Best Selling Science Fiction - Time Travel

Time Travel : Is It Just a Science Fiction or Reality?

Time does travel, but what needs to be understood and vetted against the logical and scientifically doable parameters, is the fact whether we can travel forward and backward in Time?

However, here it is important to first understand the perception or the envelope of reality that makes us sense the passing of time. Answering this part of the question would make the science fiction part ( Time Travel ) more oriented towards reality, where we can imagine a system that in true sense can be classified as a working Time Machine.

Before I become the subject of your ridicule, and I am showered with lamenting comments, based on the fact that I do not possess the subject expertise or authority to offer any insight on this topic. However, as I have mentioned in most of my blog posts, imagination precedes every scientific quest and it is human imagination that is the mother of all human ingenuity, because in objective reality, imagination even precedes necessity. 

That is scientific imagination. And I have every right to imagine and dream the dreams of Mr. H. G. Wells, and bear him an undaunted comrade-like company in his Time Machine. 

Therefore, anyone thinking of not attempting to read this blog post just based on the fact that my knowledge of physics is limited. Let me confess something: my common sense and passion to imagine is infinite. 

My confidence to write this blog post also lies in the fact that Mr. H. G. Wells, decided to brave all social and cultural odds; and wrote something as brave as: The Time Machine. Brave, because it was a thought that had actually managed to travel many light years ahead of all of us.

Anyway, I strongly believe, “No man/woman will be found in whose mind airy notions do not sometimes tyrannize, and force him/her to hope or fear beyond the limits of sober probability. 

And I have enough courage to think beyond the limits of sober probability. Now, if you wish to join me, you would definitely need some courage, and I am sure, all science fiction writers and readers have enough courage, that does not only dwell in their imagination, but in the palpable reality where the stage of life assigns us several roles. 

Are you ready to tread with me beyond the limits of sober probability?

Let us take the first step together by understanding, how do we perceive time or what offers us a sense of time?

Let us consider a simple example.

Imagine you are writing this blog post in a dark room, and you are not wearing a wrist watch, you just have a laptop with no internet connection, and all time and day related features are turned off. You are using Ms. Word. And in the menu bar you have inadvertently set the font colour to be: WHITE. Now as you type, you just see the Text Cursor moving. But, you do not see anything appearing behind the trail of the Text Cursor. 

Now imagine you are the Text Cursor that moves ahead with every strike of the new key. But as you look at the Ms. Word document nothing appears in print form- No words, no sentences. Nothing.

For the Text Cursor that is looking at the white trail on a white background, apparently time has not passed. Because there is nothing to reference it with. No substantive evidence that would prove its passing.

Whereas for you as the writer who is thinking > typing > visually examining and > approving every word, will pause; since you see no letters appearing on the white background of the word document. For you, in this situation the passing of time depends on three objective constants:

Constant 1 - Thinking

Constant 2 - Typing

And

Constant 3 - Visually examining and approving

While mentally, your mind recognises passing of time based on these three constants, it is able to validate constant 1 and constant 2, but when it comes to approving constant 3. It takes a pause, and for a moment your mind is forced to think that the time when associated with constant 3 has not passed at all.

There is a pause. But constant 1 and 2, persuade your mental perception of time to examine the validity of constant 3.

So what do you do?

You are aware you have typed the keys based on the words that emerged from your mind based on your thoughts. Therefore you check the menu bar, and instinctively, you highlight the area where you had typed, and you are delighted to realise that time actually did pass, it is just that the letters/words did not appear on the white background, because the font colour was set to white. The moment you set the font colour to black or any darker shade, you are not looking at the trail of words, you are looking at the streak of time. With proof!

When it comes to this interaction, there were three constants, namely:

Constant 1 - Thinking

Constant 2 - Typing

And

Constant 3 - Visually examining and approving

But these constant values are actually variables. Because for somebody driving, like my brother, who enjoys driving his car, the perception of time is based on different constants, which in this case may be more than 3. But they are always dependent on our senses. That is how we perceive time. 

Imagine somebody in a dark cell serving solitary confinement for a month. This person will have no perception of time after a week or so. But if we allow natural light in his dark and sound proof cell, this person will be able to establish perception of time based on the visual sense. Yet it will be inadequate after sometime. 

Based on this analogy it can be said that perception of time depends on several constant values, which are actually variables, that tend to vary based on the physical ecosystem that you are in, at a certain point of time and our senses. This is a layman’s perception of time.

If you control these constant values, you in a way control a person’s sense of perceiving time. Don't you!

But when we attempt to understand the perception of time using technical reasoning. Gravity is what needs to be understood in detail. Gravity has a direct influence on time, this is why time behaves differently in black holes, and many scientists believe it even ceases to exist. Because within the core of blackhole, many known laws of physics are cast into a state of chaos.

