Tag: rambling

Could time travel remove itself?

Do all time travelers drive a DeLorean? Seems unlikely, although it was cool.

I doubt that time travel could ever really happen. But some scientists like to ponder it, and I agree it can be interesting to think about. There are many paradoxes that it creates. A new hypothesis is that if time travel ever gets invented, that it would create its own destruction by introducing instability into certain realities which would eventually lead to the most stable possible timeline — that is, one without time travel at all.

It’s true that time travel would definitely create instabilities. People would go through history and wreck it, whether for their personal gain or just for fun or to be malicious or even without trying to. Facts and historical events would get altered, which would change the future. But with multiple people changing the past, they could create a future that cannot exist due to being incompatible with itself. The universe automatically makes things be in balance. We’ve defined this as the laws of thermodynamics. Objects will return to their most stable state, to keep equilibrium. So by that reasoning, it’s possible that even if time travel were to exist, it might lead to a future where it cannot exist. That leads to a paradox which might make your brain hurt if you try to understand it. 🙂 If it removed itself, would we forget about it and keep reinventing it? Wouldn’t that cause some distortions in the time-space continuum? What if someone somehow created a future that required time travel to exist? Would our universe just go poof?

BTW, the article linked above is called “Where Are All the Tourists From 3025?”, which seems like a good title for a book…

Bonus: Time travel becoming confusing reminds me of several episodes of Milo Murphy’s Law, which is an awesome show if you don’t know. Don’t think it’s just a kid’s show because it’s animated. It’s clean and family-friendly, but hilarious and full of parody references and inside jokes. And the lead character is voiced by Weird Al Yankovic, who does a great job with it. Part of an ongoing side story in the show involves two time travelers, who see a lot of clocks in the timestream. One of them says the clocks was probably someone’s idea of a joke. I don’t want to spoil it, because it’s fun to see how it all plays out, but if you just want to know without watching, click here and look for “Floating Clocks” (which is a common trope for showing that time travel is happening, and here they explain it… kind of). Or, if you want to see just that clip: Clocks in the timestream. (It’s a weird clip to start with though, because most episodes are more realistic and don’t involve alien pistachios.) There’s another time travel paradox in this episode involving a letter someone put in the past for their future self. (Think about that one.) There’s also a peach paradox in the show, and there’s a video clip of it on that page.

Anyway, that’s a lot of rambling about time travel, but you also got a show recommendation. I think it’s laugh-out-loud funny, and my kids like it, too. (It was created by the same guys who created Phineas and Ferb, which is another great show I recommend.)

When you’ve just got to dance…

When was the last time you heard music that made you dance? I don’t mean when you’ve got ants in your pants and you need to dance. Nor do I mean when you have squirrels in your pants. (Side note: If you can name both of those references without an online search, then I’ll give you 50 coolness points right now. [BTW, that’s a lot.] If you know just one of them, I’ll give you 20. I figure it’s a rare person who understands two generations of coolness. Most people only find one generations worth, although some find none. Oh, and if you have to search and you can stay focused enough to find both and still leave a comment, I’ll give you 10. I figure that’s somewhat rare too, given short attention spans these days, plus when you search the internet for cool stuff, it’s easy to follow a rabbit trail and forget where you started.) [Ed. note: That’s probably not a side note if it’s longer than the main text.]

Back to music… When was the last time you heard music that was so interesting to you that you started dancing? If the answer is not today, then perhaps you should find some. Life is too short for boring music. (Disclaimer: I’m not implying that music which doesn’t make you dance is necessarily boring — certainly not true. However, it is good to dance and feel good, so I recommend listening to music that makes you feel good on a regular basis.) This concept can apply to music from many genres: funk (of course*), jazz, hip-hop, rock, pop, country, heavy metal, classical, techno, house, bluegrass, electro-swing (naturally), etc. That may seem strange to you, since many people listen to primarily just one genre of music, but I’ve danced to all of those, so it’s definitely possible. (No, there’s no video of this. No one wants to see that. It’s for my enjoyment. And my kids dance with me sometimes, too.)

