Time Travel: Will it ever be possible? Where and when would you go?

[macro]

I really don't think it will ever be possible. Wouldn't someone from the future have came back and let the secret out in the past if it were possible?

If time travel were possible, what places and times would you most want to visit? Would you attempt to change anything in your own life?

[MWM]

April 18, 1775. I want to know who fired the shot.

I'd be present in 1963 when JFK was shot to know FOR SURE what happened.

I'd want to be at the Seabiscuit - War Admiral match race.

I'd attend one game at Ebbets field.

Of course there's things I change about my own life, but nothing major. MOre than anything I think I'd savor the simpler times a lot more. I'd appreciate the different stages of my life more.

[traderumor]

I would want to visit each era just to get a feel for different lifestyles, different priorities. I am most intrigued by the Medieval period, however. Watching the creation of the world would be pretty cool, too I guess.

[KronoRed]

I'd go into the future to see what else mankind can screw up, I'd then go to certain historical events in the past to see what really went on, JFK RFK and MLK assassinations for starters.

[jmcclain19]

I'd go back to the Gilded Age, sometime in the 1870's, and use my knowledge of History to make sure I lived a happy life and spend the rest of my days watching America grow into what it is today.

[Hap]

I'd go back to work yesterday and tell that guy that the jerk store called and they are running out of him.

[RedsBaron]

I don't believe that time travel will ever be possible, and if it was possible it would then be virtually impossible not to tamper with history. But if I could travel back in time.............
I'd somehow persuade my father not to leave for work exactly when he did than day in the autumn of 1974, thereby avoiding the car accident which crippled him and in the long run killed him.
I'd visit with a lot of family and friends who have passed away, and this time I would more treasure the time spent with them.
I'd not say or do the wrong thing, or fail to say or do the right thing.
As for historical events........................
As Traderumor posted, witnessing the creation of the world would be neat.
I would visit the Galilee-Jerusalem area of about 2000 years ago, first to witness the birth of Jesus, then to sit at his feet and listen to His teachings, and finally to see His resurrection.
I would witness William Wallace's victory over the English at Stirling in about 1295, and then watch Robert the Bruce secure Scottish independence with a victory near the same location in 1314 in the Battle of Bannockburn.
I would visit and re-visit events surrounding the American Revolution, including the speeches of Patrick Henry, the midnight ride of Paul Revere, the "Shot heard 'round the world," the suffering in Valley Forge, and the triumph of Yorktown with the world "turned upside down." I would dine at least once at Mount Vernon with its owner.
I would witness the debates over independence in 1776 and over ratification in 1787, then I would report on what the framers' original intent truly was.
I would suggest to Abraham Lincoln that we not go to the play In April 1865.
I would weep at the sacrifices at a thousand battlefields, from Bunker Hill to the Alamo to Omaha Beach, as I witness those battles. I would see the surprise and terror at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, I would fly with Doolittle's Raiders in 1942, Chuck Yeager would be my wingman in 1944-45, and I would witness the surrender ceremony on the deck of the Missouri on Sept. 2, 1945.
I would be in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, unless I was somehow able to persuade JFK to go anywhere else.
I would see Elvis Presley in concert in 1956 and I would see the Beatles in concert in 1964.
I would try to persuade Buddy Holly, Patsy Cline, Jim Croce and a lot of other people not to fly.
I would land with the Eagle in 1969.
I'd try to persuade Elvis Presley to take up the Atkins diet.
I'd tell Natalie Wood that her fear of dark water was entirely justified and she should stay away from the boat in the autumn of 1981.
I would be at the Berlin Wall when it fell in 1989.
Sports? I'd watch the 1869 Reds Stockings go undefeated; I'd see Ruth "call his shot" in the 1932 World Series; I would be at Crosley Field for the seventh game of the 1940 World Series; I would watch Ted Williams hit .400 with a 6 for 8 performance in the doubleheader to close the 1941 season; I'd witness Jackie Robinson's first game in 1947; I would see Bobby Thompson's HR to win the 1951 pennant; I would witness Brooklyn's game seven victory in the 1955 World Series; I would see Ted Williams homer in his final at bat in 1960; I would witness Sandy Koufax's perfect game in 1965 and his game seven shotout of the Twins a few weeks later; I would attend the Ice Bowl in Green Bay on Dec. 31, 1967; I would see Super Bowl three and the Jets win over the Colts; I would be at Fairfield Stadium when the Young Thundering Herd won the first game played after the plane crash; I would be at every postseason game played by the Big Red Machine, especially during 1975-76; I would be at the Indy 500 for Rick Mears's record tying fourth victory in 1991; and I would be telling Jim Bowden and Carl Lindner in Jan. 2000: "Yes, Junior is a great guy and a future Hall of Famer, but let's pass."

