Tuesday, 5 January 2010 04:54 pm
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deckardcanineToday marks a personal milestone: two years living in the same apartment. I may just be here much longer, because my landlady recently called me an ideal tenant.
On the subject of time, I've revisited the question of how one would change the past if time travel were an option. Like many others, I used to say I'd pass up the opportunity for fear of making the present worse via the butterfly effect. What hadn't occurred to me was that in reality, every time we make a decision, we cut off a potentially better future. The only difference between normal actions and changing the past (assuming that no universe-breaking paradoxes apply) is that we get to find out for sure where more than one path leads. Let's not treat the present like the end of time.
Ultimately, I think my answer should not be one of attempted practicality but one of basic ethics. So yeah, I probably would try preemptively killing Hitler or whatnot. Even if it somehow screws up the present, it may be for the best in the longest run.
Also on the subject of time... ever say something like, "That's two hours I'm never getting back"? Well, the same applies to any set of two hours. Why single out the ones you didn't like?
On the subject of time, I've revisited the question of how one would change the past if time travel were an option. Like many others, I used to say I'd pass up the opportunity for fear of making the present worse via the butterfly effect. What hadn't occurred to me was that in reality, every time we make a decision, we cut off a potentially better future. The only difference between normal actions and changing the past (assuming that no universe-breaking paradoxes apply) is that we get to find out for sure where more than one path leads. Let's not treat the present like the end of time.
Ultimately, I think my answer should not be one of attempted practicality but one of basic ethics. So yeah, I probably would try preemptively killing Hitler or whatnot. Even if it somehow screws up the present, it may be for the best in the longest run.
Also on the subject of time... ever say something like, "That's two hours I'm never getting back"? Well, the same applies to any set of two hours. Why single out the ones you didn't like?