5/17/07
Dear T.T.C.,
By any chance, have you ever had to fix a broken flux capacitor? Because whenever I try to travel anywhere it’s always a little bit off. Like when I tried to be on time for my friend’s 21st birthday party so that I could call him a cab to take his drunken self home, I ended up six months late. But the weird thing is that he was drunk at the point when I met up with him too. And he definitely needed to get home, so I guess that worked out OK. Anyway, if you have any tips for getting my flux-er to start working with any kind of precision it would be great.
Cheers!
Emmett Neumann
Dear Emmett,
As you know it’s not really appropriate for us to explain the intricate workings of time travel equipment, but there are a few things that we could help you out with. First of all, it might help if you stopped messing around with people who are very close to your own timeline. This probably won’t help you with your flux capacitor, but it will help you to prevent the creation of paradoxes. You might also want to reconsider referring to your flux capacitor as a “flux-er”. Just a suggestion. And finally, we’ve found it very helpful to install a chronographic display synced up with the flux capacitor so that when you try to set your travel destination, you can easily see where you are pointing your vehicle. We hope this helps you in your quest to take care of drunken friends.
Sincerely,
The T.T.C. Staff
5/08/07
Dear T.T.C. Staff,
I was time traveling like normal, and then I accidentally ran into the future version of myself, which was weird, but then we got to talking and there was a big difference between what I remembered just happening to me in my time and what the other me remembered happening at around the same time. It’s like someone completely wiped my memory or something. Do you think that I traveled to an alternate reality by mistake? Or am I just really messed up in the future?
Faithfully yours,
Elroy McAllister
Dear Elroy,
So what you’re trying to tell us is that you managed to travel to the future and you might have run into your future self but the world didn’t collapse? Not that the world always collapses if you interact with your own timeline, but it is generally a good idea to avoid it anyway (see our article on paradoxes).
However, assuming that you did, in fact, meet your future self but your future self just did not remember whatever it is that you were talking about and, taking into consideration the manner in which you wrote your letter, it is actually possible that you are “messed up” in the future. But it is also equally likely that the person you met in the future wasn’t actually you. Is it possible that you have some relative in the future who looks like you?
As for the alternate reality idea, we here at the T.T.C. believe that it is theoretically possible that these things exist but that it is extremely unlikely that anyone would ever travel to one by accident and come back to their own reality without being sure that they were ever gone to begin with. It is our belief that dimensional manipulation of this magnitude would be pretty hard to ignore.
Sincerely,
The T.T.C. Staff
05/02/07
This week's letter comes from a devoted reader from some time in the early 21st century. He or she writes:
Dear T.T.C. Staff,
Hello there! I am a long-time fan of yours and, while it’s kind of embarrassing to admit it, I absolutely adore the television series,Doctor Who! So I was just wondering what your take on this fabulous series is especially it’s take on time travel.
Yours Truly,
R. Kendall
Dear R.,
We were very pleased to hear that you’re a “fan” of our newsletter. In response of your question: what do we think of Doctor Who? Here’s our take on the longest-running science ficiton series so far. First of all, we have to admit that we're extremely jeaous of the Doctor's TARDIS (the time machine used in the show). And the over all scientific concepts used by the writers of the show are interesting if not always accurate. But the writers tend to make things way more complicated than necessary all in the name of plot development and to skip out on the scientific explanations. Overall, as far as entertainment goes, we like the Doctor and his many adventures throughout space-time. And that David Tennant who plays the latest regeneration of the title character is pretty good (he certainly looks like an alien). Thanks for writing in!
Sincerely,
The T.T.C. Staff
04/25/07
We here at the T.T.C. are often consulted on the outcome of future events. To these pointless questions, we always reply the same (if we reply at all)--that we can’t divulge that kind of information about the future without creating a potentially Universe-destroying paradox and that the destruction, chaos, and over all loss of live created by this tear in the space-time continuum would definitely not be worth the gratification of knowing whether Harry Potter, a fictional character, will live or die. Anyway, we thought it might make a good read to share with you some of the more entertaining letters we’ve gotten in the “past” to kick off the first letter posted on our new home on the Internet.
Dear T.T.C. Staff,
Hi! Oh my goodness gracious! I can’t believe you can travel through time! I was telling my cats just the other day how wonderful it would be if the world were run by cats! Think of the catnip market! If it’s not too much trouble, could you tell this lover of felines when this will happen?
Toodles!
Then there’s this one. Typical.
Dear T.T.C.,
Your site is just brilliant! Even better than the confrontation between Harry and Sirius in book three. Well almost. I hope you don’t think I’m a nutter (‘cause I’m not!) but could you please tell me what happens in book seven? Thanks.
Cheers!
JK
And this one’s a slight variation on the theme:
Dear T.T.C. Staff,
Greetings! My name is Andrew Carlssin and I’m from the year 2256. As a fellow time traveler, I can relate to how difficult it must be to always be asked about the future by those who wish to use your knowledge for their own financial gain. But then I woke and smelled the business opportunities! With our combined knowledge of the chronology of various stock exchanges and marketplaces, we could make a vast fortune like none that have come before! The amount of money we would make would be truly infinite! What are we waiting for?! Let’s work together for a better future for ourselves!
Excitedly Yours,
Andrew Carlssin