Last night I had a dream about finding my Doberman that was stolen from me over 8 years ago (yes, stolen Doberman, talk about a pseudo-paradox). At the time I was devastated by the loss but managed to get over it eventually. Eight years later, I wake up with a feeling of distress as if I had lost Diesel yesterday. Have I really gotten over that loss then? This incident supported further my suspicion that we, humans, never really get over our significant losses. But is it just a case of strong memory and/or the reawakening of subconscious thoughts? Perhaps, but I think there is more to it than just that. To attack this subject properly, one has to understand the nature of time (yea, right. Like that’s possible).
So what is time? Einstein contended (and proved) that time is a 4th dimension. What’s a dimension? you may ask. Well, it’s something you should really know by the time you can read this blog. Ok, back to the question of time. Since time is a dimension one might imagine that it might be possible to move back and forth on it. Well, Einstein seemed to have conflicting viewpoints on this issue. He proved that one can, indeed, travel into the future by moving at a speed close to the speed of light (twin dilemma anyone?). His theories, however, argue that to travel back in time one will have to move faster than the speed of light, which he proved is not possible. Likewise, he argued that transfer of information at a speed higher than c (c = speed of light) is also impossible. Well, there is a pretty good chance Mr. Einstein was wrong on that count, argues the quantum entanglement theory. Now, what the hell is that?! you may, again, ask.
Quantum entanglement theory sloppily explained:
Ok, imagine 2 electrons or ping pong balls for that matter. I put each in a closed box and tell you that they both are spinning but one has the opposite spin direction of the other. At this point each ping pong ball has a 50% chance of spinning clockwise and 50% chance of spinning counter clockwise. In quantum physics terms, each ball is spinning in both directions at the same time (remember schrodinger’s cat?). I then give you one box and send you to one end of the universe, leaving the other box behind. There, you get curious, and without anyone around to stop you, you open the box. Now what happens? You see a spinning ping pong ball, duh. But here is the not-so-trivial implication. By opening that box and observing the spin direction of your ping pong ball, now you have changed the spin direction of the other ping pong ball all the way across the universe instantaneously, from spinning in both directions to spinning in one direction (opposite of the ball you’re carrying). Basically you have transferred information instantaneously (but please don’t try this at home). I don’t know about you Mr. Einstein, but that’s a teeny tiny bit faster than your c. But who frikin cares and what does all this ping pong crap have to do with a stolen dog?!
Well, it may be impossible for one to physically travel through time (and stay in one piece that is). However, what if it were possible for information and thoughts to be transferred through time? What if, all memories are not equal? In other words, if our present self is receiving information and thoughts from a different point in time, namely the past, would this information count as a memory? Not in my books (99.99% valid personal opinion). The implications here are massive but the assumption is outrageous. In the series of blogs to follow I will show you evidence that it may not actually be that crazy. Yes, seeing into the future is possible and yes, seeing into the past is too. Any doubts? You better have many. It will, however, be my pleasure to shred them to pieces as we go along. Until then, stay safe and don’t operate any time machines.
