# If you were a time traveler what's a fast and easy way to prove that? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2024, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650 "2024-01-26T03:25:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/81 "2024-01-27T16:07:02Z")
If I had the ability to _choose which point in space and time_ I can arrive, I’d pick some astronomer at a university…someone with the academic chops, but socially “invisible”, so, not un-approachable…and tell him that at such-and-such inclination/declination…somewhere between Orion’s Belt and Cassiopeia, a New Star will ignite within the next 72 hours. Something NO Astronomer _even today_ can predict. How can I possibly influence astronomic events? ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/82 "2024-01-27T17:05:53Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Given the constraints of the OP ([snip} _what if you wanted to predict something immediately? Like you have access to the Internet from 24 hours in the future_ [/snip}), I believe the best way to accomplish this is two-fold: > > 1. Scour the Internet and record at least 6 random, low-probability, global headline news events from 24 hours into the future. Then time-travel 24 hours into the past. > 2. Gain the attention of at least two well-credentialed scientists (with a firm understanding of statistics)… I’m thinking this is in the neighborhood of correct. For it to work, in my mind, the 6 random low-probability events have to be “freak” events. Predicting a hurricane is not a big deal, hurricanes occur where hurricanes occur during times of year when they occur - it won’t seem like a big deal to know about a specific one. Unless something weird happened with it… I’m thinking, _Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin will die during the football game in the second quarter with exactly X minutes on the clock, and then be resuscitated. They will cancel the rest of the game_ - that’s not a normal thing that happens and yet it did and on national TV - it might be just as statistically improbable as knowing exactly what all the stats are down to the decimal, but the impact _feels_ more improbable because there are always stats at the end of every game, but almost no game includes a player dying. Then predict another, and another event similar in style to that one. So you’d need to find a specific day where enough global well known “freak” things happen - some can be purely scientific that your scientist would only understand as being extremely improbable to know. I bet it’s not _that_ hard. Also, have a nice broad range of predictions (sports, finance, science, etc.) since you never know what’s going to trigger someone to hear you out. The key, to me, is finding something really odd that happened during a normal event. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/83 "2024-01-27T17:10:50Z")
Just choose a day when a few unanticipated natural, or man-made disasters occur somewhere on Earth (e.g. tornadoes, flash floods, commercial or military air crashes, etc.). They don’t have to be huge disasters, just unexpected and reported on a legitimate news-outlet somewhere. And, yes, the more _freakish_, the better. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/84 "2024-01-27T17:50:37Z")
I just got back from tomorrow. Somewhere in the world, tomorrow, there will be an earthquake. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/85 "2024-01-27T17:54:59Z")
Where? And, how many casualties? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/86 "2024-01-27T18:09:06Z")
There’ll be an earthquake in Japan. No casualties. (The likelihood of this being true on any given day isn’t so bad. See here: [https://www.data.jma.go.jp/multi/quake/index.html?lang=en](https://www.data.jma.go.jp/multi/quake/index.html?lang=en)) ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/87 "2024-01-27T18:12:13Z")
Then that should not be one of the 6 headlines for you to use to convince someone you’re from the future. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/88 "2024-01-27T18:20:53Z")
Me too! To further prove my credentials I’ll let on that Donald Trump will say something stupid. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/89 "2024-01-27T23:29:52Z")
It would have to be incontrovertible proof; simply taking next Tuesday’s WSJ back wouldn’t necessarily do it, because someone _could_ produce one today for next Tuesday that says anything. There’s always going to have to be that element of accurate prediction- once Tuesday rolls around, and Tuesday’s WSJ matches yours exactly… several days later, then you’ll have proof. That’s the key thing- it’s going to have to involve something fairly local in terms of time- that day or the next day, I’d imagine. So sports scores, stock prices, any really notable news events, etc… would all suffice. I think it would have to be something that you couldn’t easily guess and have a reasonable chance of getting right- maybe not only the sports score, but how many hits and errors, or strikeouts, or first downs, or passing yards or whatever as well. The reason this came up is because I was thinking “What if a time traveler came back to Nov 2, 2024?” and realizing that there are likely a small number of realistic combinations of electoral votes for either candidate, and that would be something that could be guessed at with some reasonable likelihood of getting it right. But if you were to come back today and guess the score of tomorrow’s NFC championship along with the number of passing yards for each starting quarterback, I’d be convinced. That’s not the sort of thing that can be easily guessed. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/90 "2024-01-28T03:29:32Z")