[Johnny Footstool]

I would journey about 10 years into the past, then make millions "writing" hit songs. I would also rule fantasy baseball and football leagues.


Watching the creation of the world would be pretty cool, too I guess.

Where would you sit?

[RedsBaron]

Where would you sit?
Wherever God said.

[GAC]

I'd travel back 8 years and get my Dad to a different cancer Dr. We were told at the James Cancer Center, after we left the Dr who was treating him, that the form of cancer he died of could have been treated, and that there was a very good chance of putting it in remission. But it was too advanced at this stage.

Be an eye witness to the crucifixion.

Be at JFK in 1964 when the Beatles landed.

Be at the Dakota in 1980 ready for some nutcase.

[deltachi8]

I would take my eight year old back with me, July 2003 so he can say good bye to his mom before she died.

[traderumor]

I would take my eight year old back with me, July 2003 so he can say good bye to his mom before she died.
:cry:

[zombie-a-go-go]

I really don't think it will ever be possible. Wouldn't someone from the future have came back and let the secret out in the past if it were possible?

If time is immutable, then travel through it would only be possible into the future. (Technically, we're time-traveling right now.) At best you might be able to 'open a window' and see something, but stepping through that window would be impossible; in the past you didn't exist, therefore could not exist.

[deltachi8]

you ever really look at you hand, man?

[15fan]

I'd just want to go back a couple of weeks - the morning of 12/10/04, to be exact.

I'd call in sick to the office, then just sit & wait with my 357 Magnum for the burglar to crawl through my kitchen window.

It wouldn't be pretty.

But there'd be one less piece of trash floating around society.

[TRF]

I'd go back to april 1969, and bet a boat load of cash on the mets to win the series.

I would have poisoned oswal... errr... never mind. there was no conspiracy.

I would have suggested moving the fleet out of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 6th.

AOL stock was selling for pennies in the early 90's.

And I had jars of pennies lying around.

[wheels]

I'd travel back to New York City, circa 1976 and hang out with John Holmstrom and Legs Mcneil. Porbably help 'em out with the creation of "Punk" magazine. Sit in while Lester Bangs "interviewed" Lou Reed.

Drink beers with the Ramones, and sleep with Debbie Harry or Niko.

Eat lots of pizza too.

[REDREAD]

I'd convince John Allen that he'd never be more than a hotdog wrapper and he should pursue other career options. :MandJ:

[Raisor]

Time Travel is possible.

You just need a Flux Compasitor, a DeLorian, and enough road to go 88 MPH.

[jmcclain19]

Time Travel is possible.

You just need a Flux Compasitor, a DeLorian, and enough road to go 88 MPH.
And a catchphrase like "Great Scott!"

Don't forget that one.

[macro]

...and sleep with Debbie Harry...
There's still time to fit that one in, wheels, although I suspect you are referring to the Debbie Harry of the early 80s. In the present day you'd get this one...

http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9903/02/blondie/link.debbie.harry.jpg

[wheels]

Actually, I was referring to the Debbie Harry of the mid seventies, who was smokin' hot.

