a guide to my testament.
one. things I have loved in life
two. experiences I have cherished
three. ideas that have brought me liberation
four. beliefs I have outgrown
five. convictions I have lived by
six. what I have lived for
seven. insights I have gained in the school of life
eight. risks I took; dangers I have courted
nine. sufferings that have seasoned me
ten. influences that have shaped my life
eleven. texts that have lit my path
twelve. things that I regret about my life
thirteen. my life’s achievements
fourteen. persons enshrined within my heart
fifteen. unfulfilled desires
+
three.
the things i ponder over dinner with my dad: time travel
time - when we look at something, we aren’t seeing it as it really is. we’re seeing it because the light from our eyes travels to, say, a glass, and then back to our eye. so by the time we see it, we’re seeing what it USED to look like.
just like that picture the space telescope took. its a picture - from 13 billion years ago. so in order to see exactly what we look like now, we have to wait 13 billion years. or do we?
say we look out a telescope and see a star thats really far away. say its far enough away that it takes 10 years for the light to travel to it and get back to us so we “see” it. so we’re really seeing it as it was 10 years ago. well what if it died? if you traveled, in space, at the speed of light, would you see the star dying as you approached it? when you got there would it even exist? no, because you would actually be seeing it as it really is (or in this case isn’t).. so the people in the spaceship would be like ‘it doesn’t exist’ but the people on Earth, seeing it as it was in the past would be like ‘no i see it.’ and what if you were to look back at the Earth? would you see it as it was 10 years ago? would you see yourself on the planet?
what about if you traveled from the Earth to the star at say, twice the speed of light. you would cut that 10 year period shorter because the lights reaching you a lot faster. in essence, you’re speeding up that 10 year period. so if you were to travel even faster, would you see the Earth 10 billion years ago? would you see the dinosaurs? and if you were to travel back slowly, could you watch the entire history of planet Earth as the light reached you? would that essentially be time travel?
and what if you were to bring someone with you and leave them on a space station halfway between the Earth and the star? and then you travelled to the star and then back really fast.. would they look younger? would you look younger? could our bodies even handle traveling that fast or would they disintegrate?