Please note : In actuality time never ceases to exist.

Now imagine you have a machine which enables you to travel through the core of blackhole. What do you think will happen? A lot actually.

How?

A black hole has an infinite density; since its volume is zero, it is compressed to the very limit. So it also has infinite gravity, and sucks anything which is near it!

But this should in no case mean or make you believe that time does not exist. It exists, it is just that its perception has faded away. And due to gravity space-time tends to warp exponentially, therefore slowing down the pace of time.

Why?

A celestial body that has very high gravity, time will tend to flow slowly. And now you can guess how it will pass in the black hole. Where there is infinite density leading to super strong pull of gravity, time will tend to dilate , and based on your perception, which is always governed by physical backgrounds and constants to ascertain its existence, you will experience a state of timelessness. But that is your impression, it is in no way reality’s capsule of time around that blackhole. 

Again wondering why?

Because if time stops, everything will stop, even gravity. It will be an event free universe. And every blackhole will turn placid. And using a word like PLACIDITY with blackhole will be nothing, but an oxymoron :)  

So this means, Gravity and Time share an interdependence which cannot be disentangled. But time can slow or move faster in certain regions of the space, depending upon the gravity in that part of the space and relative velocity.

How can we prove that time travels slower, what is the proof that all of us can understand easily?

Simple. You should know that Astronauts who spend time on the International Space Station tend to age slowly. Not by many years but by a few minutes.

Why?

Because the rockets generate enough ESCAPE VELOCITY, to leave the gravitational pull of Earth, thereby helping them enter the zone of space where gravity is very low- That is where the International Space Station lies. Now, here it is interesting to understand that if an Astronaut drops something heavy from the international space station, it will float in space endlessly with a faster perception of time, but if it enters the gravitational zone of a meteor that is passing by, it will instantly land on it because its gravity will act upon it, based on its mass and pull it towards the meteor. Now depending upon the gravity of the meteor it will experience a different pace of time. Well that was for the object discarded by an Astronaut from the International Space Station. 

I hope Mr. Elon Musk’s car that he launched in space does meet a similar fate. Poor car will get to rest eventually, otherwise it will be drifting endlessly in space.

Now that is about perception of time.

Wait, wait!

Have you watched the movie Interstellar? 

In that movie the main character ages very, very slowly, to the extent that when he returns to Earth, his daughter who is now a grandmother, is amazed to see her father, who is still in his mid 30s or 40s.

Do you know why?

In the film Interstellar, there is an extreme amount of time dilation because the planet that the main character travels to, called “Miller's Planet,” orbits a black hole. Time ticks much more slowly on this planet due to the immense mass of the black hole.

This also proves time is not a constant, although it depends on constants which exist as variables. And this offers us the perception of time.

Why time isn't constant

You should watch this ending scene from the movie : Interstellar: 

It should offer you the real perception of time. But in reverse mode. And I shall let you decide who you want to be? The adventurous and scientifically driven father or a daughter who has aged, but who never stopped believing in her father’s promise.

Perception of time, when scrutinised from all variables that exist as its guardians in the cosmos, can offer a perception that sometimes forces us, the humans, to think,”Do we want to be the masters of time or should we rather become explorers whose aim is to restore balance in the Universe?” Sounds a bit too philosophical for this blog post. So let it be for now!

Again. What about traveling in time?

Now this is a concept that needs a lot of logical thinking and probing, without fudging any aspect of reality that exists around the forces that define the entity called time.

Here is how I would explain Time Travel in my version of the science fiction where Time Travel is a concept that actually breathes vitality in the second part of the sci-fi novel, They Loved in 2075.

To Travel backwards and Forwards in time is possible, if we are able to Discover or Invent a way to Teleport humans from point A to Point B. Because time is governed by Gravity, and our movement is defined by gravity as well. Since time cannot cease to exist, you cannot put reins on it. It is always in motion, if we somehow can arrest the movement of time, everything in the universe will stand still. Because that would mean , gravity is either too intense or too weak. When that happens, there will be no force in the universe to move things around. Because in the universe there is no mechanical engine per say, using petroleum or nuclear fuel to put celestial bodies in motion. 

So what is this engine that keeps the Universe in motion?

It is gravity. If it does not exist nothing will move because then the universe will lose its fuel , not the engine that moves it. There will be a complete state of ever stretching freeze where nothing will move.

IMPORTANT

According to the Holy Bible time stood still in Joshua’s long day. 

Is it possible?

Yes!

But for that to happen we would have to slow down the rotation of the Earth.

And for that we would need technology that is 1000 years ahead. Because we will have to create a counter acting gravitational force around earth, that will tug around it and slow it down.

