Time travel has been a topic that has seemingly fascinated people for centuries. It has been written about in science fiction novels, made popular in blockbuster movies, and theorized in television shows. The concept is simple, it is moving from one point in time to a different point in time. In actuality, we’re all time travelers; we are slowly traveling into the future. Scientists have created many theories of how time travel could work. The most recognized theory is Einstein’s theory of relativity, E=MC2. In this theory, E represents the units of energy, m represents the units of mass, and c2 represents the speed of light squared. In a nutshell, Einstein’s equation theorizes that the closer something travels near the speed of light, the slower time will pass. There are many other well-known theories, which include wormholes and paradoxes such as: bootstrap, grandfather, and multiple universes. There are even theories that postulate time travel through out-of-body experiences, where one’s mind can leave their body and move into a different time and place. But for this argument, let’s consider physical time travel only. Let’s say at some point in the future, mankind creates a spaceship or machine that is capable of manipulating time by moving near the speed of light. Basically, at some point in the future our technology gives us the ability to bend time and space, and with this ability we are able to master the ability to traverse into the past and the future by controlling the length, width, and depth of space and time directed by the apparatus. By creating such a machine, you would be able to travel forward or backwards in time based on the duration and rate of speed traveled.
If this is possible, the logical assumption is that people from the future would travel back through time. Some of these individuals would likely visit the time that we live in. There are theories that speculate that time travel is scientifically impossible, but if an individual traveled to the past, their actions would alter history. Based on the rate of technological advancement that has occurred over the last 20 years (cell phones, computers, the Internet, etc.), one could speculate that anything and everything is possible, it’s just a matter of “time”. If anything is possible, then individuals are already using this device.
How could individuals from the future sending themselves back to our time or past not affect the past occurrences of our lifetime? First let’s assume the cost of building such a machine would be beyond the means of any individual or company. It would likely take the joint funding efforts of multiple countries. Therefore, the answer could simply be the highly regulated and controlled use of time travel. Coupling the ever-increasing pace of regulation and oversight on all aspects of everyday life with the use of a time traveling device, it would likely result in an environment where time travel is in complete and absolute control by a regulating body. This would ensure history is not altered. Under this assumption, time travel would not be viewed as a possibility, but as an eventual reality.
