Is time travel ethical?

[Cammmpbell]

I was thinking whether if one could travel back in time and change certain instances in their life which caused them future distress would that be ethical? I say this because I wonder whether prevention of the inevitable (whether its a direct or indirect cause of misfortune) would be ethical in the sense that we are trying to prevent future pain.

For example, I was thinking if I could go back in time and warn my mother to get an early breast examination, and she did and caught breast cancer early would she be alive today, and if so, would he death somehow come in another form? What do you guys think about time travel and ethics?

Someone today thinking about ethics in time travel is liken to Columbus planning an orderly exploration of the Milky Way Galaxy instead of a wind powered boat trip.

 

[idb]

The present is what it is.
How do we know that it hasn't been affected by time-travellers already?
You couldn't go back and kill Hitler then come back to the present, because it wouldn't be the same present...and no-one in it would know any different.

 

[Cammmpbell]

The present is what it is.
How do we know that it hasn't been affected by time-travellers already?
You couldn't go back and kill Hitler then come back to the present, because it wouldn't be the same present...and no-one in it would know any different.

LMAO!!


You should stop reading that sci fi and spend a little time whackin your pud

 

[idb]

Haha, that sounds good too.
It's an interesting philosophical discussion though doncha think?

 

[Cammmpbell]

Haha, that sounds good too.
It's an interesting philosophical discussion though doncha think?

I never have been into the philosophical too much. I guess coming out of the depression era made me a "bird in the hand" man...no pun intended.

 

[Dreamy]

I was thinking whether if one could travel back in time and change certain instances in their life which caused them future distress would that be ethical? I say this because I wonder whether prevention of the inevitable (whether its a direct or indirect cause of misfortune) would be ethical in the sense that we are trying to prevent future pain.

For example, I was thinking if I could go back in time and warn my mother to get an early breast examination, and she did and caught breast cancer early would she be alive today, and if so, would he death somehow come in another form? What do you guys think about time travel and ethics?

Things happen in one's life for a reason. I would not want to change anything in my past. My poor decisions have made me wiser, facing adversity through conclusion to triumph has made me stronger; experiencing joy and loss has made me grateful for what I have today and cherish it.

Most importantly, I pass these life lessons to my son and hopefully he will learn from my experiences. While life does not comes with a physical instruction book, a parent in many cases is the only version life's instruction book a child may ever read.

Of course it is not ethical, there would be an unfair advantage

Excellent points. The time travel part with no ability to change events however s still intriguing.

 

[Pogo]

The present is what it is.
How do we know that it hasn't been affected by time-travellers already?
You couldn't go back and kill Hitler then come back to the present, because it wouldn't be the same present...and no-one in it would know any different.

LMAO!!


You should stop reading that sci fi and spend a little time whackin your pud

Wtf? Idb is exactly right. Why would that not be true??

 

[Cammmpbell]

The present is what it is.
How do we know that it hasn't been affected by time-travellers already?
You couldn't go back and kill Hitler then come back to the present, because it wouldn't be the same present...and no-one in it would know any different.

LMAO!!


You should stop reading that sci fi and spend a little time whackin your pud

Wtf? Idb is exactly right. Why would that not be true??

lmao!!!!!!

Now I'm hung in a two bit internet forum with folks who believe cosmology and quantum mechanics fit their cup of tea

 

[Pogo]

LMAO!!


You should stop reading that sci fi and spend a little time whackin your pud

Wtf? Idb is exactly right. Why would that not be true??

lmao!!!!!!

Now I'm hung in a two bit internet forum with folks who believe cosmology and quantum mechanics fit their cup of tea

I have no idea what that's supposed to mean.

Take it, Nomad...
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZwVCjhq3YI]Star Trek - Nomad says "Non Sequitur" a few times - YouTube[/ame]

 

[idb]

LMAO!!


You should stop reading that sci fi and spend a little time whackin your pud

Wtf? Idb is exactly right. Why would that not be true??

lmao!!!!!!

Now I'm hung in a two bit internet forum with folks who believe cosmology and quantum mechanics fit their cup of tea

Huh?

 

[Mr Natural]

Let's get the possible and practical down first, then we'll worry about the ethical.

 

[Mr Natural]

I was thinking whether if one could travel back in time and change certain instances in their life which caused them future distress would that be ethical? I say this because I wonder whether prevention of the inevitable (whether its a direct or indirect cause of misfortune) would be ethical in the sense that we are trying to prevent future pain.