* You could say “of course” to any of them, particularly your favorite genre, but I mentioned it because just today, while doing dishes, I heard a song so funky I just had to get my groove on. If you know, you know. I was playing music while doing dishes because I really dislike washing dishes, but music makes the experience better. And I have my own playlist, set to shuffle, so it’s music that will help me stay upbeat and happy. I sometimes use this playlist while walking and exercising. And I also use it when I’m cooking something that takes a long time, like chili. In fact, just the other day I played a song in my truck that my son said, “That’s chili-making music.” I’ve never heard that before, but makes sense in this context. He had that association with it. And he helps me make chili sometimes, and he dances to the music while making chili, so he knows. Sometimes his feet start moving like he’s James Brown. (Hey, that’s a hint to not forget the coolness challenge in the first paragraph.)

So if your day could use more awesomeness, pull up some of your favorite songs to listen to when you get a chance. Why not make your day more awesome? (If you never listen to songs that make you want to dance, why not try it? Find some. Search for playlists about dancing, or ask friends for suggestions. I suspect everyone could find some songs that make them want to dance, and you need this in your life. Trust me, it’s a good time, and it’s worth the effort to find. Make your day more awesome!)

invisible new posts

Greatest apologies for the lack of recent posts. It may seem like I’ve been away or neglecting the blog, but that is not the case at all. I’ve actually been right here! I’m still writing content, but just not finalizing it and publishing it. So it’s like there’s been an invisible barrier between us, where I’m writing but you cannot see me. I’m not actually invisible — just hidden behind some virtual barrier that doesn’t exist. (So here, virtual doesn’t mean being online or in the cyber realm, although it kinda is, but moreso means the essence of existing but not really existing. Does that make sense? Either way, there’s not an actual barrier, except it seems like there is. I suppose the “Publish” button is the demarcation between my world and the whole world.)

Rambling aside, here’s what happened. My last post here was about happiness and enjoying your life, which I’ve been thinking about and writing on lately. But this blog is not the ideal place for that. So it’ll be over at this page: How to find happiness, which will be updated as more related posts are added.

I’m tempted to give you a sneak peek of what’s to come, but then people searching for those things will find this random announcement and be disappointed. So just subscribe if you want an automated email when new stuff gets posted. (That’s all the emails you’ll get from me.) Regarding the upcoming posts, I’ll just say: “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” (Bonus points if you know which TV show character is famous for that line. Leave a comment if you know.)

Yosemite Sam and Nerf guns

If someone is annoying you by repeatedly shooting you with a Nerf gun in the office, what do you do?  If diplomacy doesn’t work, you respond with a bigger gun.  🙂

For some reason, my intro reminded me of Yosemite Sam.  (Yeah, I watched a lot of Looney Tunes growing up.)  Here’s the quote:

Yeah?  Well, I talk LOUDLY and I carry a bigger stick.  And I use it, too!  WHAM! ~ Yosemite Sam, on foreign policy

I’m not sure I’d want Yosemite Sam as a minister of foreign affairs, but he might do better than some of the current politicians…  He would certainly be more amusing and funny, although not intentionally.  Consider this:

Whether playing a buccaneer, Arabian knight or the roughest, toughest, meanest, old prospector west of the Pecos, Yosemite Sam’s slapstick physical humor always sets his audiences laughing.  This rootin’, tootin’, six gun shootin’, varmit-huntin’ wild man of the west believes in his own innate superiority and charges his way into one misadventure after another — and as loudly as possible.  The only thing shorter than the fuse on his temper is Yosemite Sam himself and this walking keg of dynamite is always ready for action.  From his ten gallon hat to his fire red mustache, Yosemite Sam is the most flamboyant of all Bugs Bunny’s adversaries.  But the funniest thing about Yosemite Sam is that he has absolutely no sense of humor which makes him the perfect foil, or fool, for Bugs Bunny.

It’s amazing that he’s so funny despite having no sense of humor.  Ironically, that might suit him as a politician, since most of them are professionally humorless (which is lame and boring).