Monday, May 2, 2005

MIT to host a Time Traveler Convention

Last August, George and I talked about a group who is creating a trust fund for people who want to be rescued from this time by future time-travelers. Now, MIT is getting involved in time travel!

On Saturday, May 7th, 2005, MIT is hosting the first and only
Time Traveler Convention. Why the only one? Because one is enough! If time travelers want to come back each year of their own subjective timeline, they can just come back to the same convention. It'll be a time-travel Woodstock...

The organizers are urging supporters to publicize the event by doing any of the following:

  • Write the details down on a piece of acid-free paper, and slip them into obscure books in academic libraries
  • Carve them into a clay tablet
  • If you write for a newspaper, insert a few details about the convention
I first read about it on the web, but I just heard a prominently-placed story on NPR's All Things Considered on Monday. They're getting good coverage!

If you can't make it to the convention this Saturday, perhaps you can come back to it later, assuming time travel is invented within your lifetime...

(from Boing Boing)

Update: While no travelers from the future made their presence known at the Convention, there was plenty of anticipation, music, food, and a DeLorean! There were so many travelers from the past*, however, that some people had to be turned away.

My personal opinion: Even if time travelers from the future saw the notices for the convention, it seems unlikely they would do something as dangerous to the timeline as appearing in public and proclaiming their ability to travel through time. It is entirely possible, however, that they were present, but dressed as "locals."

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(*) All of us are traveling through time from the past. Duh.