The Next Great Race

“Would you go back in time if you could?”

“No.”

“No?”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“Really?”

“Playing with time is like playing with the sun.”

“It’d burn you to a crisp?”

“Basically.”

“But, Man, what if they already have time-travel in the future? They would be right here, right now, stealing our free-will.”

“How do you figure that?”

“If they are shaping the future that they want, then what kind of freedom do we have in the present?”

“. . . I hadn’t thought of that.”

“I’m telling you, man, as soon as time-travel is invented, everyone will want it and everyone will have to have it in order to have free-will. Imagine five people going back and changing the past? That’s there ‘will’ we will be playing in. But imagine if 5 billion people could time-travel? Maybe then we’d have the chaotic free-will that we currently have?”

“If only the rich or elites could travel in time, you think they would keep it a secret?”

“Of course! Imagine if someone felt like Steve Jobs was too rich and they traveled in time to even the playing field? Do you think the elites would let that happen? And what would it do to the present??”

“As soon as time travel is invented, then it changes everything. Past, present and future will all blur together. Nothing would be reliable. Our history could be changed; our science; our governments; any major event; all of it. There would be no stability. No, not unless it was all done in secret. Imagine, secret wars fought over timelines!?”

“Sheesh. It’d basically be a race to see who would do it first? That person, or people, could have complete control over everything? Sort of like the nuclear arms race was?”

“Yeah, sort of.”

“Interesting.”

“Yeah.”

“Terrifying, but interesting.”

“So, should we do it first?”

“Do what?”

“Build a time machine.”

CH 12/7/24