• AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Hawking concluded it is impossible because nobody showed up to his party. Zero thought was spent wondering if it was a party worth showing up to.

    • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Yeah, now that I think of it more, I can’t see a single good reason for a time traveler to show up at this party. Going back in time to prove the existence of time travel to the past has a very good chance of handing control of time travel away to people who can undo your existence without you ever being aware of it.

      Even if you just wanted a conversation with one of the brilliant minds in physics, it would be smarter to pick a random lecture or non-time-travel-themed party.

      • Rev3rze@feddit.nl
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        5 months ago

        Yes, or someone did show up despite knowing the risks because they trusted Hawking to understand the dangers of revealing the secret of time travel and not sharing it with any living soul. If time travel were to ever become possible and somewhat commonplace then the chances are probably close to zero that everybody chooses not to attend this party (assuming the invitation remains famous for long enough). Perhaps the party was crowded with people thinking the same way.

        It’s much more likely that it all just played out exactly the way Hawking said it did, of course. But it’s a fun thought experiment to play around with.

  • MashedTech@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    My theory is, time travel is possible but humanity went extinct before we got to that point.

  • ClockworkOtter@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Perhaps the time travellers came back as catering staff so they could polish it all off without having to engage in human interaction.

  • Asidonhopo@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I mean when time travel is invented the story will change and we’ll be reading about those visitors. Nobody has shown up at Hawking’s party yet.

  • ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    It depends on the type of time travel rules. One theory suggest going back in time creates a branch in the time-space continuum, one where the time travel happened, one where it did not.

    With this branching time-space rule, there’s one timeline, where no time travellers appeared, and one where they did.

  • fidodo@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    What if time travel requires an anchor so you can’t go backwards before the time it was invented?

    • Belzebubulubu
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      5 months ago

      Hawkings probably just assisted to a conference there to get funds or something as there aren’t any real allegations of abuse against him.

  • stephfinitely@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Well, given what we have learned about Hawking, it’s not that shocking. Also, why would they reveal themselves like that.