Awww...Who am I kidding?

If I had the chance tomorrow, I probably would. :D

[GAC]

The woman needs some teeth whitening.

[macro]

On a serious note, I have been impressed in some cases and touched in other cases by some of the replies to this topic. Some have put quite a bit of thought into their replies, and others have made me stop and consider how fortunate I am to have what I have in the present. Worthwhile keystrokes, folks, and just another reason why I visit this site at least once every day.

One thing I'm finding interesting is that everyone is choosing to go to the past. No takers on a visit to the future? Will things be as different as we hope they will be? Will things be as different as we fear they will be?

It's interesting how we can usually get a vision of the future, but that vision is often limited by our knowledge of the present. When I was in high school in the early 80s, I did enough reading on the subject of technology to realize that the day would come when people would no longer walk into stores and buy music on cassettes or even that new format, compact disks. Instead, music in the future would be stored on computer chips, and one would simply take their chip into the music store, select the album or songs, pay the clerk, and get the music stored on the chip.

With newspapers and magazines, we'd no longer get paper copies of these, but rather the words and images could be stored on disks that could be placed into a computer for reading.

Lo and behold, both of these things came to pass, but my vision failed to consider a little thing called the World Wide Web, which made going to the brick-and-mortar store for music unnecessary and made magazines and newspapers available through wires instead of disks.

I think much of the same is still true and will always be true. We can guess about the future, but those guesses are going to be limited by our lack of knowledge of technologies not yet realized.

And zombie, you touched on some of the things I was wondering about, that being the technical aspects of time travel. I must confess, though, that this topic would quickly go over my head. I've never had a physics class in my life. I like trying to understand, though.

[bomarl1969]

1. I would travel back to Christmas Eve 2000 and somehow force my Pappy to go to the Dr. (he had been complaining of chest pains for a few days and would not go to the Dr.). He died of a heart attack the next day, 69 years young.

2. I would return to the 80s to see my "healthy" Pappaw just to hug him and tell him I love you one more time and hopefully have a duck hunting trip with him.

3. I would return to jr. high and continue to play football (I quit in 7th grade) and would not worry about losing weight and continue to beef up to hopefully play offensive lineman for WVU one day.

4. I would go to the 1998 Daytona 500 (even if I had to pay 300 bucks for a ticket) just to be there when the Intimidator won his 1st and only 500. I do remember watching it on tv, every lap, every pit stop, and jumping up and down with my dad when Dale won...It was my favorite moment in pro sports history.

5. I would travel back to the Civil War era to meet General Stonewall Jackson, try to pursaude him not to ride at night during the battle of Chancellorsville, and try to get General Lee to listen to General Longstreet's advice regarding General Pickett's charge at Gettysburg.

6. I would travel to the 70s to see Ted Nugent (seen him before but it was in 2000), Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Pink Floyd, and the 1975-76 World Series.

7. I would return to the 80s to see Motley Crue's (seen them in 2000 w/out Tommy Lee :thumbdown) Girls Girls Girls tour, G N R's Appetite for Destruction tour, Ozzy's (saw him at Ozzfest 99 and 01 with the original Sabbath) Dairy of a Madman tour, and Metallica's Ride the Lightening tour.

8. I would return to the 90s and have "relations" with a few girls I passed on because I chose not to "cheat" on an EX girlfriend. :mhcky21: Now I'm married and they are both married!!! :dflynn:

[Hap]

On a somber and seriouts note...

I would go back to the early morning of 9/11/01 and make security threats to the individual airports from where the soon-to-be hijacked planes were to depart, thereby prompting all flights at these airports to be grounded. :cry:

I would persuade Bo Diaz to pay someone to help him install his satellite dish. :(

I would persuade Tim Crews, Steve Olin, and Bob Ojeda to take their wives out to a nice restaurant instead of ditching them and getting drunk in the dark on a fishing boat. :confused: