When skeptics die and go to heaven

[Physics]

Mmm nice post Farsight, a light-hearted point would be that we're all time-travels, after all, we're moving forward in time right

"People believe in the possibility of time travel despite the total lack of supporting evidence" Is there any evidence to absolutely rule out the possibility of time travel? No, so there is a possibility that it's possible, in the same way it's entirely possible there is a god, in the same way it's entirely possible that that god is the flying spaghetti monster. You have failed to make the distinction between believing in, and appreciating the possibility of said ridiculous idea.
Homeopathy has been scientifically proven not to work, yet people believe it works. There is little to know evidence regarding time travel, and some people may believe it works, and the majority of open-minded skeptics appreciate the possibility but are not arrogant of ignorant enough to claim certainty on the matter.
Take the hydrogen bomb, when we had no evidence to support the idea of everything being made up of teeny tiny little bits, do you think the hydrogen bomb was impossible?

In conclusion, the evidence for your validity is pretty pathetic, and you are a grade A troll, au revoir!

[tolman]

Sure, I'm happy to discuss anything in a civil fashion, using carefully thought-out logic backed up by evidence and references.

I suppose a change is as good as a rest.
When are you planning on starting?

[Farsight]

Mmm nice post Farsight, a light-hearted point would be that we're all time-travel[lers]s, after all, we're moving forward in time right

No. There's no evidence for that, it's just a figure of speech. Ever heard of a stasis box? Like time travel, it's science fiction, but it's interesting. It's like the ultimate refrigerator. No motion occurs inside the box, so when I put you inside one, electromagnetic and other phenomena don’t propagate, so nothing happens. So you can’t see, you can’t hear, and you can’t even think. Hence when I open the door 5 years later, to you it’s like I opened the door just as soon as I closed it. You “travelled” to the future by not moving at all. Instead everything else moved.

Is there any evidence to absolutely rule out the possibility of time travel? No, so there is a possibility that it's possible, in the same way it's entirely possible there is a god, in the same way it's entirely possible that that god is the flying spaghetti monster. You have failed to make the distinction between believing in, and appreciating the possibility of said ridiculous idea.

I don't appreciate the possibility of God, the flying spaghetti monster, or time travel. They're all ridiculous ideas.

Homeopathy has been scientifically proven not to work, yet people believe it works.

IMHO things like homeopathy ride on the back of placebo effect, which "works" because people believe it works. It won't fix your broken leg, but it makes a measurable difference with certain ailments.

There is little to know evidence regarding time travel, and some people may believe it works, and the majority of open-minded skeptics appreciate the possibility but are not arrogant of ignorant enough to claim certainty on the matter.

When you understand that we don't really travel forward in time, you'll sling time travel into the same trashcan as all the other woo.

Take the hydrogen bomb, when we had no evidence to support the idea of everything being made up of teeny tiny little bits, do you think the hydrogen bomb was impossible?

No. People saw the possibilities because they understood E=mc².

In conclusion, the evidence for your validity is pretty pathetic, and you are a grade A troll, au revoir!

Sigh. OK, all this is off topic anyway. Sorry to have troubled you.

[Physics]

No. There's no evidence for that, it's just a figure of speech. Ever heard of a stasis box? Like time travel, it's science fiction, but it's interesting. It's like the ultimate refrigerator. No motion occurs inside the box, so when I put you inside one, electromagnetic and other phenomena don’t propagate, so nothing happens. So you can’t see, you can’t hear, and you can’t even think. Hence when I open the door 5 years later, to you it’s like I opened the door just as soon as I closed it. You “travelled” to the future by not moving at all. Instead everything else moved.

The evidence is that the world around us and we are in a state of flux. If we did not move through time then I would be everywhere that I have been and will be in my life, right now. My bed is next to me. It's empty. Change is evidence of time. Perhaps you have an alternate explanation?

I don't appreciate the possibility of God, the flying spaghetti monster, or time travel. They're all ridiculous ideas.

Therein lies your arrogance and ignorance.

When you understand that we don't really travel forward in time, you'll sling time travel into the same trashcan as all the other woo.

Believing something does not mean contrary ideas are impossible. Remember when everyone believed the earth was flat?

No. People saw the possibilities because they understood E=mc².

That doesn't answer my point. If the H-bomb was not impossible in their time then why is time travel impossible now?

backed up by evidence and references.

I haven't noticed any of this^

[Croydon Bob]

Remember when everyone believed the earth was flat?

I'm in 100% agreement with everything else you said... but...

NO, and nor does anyone else who has lived in the last 2,000 years remember a time when everyone believed the world to be flat.

[Farsight]

The evidence is that the world around us and we are in a state of flux.

Agreed. I hope nobody will argue with that.

If we did not move through time then I would be everywhere that I have been and will be in my life, right now.

No. Things move sure enough, but they just move. Think about a clock. Open up a mechanical clock and you see cogs and gears moving. But they're just moving, through space. The clock shows you an accumulation of this motion via its hands, and they move through space too. They don't actually "move through time". Again, that's just a figure of speech.

My bed is next to me. It's empty. Change is evidence of time. Perhaps you have an alternate explanation?

I do actually. But in brief: things move, things change. But that change is evidence that things change, not evidence of motion through time. We just tot up change, like inside a clock, and we call it time. And that change is there because all those cogs and gears move through space. I can move through space. I can jump forwards a metre. But you can't move through time. You can't jump forwards a second. Read what I said about the stasis box.

Therein lies your arrogance and ignorance.

It isn't mine. Show me some motion through time, and when you can't, look in the mirror.

Believing something does not mean contrary ideas are impossible. Remember when everyone believed the earth was flat?

No I don't, see above, but nevermind. People used to believe in geocenticism, that the earth was the centre of everything. It took a hundred years to convince them otherwise. Because they were skeptics. The thing that so-called skeptics don't understand is that sometimes they swallow stuff for which there is no evidence, hook line and sinker. Then they're skeptical when some guy points out that there is no evidence. They don't appreciate that people are suckers for believing in stuff for which there is no evidence. It's kind of like Christians laughing at heathens, but taken up a notch.

That doesn't answer my point. If the H-bomb was not impossible in their time then why is time travel impossible now?

Because time exists like heat exists, being an emergent property of motion, It's a cumulative measure of motion used in the relative measure of motion compared to the motion of light, and the only motion is through space. Like I said, travelling forward through time is just a figure of speech. Hence we can't travel backwards in time.

I haven't noticed any of this.

It's called Morton's Demon. Check out A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of Godel and Einstein.

[Physics]

NO, and nor does anyone else who has lived in the last 2,000 years remember a time when everyone believed the world to be flat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth_Society

Maybe not literally everyone but it has been a big idea BC. Plus people apparently believe it now.
Or did I just miss something?

[Matt]

Maybe not literally everyone but it has been a big idea BC. Plus people apparently believe it now.
Or did I just miss something?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_Flat_Earth

[chaggle]

The thing that so-called skeptics don't understand is that sometimes they swallow stuff for which there is no evidence, hook line and sinker.

Just what is this "stuff" that you believe "we skeptics" have "swallowed for which there is no evidence, hook line and sinker".

Oh, and why do you "believe" it?

[Physics]

Thanks for the link Matt, I stand corrected!

[Matt]

Thanks for the link Matt, I stand corrected!

No Worries, I just read the rather entertaining Flat Earth by Christine Garwood. First Chapter goes inot detail about the Myth of the Flat Earth, the rest deals with the more recent globular denialists whose motivations range from biblical literalism to a toungue in cheek challenge towards the uncritical acceptance of scientific authority.