/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.3456346]

I'm sure that many of the fine, scientifically minded individuals here are at least somewhat interested in science fiction. So let's talk about what is often considered (along with FTL) to be the main divider between hard and soft sci-fi: There are plenty of other variables, but all things being equal, time travel is the quickest way to make your series seem soft.

My question is that, given what we know about the universe, are there any potential- even if entirely unattainable by anything close to modern technology- time travel explanations such as these that might be possible?

I mean, if you had a galactic empire spanning millions of years and thousands of stars that could perform absolutely anything that was within the limits of any natural capability, could you send a man back in time?

And if so, how could you do it?

[Anonymous No.3456393]

I won't say it's impossible, but it would violate our current understanding of the universe (in particular, it would seriously fuck with causality). This means that how it would work is essentially unpredictable; you can't have time travel without throwing out the rulebook, and once you've done that anything goes.