Anything is possible. You just need human will and right minded dreamers.

Quoting from the Holy Bible:

“Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel: ‘Sun, stand still [dom] upon Gibeon; and you, Moon, in the valley of Ayalon.’” (Joshua 10:12).

Anyway, what becomes of Time Machine and Time Travel? And let me tell you, I am a great fan of Mr. H. G. Wells.

Based on my assessment , we can look at human perceptions of time/events in backward and forward mode. This is possible. And the universe hints at it in simple and naked ways. It is just that we are not able to look at Gravity and its purpose with a deeper scientific research.

As for time travel, I again admit that there is a way, but that will be my secret for the second part of my science fiction novel: They Loved in 2075. 

For the sake of staying true to the title of this blog post, I will offer a credible hint from what I know about Time Travel. It is all about clusters of gravity mushrooming in the universe. That is where the secret to Time Travel Lies. And one would have to master these clusters of gravity in order to map time. After all, time dilates and warps. But traveling backwards in time is a puzzle that is surrounded by so much enigma, because traveling backwards in time is only possible via a wormhole that opens in different parts of the universe lying in different time zones. And this is where the time traveler appears to get stuck, because no worm hole has ever been found. 

Time Dilation

Why?

There are not any. That is according to my imagination.

It is these clusters of gravity that mushroom across the universe that actually create wormhole-like spaces, or escape routes for a time traveler. This is why mapping clusters of gravity spread across the universe is important. It is the only way to locate a real wormhole. Which in reality does not exist, we actually need to create it by means of mapping these clusters of gravity.

But how do you map these clusters of gravity?

With a lot of patience, mathematics and like minded people. Patience, because it would mean creating a universe like simulation on a computer and then assigning mass and location to each celestial body, along with probability of meteors or stray celestial bodies shooting by. When that is done, we will not be able to locate just the wormhole, we will be able to travel backwards in time with equal efficiency to travel forwards in time as well.

But do we have the will and consensus from all super powers of the world who would be willing to take on such a great project that could change our view of the universe? It would also offer a new perspective on the theory of Relativity. And it is very likely that even God Particle will reveal its secret- That mythical, illusive particle that has puzzled scientists for many decades now.

I have hope on my side.

But like I say, human imagination is boundless and it has the potential to overcome any hurdle. And it was because of a few dreamers who believed in the power and beauty of imagination that they endeavoured to create the only wonder of the World that exists for me, “CERN.” Where the God particle is being viewed in a reality that is not illusive. It lies prisoned in reality that is managed by great human minds at CERN.

CERN

I reiterate. Time travel is possible, both in backward and forward mode. But it is only via science fiction we can achieve the right scientific mode to achieve this feat in reality.

And in the science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075, where the plot is set in 2075, I am making no attempt whatsoever to travel via time into 2075, I have used simple imagination and current state of human inaction towards important environment related threats, like Global warming, that if left unaddressed would push humanity closer to extinction. At that point, even if we travel forward or backward in time, nothing can rescue humanity. Because it is at this point we shall be hit with all paradoxes, especially time paradoxes.

Science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075, does not only highlight the need for political will to spring into action and do something about the problem, it also highlights the psychological impact of technology, at different levels:

• Social level
  
• Cultural level
  
• Individual level
  

And how it impacts human ability to express feelings. It is brave enough to discover how humans will experience love in 2075. This science fiction novel navigates through the possibility of men and women falling in love with machines, without knowing they are robots imitating human emotions. Will you still dare to fall in love in 2075 or will you strive to tell the difference between a human lover and a robotic lover?

This Sci-fi novel tells the story of a man who falls in love with a real woman in 2075. And how he struggles to feel human and keep his emotional composition intact.

This Sci-fi story also aims at revealing why Saabir chose to love a real woman and not a never ageing and always beautiful woman with synthetic feelings. In 2075, this might be a choice we all will have to make. Especially our children!

If you care for the future of the Earth and preservation of domicile expression of human emotions, then you must explore the  story, where Saabir comes face to face with the artificial reality that tries to superimpose itself as the only view and perception of reality, there shall be in 2075. Yet Saabir manages to love and feel love, for a woman who is a real human and not just a machine.

While I hope, Saabir can travel way forward in time, with his girlfriend, into a period of time where it is not a sin to imagine and engage in scientific probing. And where the inhabitants of the planet do not turn a blind away towards issues that matter. I hope of this Time Machine that will lead the entire human species into good times, where we coexist with one another and the ecosystem that sustains us without any prejudice or bias.

As for the lovers of science fiction novels, we tend to somehow hope together and alike. Because we believe in dreams and the formidable force of human imagination!