Editing 1716: Time Travel Thesis
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
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+ | {{incomplete | Explanation can be scaled back to mention that closed loop and time paradoxes are not real since time travelers can predict outcome of conversation that may never take place}} | ||
[[Cueball]] has apparently been reading about {{w|time travel}}. He tells [[Megan]] about this, and Megan excitedly remarks that she did her college thesis on time travel which basically means that she is supposed to know a lot more about time travel than a guy who has just been "reading" about it. | [[Cueball]] has apparently been reading about {{w|time travel}}. He tells [[Megan]] about this, and Megan excitedly remarks that she did her college thesis on time travel which basically means that she is supposed to know a lot more about time travel than a guy who has just been "reading" about it. | ||
− | Cueball, however, continues to ask her if she knows basic facts about time travel | + | Cueball, however, continues to ask her if she knows basic facts about time travel, like he is investigating if he has discovered facets about it that she would have overlooked while writing a thesis about it. Megan keeps trying to say that since she wrote a '''Time Travel Thesis''', (hence the title of the comic), she already knows all of this and much, much more, and she is obviously getting frustrated by Cueball's attempts to impress her with his "knowledge". |
At this point Megan's future-self arrives with a ''Bzzzzt'', having used time travel to arrive at this exact moment in time. It seem she has continued her research and has successfully managed to make a time machine. | At this point Megan's future-self arrives with a ''Bzzzzt'', having used time travel to arrive at this exact moment in time. It seem she has continued her research and has successfully managed to make a time machine. | ||
− | The reason she arrives is only to tell her younger self that this conversation with Cueball doesn't go anywhere and isn't important, and so present-Megan can leave and not waste her time anymore. Up till then, Megan was presumably reluctant to break off a conversation on the topic of time travel, since the conversation could potentially have improved, or | + | The reason she arrives is only to tell her younger self that this conversation with Cueball doesn't go anywhere and isn't important, and so present-Megan can leave and not waste her time anymore. Up till then, Megan was presumably reluctant to break off a conversation on the topic of time travel, since the conversation could potentially have improved, or maybe she was even at first attracted to Cueball and interested because he at least had read about time travel. But once the conversation began to run off track, it came as a relief to know that she could quit without the risk of missing out on anything important. Also, since Megan took the effort to time travel back to this exact moment, that must mean the conversation was so boring and uneventful she kept regretting having this conversation even far into the future to the point where she remembers it as one of the moments that need to be changed with her acquired time travel abilities. |
And then she just walks away with her future-self leaving Cueball hanging in the last panel, having invented a completely new way to get out of useless/boring conversations. | And then she just walks away with her future-self leaving Cueball hanging in the last panel, having invented a completely new way to get out of useless/boring conversations. | ||
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Alternatively, future-Megan just makes an excuse to haul present-Megan off in order to prevent the latter from disclosing some details of time travel science to Cueball, which could have unintended consequences. However, using very advanced technology, or even violating physics law, for ''very mundane'' ends is very common in xkcd, so using time travel to prevent useless conversation is not surprising from Megan. | Alternatively, future-Megan just makes an excuse to haul present-Megan off in order to prevent the latter from disclosing some details of time travel science to Cueball, which could have unintended consequences. However, using very advanced technology, or even violating physics law, for ''very mundane'' ends is very common in xkcd, so using time travel to prevent useless conversation is not surprising from Megan. | ||
− | In either case, future-Megan finished this conversation before inventing time travel, and thus knows this conversation's outcome. So by coming back, she now changes her own (and Cueball's) future. Of course the general implications of being able to travel like this are enormous, and the paradoxes arising from such a possibility are endless, the | + | In either case, future-Megan finished this conversation before inventing time travel, and thus knows this conversation's outcome. So by coming back, she now changes her own (and Cueball's) future. Of course the general implications of being able to travel like this are enormous, and the paradoxes arising from such a possibility are endless. For instance, future-Megan could now describe to present-Megan how to make the time machine, a case of the {{w|Grandfather paradox|Grandfather paradox, where an object creates itself, or cause a paradox where present-Megan, upon becoming future-Megan, no longer goes back in time to stop the conversation she knows is useless, causing the new present-Megan to have the whole conversation only to find out it is unimportant. Generally time travel is a [[:Category:Time travel|recurring theme]] in xkcd. It is worth noting, however, that the comic does not inherently cause a paradox. Were Megan to actually finish the conversation originally and then travel back in time to interrupt it, present-Megan now doesn't finish the conversation, and upon becoming future-Megan may not travel back, causing present-Megan to experience the full conversation and know the conversation needs to be stopped, thus going back in time in her own future to stop it. But, so long as the Megan who ''didn't'' finish the conversation stills travels back in time with the ''knowledge'' that the conversation needed to be stopped and still saves her younger self from wasting her time, a time loop can be logically sustained. |
− | It is possible that [[Randall]] may have had some conversations like this, where after having | + | It is possible that [[Randall]] may have had some conversations like this, where after having spend a lot of time getting nothing out of it himself, would have wished his future self had come back to tell him to just leave the conversation now. |
− | In the title text present-Megan asks future-Megan about her futuristic googles and what they are for, presumably assuming they are needed for the time travel (maybe it is the backpack?) | + | In the title text present-Megan asks future-Megan about her futuristic googles and what they are for, presumably assuming they are needed for the time travel (maybe it is the backpack?) However it turns out it's just some old and broken {{w|Google Glass}}. The only reason future Megan wears these is that she attended a party at the club that had a 2010's night theme. Google Glass has been mocked twice before, first in [[1251: Anti-Glass]], and the reason they may be broken can be found in the second instance [[1304: Glass Trolling]]. |
− | + | This is an indication of how far from the future she has traveled, as Google Glass was first released in the 2010s. It is not clear whether she is wearing Google Glass because it became popular in the 2010s or because it was an esoteric piece of hardware that people would readily associate with the 2010s. Also a 90s party may be thrown today, but not a 2000s party. So it is safe to assume that Megan is at least from the 2030s. Also people attending retro dress-up parties frequently make mistakes and do not dress up exactly in-style, creating some anachronisms, especially if they dress up like they did many years ago. | |
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− | This is an indication of how far from the future she has traveled, as Google Glass was first released in the 2010s. It is not clear whether she is wearing Google Glass because it became popular in the 2010s or because it was an esoteric piece of hardware that people would readily associate with the 2010s. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
[[Category:Time travel]] | [[Category:Time travel]] | ||
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