TTI without Time Error.  (TE, being the 5th axis, makes it so that no event in 4D could affect it).   

That way if something happens and Time Error ever falls through (hope not!) we have backups like this to fallback on.

 :D