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From: taylor@glasgow.glasgow.UUCP (Jem Taylor)
Newsgroups: net.physics,net.puzzle,net.sci,net.philosophy
Subject: Re: A Sane Man Proposes A Time Travel Experiment
Message-ID: <661@glasgow.glasgow.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 31-Jul-86 11:19:46 EDT
Article-I.D.: glasgow.661
Posted: Thu Jul 31 11:19:46 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 2-Aug-86 23:30:29 EDT
References: <289@axiom.UUCP>
Reply-To: taylor@glasgow.UUCP (Jem Taylor)
Organization: Comp Sci Dept, Glasgow Univ, Scotland
Lines: 39
Xref: mnetor net.physics:2527 net.puzzle:1316 net.sci:1138 net.philosophy:2242

In article <289@axiom.UUCP> gts@axiom.UUCP writes:
>If a message comes in, we know that sometime in the future, the stored info
>was retrieved and used to send info back in time using technology now
>unknown.
>
>If nothing comes in, we know that during the next x years (where x is the
>probable durability of the stored information) technology to send info
>back in time will not have been invented.

Trouble is, a negative response doesn't prove no time travel - 'they' might
fail to reply for reasons like "these primitives shouldn't know" (c.f. the
time lords in Dr. Who), they might miss the spot when replying - either too
soon or in the wrong place, they might not think it worth the trouble, or
they might worry about upsetting the course of history ( though I think that
the idea of being able to upset history is preposterous - history is HISTORY 
at least in any particular fork of possibility )

Good idea though; make sure the message you send 'into the future' is in a
language, as yet unknown, that they will understand . . . if it *does* work,
of course, the experiment should be very famous in the future and therefore
well publicised.

Jem.


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