1203: Time Machines - Revision history

FaviFake: From the [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ#citation|Editor FAQ § [Citation needed]:]] "This template should only be placed when there is a deeper sense of humor and should not be overused."

2025-07-29T16:09:55Z

From the Editor FAQ § [Citation needed]: "This template should only be placed when there is a deeper sense of humor and should not be overused."

FaviFake: /* Explanation */ xcit

2025-07-29T16:09:45Z

‎Explanation: xcit

172.71.159.2 at 19:29, 22 February 2025

2025-02-22T19:29:07Z

Firestar233 at 23:00, 14 February 2025

2025-02-14T23:00:01Z

141.101.98.144: Undo revision 354365 by 172.70.130.85 (talk) That was two {{Citation needed}}s, neither were spectacularily funny and one was wrongly punctuated. All in all, perhaps not...

2024-10-25T14:32:41Z

Undo revision 354365 by 172.70.130.85 (talk) That was two {{Citation needed}}s, neither were spectacularily funny and one was wrongly punctuated. All in all, perhaps not...

172.70.130.85: Added a "citation needed"

2024-10-25T13:06:12Z

Added a "citation needed"

CalibansCreations: Undo revision 347915 by 172.68.50.233 (talk) erm what the aram

2024-10-07T14:06:24Z

Undo revision 347915 by 172.68.50.233 (talk) erm what the aram

172.68.50.233: /* Explanation */

2024-08-02T12:25:37Z

‎Explanation

172.71.178.58: there may be a more advanced useless machine out there

2024-03-14T01:38:41Z

there may be a more advanced useless machine out there

Pie Guy: Commented on the potential for grim horror born from this concept

2023-11-14T19:41:04Z

Commented on the potential for grim horror born from this concept

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:09, 29 July 2025
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	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
		+
	[[Cueball]] activates a time machine to go back into the past. The time machine rewinds time, but in the process rewinds the event where the time machine itself was turned on, turning the time machine off in the process. He is now a few seconds in the past, prior to having activated the time machine, but he is baffled that he does not seem to have accomplished anything and turned off the time machine unintentionally. It would seem that the time machine is the world's most technologically-advanced "{{w\|useless machine}}" (a device whose only purpose is to switch itself off when it is switched on).		[[Cueball]] activates a time machine to go back into the past. The time machine rewinds time, but in the process rewinds the event where the time machine itself was turned on, turning the time machine off in the process. He is now a few seconds in the past, prior to having activated the time machine, but he is baffled that he does not seem to have accomplished anything and turned off the time machine unintentionally. It would seem that the time machine is the world's most technologically-advanced "{{w\|useless machine}}" (a device whose only purpose is to switch itself off when it is switched on).

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 ==Explanation==
-[[Cueball]] activates a time machine to go back into the past. The time machine rewinds time, but in the process rewinds the event where the time machine itself was turned on, turning the time machine off in the process. He is now a few seconds in the past, prior to having activated the time machine, but he is baffled that he does not seem to have accomplished anything and turned off the time machine unintentionally. It would seem that the time machine is the world's most technologically-advanced{{Citation needed}} "{{w|useless machine}}" (a device whose only purpose is to switch itself off when it is switched on).
+[[Cueball]] activates a time machine to go back into the past. The time machine rewinds time, but in the process rewinds the event where the time machine itself was turned on, turning the time machine off in the process. He is now a few seconds in the past, prior to having activated the time machine, but he is baffled that he does not seem to have accomplished anything and turned off the time machine unintentionally. It would seem that the time machine is the world's most technologically-advanced "{{w|useless machine}}" (a device whose only purpose is to switch itself off when it is switched on).
 The title text mimics a countdown to an event. "T minus 10," for example, means 10 seconds until the event. When the event is the activation of a time machine traveling back in time, after 10 seconds it will once again be "T minus 10," and a second later it will be "T minus 11," counting up rather than down. This casts doubt on the value of the countdown because, from the perspective of the time traveler, the event has already taken place.

