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There has been a lot of confusion on what time travel is and whether or not it is possible. A simple discussion in lay-men's terms will easily dispel both the confusion behind the quasi-scientific mumbo jumbo that prevails in this realm and serve as an answer to the question of whether or not time travel is possible.

First, what is time? Simply put it is a yardstick for measuring motion. An easily referenced example of this is the form in which we calculate the speed of movement on Earth. We observe the rotation of our planet around the Sun and call it a day. We then divide the day into hours, minutes, seconds and so forth. We then use those calculations as a reference point to measure the motion of other things around us. We can see that a vehicle travels at 60 miles per hour, for example. This means we know the vehicle will travel 60 miles in 1/24th the amount of time it takes the Earth to rotate around the Sun. The key to all this is to remember that "time" is merely a measuring device created by human beings as a tool.

Time is not a physical entity. It is not something you move through, into or out of. Your relative speed to other things can change and as Einstein proved, things get really weird when you start to measure things going at or near the speed of light. But this does not change the fact that measurement is a process, a tool, not a place that you can go to. It is a concept we use to differentiate where things are, or were and how long it took to get somewhere else.

In essence the only way you can move through time is the way you are doing it right now; second by second as your life progresses. Time is how we measure the movement of our lives as well as everything else in the universe. If everything were to stop, right down to the cellular level, then your life would be over. As long as someone lives who wants to know the rate at which things move then time will be a useful tool - but never, ever a destination.

Learn more about this author, Joe Kane.
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