This Week’s Topic:
Would you rather time travel or teleport?
Would you rather time travel or teleport?
Let's start with time travel, which is when one moves between two points in time via a device, aka a time machine. My initial reaction, is that time travel would be fantastic. Think of the things we could do!
- I could go back in to a time in my own life, and make better choices.
- I could use future intelligence to influence decisions we make in the past, which could result in a future windfall.
- I could alter the past, so that major historic atrocities do not occur.
- I could point some very influential people in the right direction, so that the thing they are famous for happens sooner. This would be especially useful with medical and scientific discoveries.
However, when I think back to all books and movies, which featured time travel, these are all NO-NOs. By altering the past, you could create an alternate future. You must also consider the butterfly effect, how that small change in the past may result in a myriad of consequences, and the possibility of creating a time paradox.
Time travel books I have read:
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Then, I looked at teleportation, which is the physical transfer of matter from one point to another without actually moving through the space between the two points. We have seen this in Star Trek, and think about all the ways it would benefit you to be able to just blink from place to place.
- I would no longer need time to travel to or from my destination. Therefore, I could sleep later and reclaim a huge chunk of my awake hours to do something I really want to do.
- I would no longer have to lose my stuff sitting in traffic.
- I wouldn't need a car, so no car insurance payment, no car payments, no car maintenance no need to buy gas. Think of all the money I would save!
- No more mass transit in general. I could go on better vacations without having the cost of airfares eating away at my vacation fund.
- I could easily carry my groceries from my car to my house, no worries, since I am not trudging them from point A to point B.
- I would not have to worry about the weather impeding my travel, because I wouldn't be going through the weather.
MY DECISION
Although there are so many altruistic things I could do with time travel, there appears to be many things that could go wrong. Therefore, I think I would chose teleportation. Most of the benefits would be for my own personal gain, but I do not anticipate major drawbacks.
Now it's your turn!
Time travel or teleportation?
Let us know in the comments!
Great topic! I would have to pick teleportation actually. I am not sure I would want to alter the future at all, but I would love to be able to quickly go from one place to another to be able to see the world.
ReplyDeleteI spend so much time commuting. It would be such a blessing to be able to pop from place to place.
DeleteI'd definitely go with teleportation. Time travel, while tempting, makes me too nervous. In addition to all the negatively impacting history/the future thing, I'd also fear that I would get stuck somewhere and not be able to get back. Gah! With teleporting... I'd skip my commute and just zap back and forth to the office (more time spent at home). I'd travel overseas more since the time and expense are taken away. Plus no more inconvenient layovers. :)
ReplyDeleteKnowing my luck, I would get stuck in a time loop of a time I detest. I totally support anything that would facilitate travel.
DeleteKing is too scary for me, but the literary consensus seems to be, leave the past alone.
ReplyDeleteFun post - I like that you included time travel books. I'd totally choose teleportation. I'm a big Harry Potter fan, so I'm always saying I wish I could apparate, which is basically the same thing.
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
It would be the best talent to have.
DeleteOoh nice points!! I think I would teleport though! Making it to author signings in the blink of an eye and then getting home lickety split right after? Win-win!!! If I'm not having real amazing luck by attending a signing in my own city, I'm driving hours away to meet authors and depending on where I might have to stay overnight and use a vacation day if it's during the week. So yeah...teleportation is pretty much what I would choose over any superpower!
ReplyDeleteThat is commitment, though. I used to go to signings a lot, since I am so close to NYC, but I hate to go alone, and my daughter is so far away now. The last bookish event I attended was BookCon in May. *sad* But teleportation would definitely be an asset to you for those events. You could even go international.
DeleteThis is a weird question which I thought would have a really obvious answer. Time travel! But then the pros and cons actually make me think maybe not. I mean, a lot could go wrong. And it I time travelled would I go backwards in time in the exact point I was at that moment? I mean, if that's the case then I would need a lot of money for travelling because the stuff I would want to see would require me to move from country to country first. Or, would I be able to input a time and location for me to time travel to? If that was the case you could time travel and teleport. Get up late and time travel to work or whatever a minute behind when you were and it's totally cool. I would need the time travel rule book.
ReplyDeleteTeleportation is something I would love to be able to do. No more need to drive I could just teleport and it would be all good. What's not to love about that idea?
It is the things that could go wrong, or what we think could go wrong, with time travel that makes me think - maybe not. But to not have to drive, not have to fly, or take the train. That would be bliss, but then my TBR would be out of control, because when would I read?
DeleteNow that I think of it, I haven't read that many books featuring teleportation actually - I can't resist time travel!
ReplyDeleteI think I have read a few, where the characters had powers and could teleport, but sometimes I think I am confusing books with TV shows I have watched. Time travel is so enticing, but from all the fictional works I have read, there seem to be so many caveats.
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