Editing 1716: Time Travel Thesis
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | {{incomplete|Several interpretations possible. Please try to sort them out.}} | |
[[Cueball]] has apparently been reading about {{w|time travel}}. He tells [[Megan]] about this, and Megan excitedly remarks that she did her college thesis on time travel which basically means that she is supposed to know a lot more about time travel than a guy who has just been "reading" about it. | [[Cueball]] has apparently been reading about {{w|time travel}}. He tells [[Megan]] about this, and Megan excitedly remarks that she did her college thesis on time travel which basically means that she is supposed to know a lot more about time travel than a guy who has just been "reading" about it. | ||
− | Cueball, however, continues to ask her if she knows basic facts about time travel | + | Cueball, however, continues to ask her if she knows basic facts about time travel, like he is investigating if he has discovered facets about it that she would have overlooked while writing a thesis about it. Megan keeps trying to say that since she wrote a (Time Travel) Thesis she already knows all of this and much, much more. |
− | At this point Megan's future-self arrives with a ''Bzzzzt'', having used time travel to arrive at this exact moment in time. It seem she has continued her research and has successfully managed to make a time machine. | + | At this point Megan's future-self arrives with a ''Bzzzzt'', having used time travel to arrive at this exact moment in time. It seem she has continued her research and has successfully managed to make a time machine (maybe in a collaboration with others, but with the ability to use it to her own end and needs.) |
− | The reason she arrives is only to tell her younger self that this conversation with Cueball doesn't go anywhere and isn't important, and so present | + | The reason she arrives is only to tell her younger self that this conversation with Cueball doesn't go anywhere and isn't important, and so present Megan can leave and not waste her time anymore. Up till then, Megan was presumably reluctant to break off a conversation on the topic of time travel, since the conversation could potentially have improved, or maybe she was even at first attracted to Cueball and interested because he at least had read about time travel. But once the conversation began to run of track, it came as a relief to know that she could quit without the risk of missing out on anything important. |
− | And then she just walks away with her future-self leaving Cueball hanging in the last panel | + | And then she just walks away with her future-self leaving Cueball hanging in the last panel. That was a new way to get dished. |
− | Alternatively, future-Megan just makes an excuse to haul present-Megan off in order to prevent the latter from disclosing some details of time travel science to Cueball, which could have unintended consequences. However | + | Alternatively, future-Megan just makes an excuse to haul present-Megan off in order to prevent the latter from disclosing some details of time travel science to Cueball, which could have unintended consequences. However using very advanced technology, or even violating physics law, for ''very mundane'' ends is a very common in xkcd, so using time travel to prevent useless conversation is not surprising from Megan. |
− | In either case | + | In either case if future Megan did not finish the conversation she would not know it was unimportant, thus indicating that she actually did. So by coming back she now changes her own (and Cueball's) future. But maybe she knows this will not change anything, just save her self from wasting time. Of course the general implications of being able to travel like this are enormous, and the {{w|Grandfather paradox|paradoxes arising}} from such a possibility endless. For instance the future Megan could now describe to the present Megan how the make the time machine. But why not have gone even further back making it possible to travel in time even earlier etc. (And of course the whole going back and killing one of parents before they even meet, like the idea in {{w|The Terminator}} movie). Generally time travel is a [[:Category:Time travel|recurring theme]] in xkcd. |
− | + | Could be that [[Randall]] may have had some conversations like this, where after having spend a lot of time getting nothing out of it himself, would have wished his future self had come back to tell him to just leave the conversation now. | |
− | In the title text present-Megan asks future-Megan about her futuristic googles and what they are for, presumably assuming they are needed for the time travel (maybe it is the backpack?) | + | In the title text present-Megan asks future-Megan about her futuristic googles and what they are for, presumably assuming they are needed for the time travel (maybe it is the backpack?) However it turns out it's just some old and broken {{w|Google Glass}}. The only reason future Megan wears these is that she attended a party at the club that had a 2010's night theme. |
− | + | This is an indication of how far from the future she has traveled. There were no Google Glasses available to the public in 2010. But during the 2010's they will probably be in common use, the first being released in 2013, and open to general public in 2014. In the future where Megan comes from, they are already old. Also a 90s party may be thrown today, but no a 2000's party. So it is safe to assume that Megan is at least from the 2030's. Also people attending retro dress-up parties frequently make mistakes and do not dress up exactly in-style, creating some anachronisms, especially if they dress up like they did many years ago. | |
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− | This is an indication of how far from the future she has traveled, | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
[[Category:Time travel]] | [[Category:Time travel]] | ||
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