For example, I was thinking if I could go back in time and warn my mother to get an early breast examination, and she did and caught breast cancer early would she be alive today, and if so, would he death somehow come in another form? What do you guys think about time travel and ethics?

What difference would it make? I visited my 100 year old mother yesterday and she doesn't know Wednesday from Sunday. Dying is something we all have to do....and unlike others I believe dead is dead. I'd rather be run over by a Mack truck than lay around incapacitated for years dependent upon others.

Yes.

There's big difference between living and being alive.

 

[Aristotle]

I was thinking whether if one could travel back in time and change certain instances in their life which caused them future distress would that be ethical? I say this because I wonder whether prevention of the inevitable (whether its a direct or indirect cause of misfortune) would be ethical in the sense that we are trying to prevent future pain.

For example, I was thinking if I could go back in time and warn my mother to get an early breast examination, and she did and caught breast cancer early would she be alive today, and if so, would he death somehow come in another form? What do you guys think about time travel and ethics?

What difference would it make? I visited my 100 year old mother yesterday and she doesn't know Wednesday from Sunday. Dying is something we all have to do....and unlike others I believe dead is dead. I'd rather be run over by a Mack truck than lay around incapacitated for years dependent upon others.

the usage of my using my mother was an example of a scenario dealing with ethics. You could think of a plethora of scenarios to tackle this situation.

 

[Aristotle]

I was thinking whether if one could travel back in time and change certain instances in their life which caused them future distress would that be ethical? I say this because I wonder whether prevention of the inevitable (whether its a direct or indirect cause of misfortune) would be ethical in the sense that we are trying to prevent future pain.

For example, I was thinking if I could go back in time and warn my mother to get an early breast examination, and she did and caught breast cancer early would she be alive today, and if so, would he death somehow come in another form? What do you guys think about time travel and ethics?

In my opinion, if we were able to time travel ..(I would love to go back to the 1920s....also to the Roman Empire.... etc..) we would only be observers, just observers and we would not be able to change anything in the future.

And that is more than plenty to me! A Time Travel Machine! WOW!

Skye that was interesting.....You are thinking much like a scientist

 

[Aristotle]

I was thinking whether if one could travel back in time and change certain instances in their life which caused them future distress would that be ethical? I say this because I wonder whether prevention of the inevitable (whether its a direct or indirect cause of misfortune) would be ethical in the sense that we are trying to prevent future pain.

For example, I was thinking if I could go back in time and warn my mother to get an early breast examination, and she did and caught breast cancer early would she be alive today, and if so, would he death somehow come in another form? What do you guys think about time travel and ethics?

Things happen in one's life for a reason. I would not want to change anything in my past. My poor decisions have made me wiser, facing adversity through conclusion to triumph has made me stronger; experiencing joy and loss has made me grateful for what I have today and cherish it.

Most importantly, I pass these life lessons to my son and hopefully he will learn from my experiences. While life does not comes with a physical instruction book, a parent in many cases is the only version life's instruction book a child may ever read.

Of course it is not ethical, there would be an unfair advantage

Yeah Connery I see where you're coming from and indeed I am prompted to agree with you. I guess coming from a standpoint where I've lost my best friend, my mom I would want to let her know that her future self, does not exist due to her negligence of getting a breast examination.

 

[Aristotle]

Let's get the possible and practical down first, then we'll worry about the ethical.

Well the thread is hypothetical, so you can say "All things being true."

 

[Harry Dresden]

the Doctor says as long as you dont interfere and change things time travel is cool....

 

[idb]

the Doctor says as long as you dont interfere and change things time travel is cool....

But, if you change things, when you get back to your time then that's the way things have always been.
So really, nothing has changed and your actions were just part of history.
So maybe ethics don't come into it at all.

 

[rightwinger]

Just don't mess with the Space/Time Continuum

 

[Harry Dresden]

the Doctor says as long as you dont interfere and change things time travel is cool....

But, if you change things, when you get back to your time then that's the way things have always been.
So really, nothing has changed and your actions were just part of history.
So maybe ethics don't come into it at all.

and if something important did not happen because of what you did.....like maybe the allies losing WW2 and Hitler ruling the world?....OR something very important in your life....what then?....