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Time travel - Where is the information stored?

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Something I never understood about the concept of time travel. Where are the previous states of the universe stored? The information must be preserved in order for the time traveler to immerse himself in that previous state of the universe.

 

I've searched many threads here and haven't seen this addressed.

Something I never understood about the concept of time travel. Where are the previous states of the universe stored? The information must be preserved in order for the time traveler to immerse himself in that previous state of the universe.

 

I've searched many threads here and haven't seen this addressed.

 

Didn't I already explain this to you next week?

The information must be preserved in order for the time traveler to immerse himself in that previous state of the universe.

Why exactly is that?

 

 

Where is the information of "left" stored?

  • Author

That's not the least bit informative or helpful.

The only answer that comes to mind is the many worlds hypothesis, wherein each separate possibility or bit of data becomes a universe unto itself. However, the MMH is itself speculative... in much the same way that time travel is currently nothing more than a theoretical possibility.

Isn't it stored in the same place that information on the future states of the Universe are stored?

The answer can be explained using quantum Theory which states that information about everything in the universe cannot be destroyed so it is still here. Humans time travel (or look into the past) all the time by simply reverse engineering a current event to see how it happened (forensic science). There is also a new theory (I forget what it is called) that states that nothing in the universe actually happens until it is actively observed that may also be able to answer your question, but my brain usually sets off the smoke detector in my house when I think about that one...

Did time travel become real when I wasn't looking?

Yes. We move forward at the rate of one second per second.

Yes. We move forward at the rate of one second per second.

Only on the ground though. In the sky, it goes a little bit faster :P

in your local frame of reference you are still travelling at one second per second. your rate of travel through time is not constant in all rest frames.

  • 2 weeks later...
The answer can be explained using quantum Theory which states that information about everything in the universe cannot be destroyed so it is still here. Humans time travel (or look into the past) all the time by simply reverse engineering a current event to see how it happened (forensic science). There is also a new theory (I forget what it is called) that states that nothing in the universe actually happens until it is actively observed that may also be able to answer your question, but my brain usually sets off the smoke detector in my house when I think about that one...

 

 

This is a good question posted. Although the information within the universe is not destroyed, it has in fact changed, so you in turn must have a means or a system to know each direction of change; probably to the smallest quantum level (quarks) to eliminate any uncertainty. Because symmetries should be unchanged from past to present, you in theory should be able to locate the precise position of the past. So to your answer, the data is not stored, you would have to reverse space time to the past position. The hard question is how would this be achieved? Could it be achieved? I say it can't.


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Something I never understood about the concept of time travel. Where are the previous states of the universe stored? The information must be preserved in order for the time traveler to immerse himself in that previous state of the universe.

 

I've searched many threads here and haven't seen this addressed.

 

FYI-This is a good question posted. Although the information within the universe is not destroyed, it has in fact changed, so you in turn must have a means or a system to know each direction of change; probably to the smallest quantum level (quarks) to eliminate any uncertainty. Because symmetries should be unchanged from past to present, you in theory should be able to locate the precise position of the past. So to your answer, the data is not stored, you would have to reverse space time to the past position. The hard question is how would this be achieved? Could it be achieved? I say it can't.

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