no because light wasn't reflected off the mirror 10 years ago

the first thing you'll see is the first hint of light being reflected off the mirror as soon as you built it

you can't look into before the mirror existed

also, gl zooming into the mirror in enough resolution to see yourself on earth

you'd probably just see earth, but it depends on where the mirror is relative to the sun

also, instantly, i doubt you'd see anything. If you watched for 10 years, it'd start appearing.

also fwiw, the sun isn't even one light year away from earth, so if that helps you understand the plausibility of the fact that you wouldn't see anything for 10 years, then there you go

This post was edited by Derkaderk on Oct 30 2011 02:41pm

Well i didn't know another name to call it but essentially i mean all time related conversation.

I've always had a fascination with the time-travel paradigm. I want to ask another question.

Lets say it's 2160 and we finally create a machine that allowed us to travel back through the time-continuum. We already know the history of the earth because it's already happened. And someone goes back through this machine and interferes with politics or any matter of great value and "changed" the outcome. I put "change" in quotes because my question is, since it's already happened, in that time period that person (From the future) is present in the world. So lets say its 2160 and john smith goes back to the 1600's and changed the outcome of a war. Would john smith have been present in the 1600's at that time? before being conceived in the 22nd century?

Not sure if that's worded clearly i'll re-write it if you dont understand the question. This is one of the loop-holes i've always admired about the topic.




The telescopes zoom level is not part of the question it was to assume these mechanisms have already been created but you do make a good point in saying you cannot look 20 years into the past before the mirror is constructed in the first place. And thanks for posting ~

This post was edited by TheInferno on Oct 30 2011 02:42pm

i don't think you can travel backwards in time, and furthermore, i think predicting what would happen if you started changing events in the past becomes very difficult very quickly

Well of course, in any time-travel related movie or conversation i've ever been in it's always been said that a strict rule of not seeing yourself, or messing with the outcome of a situation is strongly advised against because we cannot clearly see the ripples or repurcusions our change until you go back to your present moment in time.

well to answer your question directly then yes he would be a part of the 1600s...but it's an entirely different sequence of events, and who knows what paradoxes could arise from that. if he changed something that significant, the repercussions could include him not existing, and now your entire model is broken

the 1600s he is a part of are separate from the 1600s recorded before he went back in time. of course, if he went backwards, altered something, and then waited until 2160 (without doing anything else), then history would be written differently. essentially the past he learned about become fictional stories

again, this is not plausible

This post was edited by Derkaderk on Oct 30 2011 02:55pm

Interesting, looking forward to hearing others ideas. Because it's been said that whatevers happened in the past is what has happened already. Making it clear that if someone were to have travled back and changed the past that they have already done so.

right that's what i said. It's 2160, John Smith reads that the US won WWII. John Smith goes back and ensures Germany's victory. It's 2160 again. Now John Smith reads that Germany won the war. You're changing the future by changing the past. The two 2160s (before altering the past and after) are separate and entirely different. In the one where the US won WWII, John Smith never went backwards in time to ensure Germany's victory.

Wouldn't the light front the sun cause a beam on the mirror that would reflect back down on earth and pretty much destroy earth?

if it was parabolic and the earth was in the focus...maybe

Well yeah i was curious to see if others came to this conclusion so let me ask another thing. Since the world is how we know it, unless directly involved, can we even tell that these types of things haven't happened or isn't possible of happening?

Let's say i'm John Smith in 2011, and i say to myself. If there is ever time travel and i can come back in time and leave myself a note before i get to work today, and that note never shows up on your desk at work, that I John smith never created time travel?

And lets make that question more broad by saying, If anyone promised themself they would come back in time and never do, that time travel is never created? Or is absent of this question entirely because the two instances are not parallel?