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Will Time Travel EVER Be Possible? | Unveiled
Unveiled
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7/26/2023
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00:00
Of all the sci-fi superpowers and spec-fiction fantasies that are out there, the interest
00:04
in time travel just refuses to die down.
00:07
And with good reason.
00:08
Because what could be cooler than moving not just through the three dimensions of regular
00:12
space, but through the fourth dimension as well?
00:15
It's no secret that there have been some real-world efforts toward achieving time travel,
00:19
too.
00:20
And to some degree, there are a select few who have technically managed it, such as those
00:24
who have spent time off-Earth, on board the International Space Station.
00:28
But while that's all very impressive, it's not exactly Doctor Who.
00:32
We've still got a long way to go before "Back to the Future" is still actually
00:35
doable.
00:36
So what is awaiting us on the horizon?
00:39
This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question; will time travel
00:44
ever be possible?
00:48
Do you need the big questions answered?
00:50
Are you constantly curious?
00:51
Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?
00:54
And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!
00:58
Officially speaking, no one has yet travelled through time.
01:02
There are countless rumours, legends, and conspiracy theories, of course, including
01:06
claims of shady goings-on in New York State at the Montauk Project, more recently made
01:11
famous as the inspiration for the Netflix show "Stranger Things".
01:14
Also, in the mid-to-late 20th century, there were allegations of the Chronovisor at the
01:18
Vatican, an alleged time viewer capable of transporting users back to the crucifixion
01:24
of Jesus Christ.
01:25
And also, Deglacca, a supposed Nazi time machine said to have been built using alien technology.
01:31
But so far, there's still nothing, even remotely above board, to suggest that time
01:36
travel is, has been, or ever will be possible.
01:40
Arguably the best concept we have for use in a genuine time machine is the Alcubierre
01:45
Drive.
01:46
If it ever were built, it would utilise what are known as "warp bubbles" around a spaceship.
01:51
To allow that spaceship to travel at faster-than-light speeds without breaking any local laws of
01:56
physics.
01:57
Which then should, according to predictions, enable it to achieve backwards time travel.
02:02
With backwards travel being theoretically more difficult than forwards travel (which
02:06
technically should be manageable, if only we could find a way to travel really, really
02:10
fast, with or without a warp bubble), it all means that the Alcubierre Drive really could
02:15
be the key invention we've all been waiting for.
02:18
It's a shame, then, that it hasn't ever been built, not even in a true prototype form.
02:23
Leading many to label it "fantastic" on paper, but probably impossible in reality.
02:28
The problem with all time travel designs, including the Alcubierre Drive, is that they
02:33
typically require something that either we don't have yet, can't reach yet, or don't
02:38
understand yet.
02:39
Some kind of exotic fuel or material, or some massive frame of reference that's currently
02:45
beyond our capabilities.
02:46
Only we've known that time travel is theoretically possible since at least the days of Albert
02:51
Einstein and his revolutionary illustration of space-time as the true basis for the structure
02:56
of the universe.
02:58
Humankind may have suspected that time travel is possible for even longer than that, though,
03:02
given that it invariably turns up in various ancient texts, including in early Hindu scripture,
03:08
Buddhist teachings, and in some interpretations of the Bible.
03:12
However, from then until now, it's remained as physically impossible as ever.
03:16
We just can't work it out.
03:18
What's perhaps most concerning, however, for those who want time travel to be real,
03:22
is that there are no signs of the picture improving.
03:25
That isn't to say that our scientific knowledge is getting worse, or that our critical understanding
03:30
of time travel is dwindling.
03:31
It's more that there is no genuine, incontestable evidence of time travel happening in the future.
03:37
As with most things around this theme, it's a bit of a head-spinner… but when was the
03:42
last time you encountered someone, something, or somewhere from your future?
03:47
Or from the future of anyone or anything else?
03:50
Unless you're in the small minority that claims to have had a true brush with time
03:53
travel before, then the answer is probably never.
03:56
You've never seen time travel in action.
03:58
Which doesn't sound all that crazy… until you consider that there is a potentially infinite
04:03
amount of time stretching out in front of you, and there always has been.
04:07
For the sake of argument, let's put a number on it.