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 Cueball is only able to travel back in time a few seconds because in this comic time is seen as continuous and linear from Cueball's point of view, so he can only travel back in time to the moment he activated the machine (the first series of "E"s is the machine warming up and the second series of "E"s is that in reverse) the logic behind this is that because time appears to be continuous, Cueball's input was required for the machine to work. Since it does not appear to be a traveling vessel, it is also possible that Cueball could trap himself in the past by traveling to a time before the machine was created, and it would remain in the present.
-It is very fortunate that Cueball retains knowledge of the future/events of the time traveling during the process; if he didn't, then the universe would become trapped in a time loop, with Cueball flipping the machine on, which then reverts time back to before it was turned on, leading Cueball to (believing that he has not yet turned on the machine) immediately reactivate it, dooming the universe to repeat the same few seconds indefinitely.
+It is very fortunate that Cueball retains knowledge of the time travel process, brief as it was; if he didn't, then the universe would become trapped in a time loop, with Cueball flipping the machine on, which then reverts time back to before it was turned on, leading Cueball to (believing that he has not yet turned on the machine) immediately reactivate it, dooming the universe to repeat the same few seconds indefinitely.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{comic
 | number    = 1203
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 :[Cueball looks at his palms.]
 :Cueball: ???
 {{comic discussion}}
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 [[Category:Comics with color]]
 [[Category:Time travel]]

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 [[Cueball]] activates a time machine to go back into the past. The time machine rewinds time, but in the process rewinds the event where the time machine itself was turned on, turning the time machine off in the process. He is now a few seconds in the past, prior to having activated the time machine, but he is baffled that he does not seem to have accomplished anything and turned off the time machine unintentionally. It would seem that the time machine is the world's most technologically-advanced{{Citation needed}} "{{w|useless machine}}" (a device whose only purpose is to switch itself off when it is switched on).
-The title text mimics a countdown to an event. "T minus 10," for example, means 10 seconds until the event{{Citation needed}}. When the event is the activation of a time machine traveling back in time, after 10 seconds it will once again be "T minus 10," and a second later it will be "T minus 11," counting up rather than down. This casts doubt on the value of the countdown because, from the perspective of the time traveler, the event has already taken place.
+The title text mimics a countdown to an event. "T minus 10," for example, means 10 seconds until the event. When the event is the activation of a time machine traveling back in time, after 10 seconds it will once again be "T minus 10," and a second later it will be "T minus 11," counting up rather than down. This casts doubt on the value of the countdown because, from the perspective of the time traveler, the event has already taken place.
-Cueball is only able to travel back in time a few seconds{{Citation needed}} because in this comic time is seen as continuous and linear from Cueball's point of view, so he can only travel back in time to the moment he activated the machine (the first series of "E"s is the machine warming up and the second series of "E"s is that in reverse) the logic behind this is that because time appears to be continuous, Cueball's input was required for the machine to work. Since it does not appear to be a traveling vessel, it is also possible that Cueball could trap himself in the past by traveling to a time before the machine was created, and it would remain in the present.
+Cueball is only able to travel back in time a few seconds because in this comic time is seen as continuous and linear from Cueball's point of view, so he can only travel back in time to the moment he activated the machine (the first series of "E"s is the machine warming up and the second series of "E"s is that in reverse) the logic behind this is that because time appears to be continuous, Cueball's input was required for the machine to work. Since it does not appear to be a traveling vessel, it is also possible that Cueball could trap himself in the past by traveling to a time before the machine was created, and it would remain in the present.
 It is very fortunate that Cueball retains knowledge of the future/events of the time traveling during the process; if he didn't, then the universe would become trapped in a time loop, with Cueball flipping the machine on, which then reverts time back to before it was turned on, leading Cueball to (believing that he has not yet turned on the machine) immediately reactivate it, dooming the universe to repeat the same few seconds indefinitely.

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:41, 14 November 2023
Line 13:		Line 13:

	Cueball is only able to travel back in time a few seconds because in this comic time is seen as continuous and linear from Cueball's point of view, so he can only travel back in time to the moment he activated the machine (the first series of "E"s is the machine warming up and the second series of "E"s is that in reverse) the logic behind this is that because time appears to be continuous, Cueball's input was required for the machine to work. Since it does not appear to be a traveling vessel, it is also possible that Cueball could trap himself in the past by traveling to a time before the machine was created, and it would remain in the present.		Cueball is only able to travel back in time a few seconds because in this comic time is seen as continuous and linear from Cueball's point of view, so he can only travel back in time to the moment he activated the machine (the first series of "E"s is the machine warming up and the second series of "E"s is that in reverse) the logic behind this is that because time appears to be continuous, Cueball's input was required for the machine to work. Since it does not appear to be a traveling vessel, it is also possible that Cueball could trap himself in the past by traveling to a time before the machine was created, and it would remain in the present.
		+
		+	It is very fortunate that Cueball retains knowledge of the future/events of the time traveling during the process; if he didn't, then the universe would become trapped in a time loop, with Cueball flipping the machine on, which then reverts time back to before it was turned on, leading Cueball to (believing that he has not yet turned on the machine) immediately reactivate it, dooming the universe to repeat the same few seconds indefinitely.

	==Transcript==		==Transcript==