Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: Ultima on 04/04/2005 11:25:31

Title: John Titor Hoax
Post by: Ultima on 04/04/2005 11:25:31
Just wondering if anyone has looked at the John Titor time traveling hoax from 2001, it's quite elaborate [:D]. With John Titor going into a fair bit of detail about how his machine works etc.

The following are the main sites about John Titor, which interestingly are all DNS registered by dummy companies with blank indexes by the same person:

http://johntitor.strategicbrains.com/
http://www.timetravelinstitute.com
http://www.johntitor.com

With a book being sold, with profits going to "The John Titor Foundation" it looks like John Titor aka some guy out in the world is getting rich.

Plus John Titor.... In Terminator John was the guy who came back from the future to save the world from WWIII [:D]

The best part is looking at how completely people can get sucked in…


wOw the world spins?
Title: Re: John Titor Hoax
Post by: gsmollin on 06/04/2005 00:15:48
I'm accepting venture capital for my new company that will be making perpetual motion machines. Before you scoff at this, let me explain the source of their power- the never-ending-gullibility of the public. Now it doesn't sound so far fetched, does it?
Title: Re: John Titor Hoax
Post by: chimera on 06/04/2005 02:23:32
Yeah, I took a look at it about a year ago. Abso-lu-te horse manure, but it looks like someone is having a ball indeed.

Even did a bit of backtracking of who it could be (the poster of the JT messages), and I think it's an old gamer, because there used to be a game that could literally have served as a kind of script for this hoax.

Pretty lame way of making a buck, tho. Also strikes me as typically American, in a way. It does take a lot of 'belief' in the supernatural, and I really think this would not have been more than a fancy anywhere else.

The percentage of Americans believing 'openly' in fantastic things is quite astonishing. UFO's, the lot. Tens of millions of possible customers for you-name-your-miracle.

It seems superstition and religion are closely tied in to the human psyche...
Title: Re: John Titor Hoax
Post by: mr_bumpkin on 21/04/2005 17:12:50
I just got done reading a bunch of those sites.   Had me going for a while, to be honest.  

2 holes:    
1.   How would time travel to a similar dimension change anything about the time paradoxes?    If he's here, it's safe to say a virtually identical copy of him landed in his own timeline.  

2.   Common misconception about the idea of similar dimensions where certain world events vary:    You forget genetics and the mechanics of birth.    If your parents had sex on a different day, or any number of factors,  a different sperm and egg could have combined leading to a different child being born than you.

His theory about millions of worlds with radically different versions of you on them having actually been observed by travelers is improbable.    Odds are most of those worlds wouldn't have a version of you in them at all.

A 2% difference between worlds in 1975 would lead to a much much more massive difference by 2036, because so many things are so totally butterfly effect intensive.