04:09
Let's say that there is and was at least another one billion years between the moment
04:13
you were born and the end of the universe.
04:16
The fact that you have never witnessed any aspect of the future bleeding into your present,
04:20
its past, arguably casts into severe doubt that anyone at any time is ever going to time
04:25
travel at all.
04:27
Because if they were, then wouldn't you, or your parents, or your friends, partners,
04:31
children, neighbours… wouldn't you all have met a backwards time traveller by now?
04:36
Starting this time from their future time just because they can?
04:39
It could be that the universe ends in one billion years, in ten years, in one trillion
04:44
years… it doesn't matter, because it's the same result.
04:47
No one is coming.
04:49
It boils down to a quite simple realisation; if time travel is ever going to be possible,
04:53
then surely it already is possible.
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That's just the nature of the beast.
04:57
If time travel exists at any time in the future, then it by default is at least impacting the
05:03
here and now.
05:04
The invention of time travel would mark the moment in time that our understanding of time
05:09
itself disintegrates.
05:11
From that point forward, there would never be a past, present or future in quite the
05:15
same way ever again.
05:17
But we, the human beings on Earth at this very moment, are the past from the future's
05:22
perspective.
05:23
And, clearly, our status as such has so far shown no signs of changing.
05:27
Therefore, we might conclude that time travel will never be possible.
05:31
Except… that's also only half the story.
05:34
Or, an even smaller fraction of the overall potential.
05:38
Because fine, time travellers from the future haven't yet arrived en masse into the twenty-first
05:42
century… but there's some argument that that particular eventuality actually is never
05:47
going to happen.
05:48
Instead, the invention of time travel will represent a major cut-off point in history,
05:53
a truly incomparable before-and-after moment.
05:57
Some claim that time travel, if and when it does exist, will only ever stretch backwards
06:02
in time to the point of its invention… but not a second before then.
06:07
This means that as time travel hasn't yet been invented, it really makes perfect sense
06:11
that we also haven't been flooded with travellers yet.
06:14
Because as much as they might like to visit a pre-time travel age like our own, they physically
06:18
can't thanks to the inherent limitations of the time travel that they enjoy.
06:23
Another perhaps more likely possibility is that while backwards time travel is and will
06:28
always be impossible, forwards time travel isn't.
06:32
And to some degree, we know that forward travel certainly is achievable.
06:36
At the most basic, all of us do it every day, in increments of seconds, minutes and hours.
06:43
Since you started watching this video, your past self has transformed into your current
06:48
self, which is busily transforming into your future self, as well.
06:51
You can't go back to your past self.
06:54
You can't remain as your current self.
06:56
You're always on the brink of a new, future version.
07:00
Even in the time it took for me to say that last sentence, we've all moved into the
07:03
future.
07:04
And again.
07:05
And again.
07:06
But really, that's a bit of a cop-out.
07:07
And true forward time travel would presumably involve massive jumps into the future, moving
07:12
years, decades or centuries in just a couple of seconds' local time.
07:16
Will that ever be achievable?
07:18
Unfortunately, right now, it's not something that anyone can say yes or no to.
07:22
We will likely need to have made many major scientific developments between now and a
07:27
time when it might be possible, though.
07:29
For example, while we know that time dilation would theoretically set in for a traveller
07:33
in a spaceship moving extremely fast away from Earth for a sustained period of time,
07:39
we still have almost zero means of ever making that happen.
07:42
It's grounded in physics, yes, but it's still closer to a fairy tale in terms of our
07:47
capabilities.
07:48
Could time travel, instead, ever be possible for some other, more advanced group than us?
07:53
That's another question, and one with infinite potential answers.
07:57
Clearly, however, with no knowledge of any other intelligent group other than ourselves,
08:01
it would all be speculation.
08:02
A Kardashev Type Five certainly could travel through time.
08:06
For any civilization that can tap into the multiverse, it could use that to bend the
08:10
temporal rules as we see them.
08:12
But we are neither of those.
08:14
And so far, while we know and to some degree understand the fourth dimension, we're also
08:19
inescapably limited by it.
08:21
Until such time as we break into time itself, it's a painful paradox with no end in sight.
08:29
What do you think?
08:30
Is there anything we missed?
08:31
Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you
08:35
subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.
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