> [@bump](#): > > the number of passing yards for each starting quarterback, I’d be convinced. That’s not the sort of thing that can be easily guessed. That’s something that might be subject to the butterfly effect, though. Especially if the supposed time traveler shares the prediction before it happens. After the fact, when opening that envelope, Occam’s razor says that’s just sleight of hand. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/91 "2024-01-28T03:47:14Z")
> [@EnolaStraight](#): > > socially “invisible” HUMPH! meant to type “anonymous” but had a serious deficiency of caffeine. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/92 "2024-01-28T05:11:59Z")
Events occurring over the past 24 hours: 1. Magnitude 2.6 earthquake 9km Southwest of Homer, Alaska. Time 2024-01-27 19:50:58 (UTC-08:00) Location 59.580°N 151.650°W Depth 49.9 km 2. And so on and so forth: [Latest Earthquakes](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map) 3. A 25-year-old dancer from New York died after having an allergic reaction after eating a mislabeled cookie sold by grocery chain Stew Leonard’s. 4. Sabalenka won the Australian Open titles with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Zheng Qinwen on Saturday. 5. Jackie Robinson statue stolen from youth league field in Wichita, Kansas. Given reporting delays a 48 hour window would require less double checking. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/93 "2024-01-29T12:35:25Z")
Was that the short story [Wikihistory](https://reactormag.com/wikihistory/) by Desmond Warzel? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/94 "2024-01-29T13:39:25Z")
Yup! Thanks for finding it! I had lost track of where it was posted. It’s a funny read. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/95 "2024-01-29T14:51:42Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > It wouldn’t be evidence of time travel to me, it’d be evidence that someone had found a way to defraud the lottery that officials haven’t been able to figure out. As others have said, if it looks like a magic trick, that’s what I’m going to assume is what it is. I’m going to conclude that they good at doing something seemingly extraordinary and concealing the mundane explanation of how they did it. I’m not going to jump to the conclusion that they are time travelers or performing literal magic. I’m sure it would be frustrating if they were actually a time traveler or performing literal magic, but I’m going to go with the mundane explanation 10 times out of 10 before concluding something as extraordinary as time travel or magic being real. Apply the scientific method: - Make some observations (this guy is providing near-future predictions - quakes, volcanic eruptions, repeated lottery wins, share prices, etc. - that are accurate to a galactic level of improbability). - Formulate a hypothesis (this guy is either a con artist, or he’s a real time traveler). - Test the hypothesis (e.g. observe him popping in and out of existence in your timeline, or take steps to protect the chain of custody of his near-future predictions to assure no sleight of hand, or…any other test you can think of, the results of which will either lend support to the hypothesis or give lie to it). - Develop more tests, the results of which should add/subtract support for your hypothesis. Maybe they won’t convince you on the first pass, but there must be _some_ level of evidence, less than infinite, that would convince you beyond any reasonable doubt that you are dealing with a time traveler. A dogmatic dismissal of the possibility of time travel no matter what evidence is prevented puts one in the territory of religious believers and flat-earthers. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/96 "2024-01-29T16:49:11Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Apply the scientific method: > > Maybe they won’t convince you on the first pass, but there must be _some_ level of evidence, less than infinite, that would convince you beyond any reasonable doubt that you are dealing with a time traveler. A dogmatic dismissal of the possibility of time travel no matter what evidence is prevented puts one in the territory of religious believers and flat-earthers. No, blindly applying the scientific method with a child-like naivety that human beings don’t lie and deliberately make things up leads to scientists falling for thinking the worst kind of woo is real. Comparing it to flat-earthers is utterly absurd. Scientists have fallen for all kinds of flim-flam and belief in paranormal and psychic powers because they neglected the very obvious possibility that the one demonstrating these proofs was deliberately cooking the data in the worst possible way. Sorry, if someone can come up with the numbers for Powerball or Mega Millions, the logical and scientific conclusion isn’t to take them at their word that they are time travelers or possess psychic powers, or are receiving visions from the future, or that God is talking to them, or aliens are communicating with them, or that magic is real. Scientists fell for [Uri Geller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Geller#Scientific_testing) amongst a litany of others because of this. Just because you can’t immediately figure out how someone is committing fraud is a poor basis for coming to the conclusion that their wildly absurd explanation is in fact the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/97 "2024-01-29T18:35:15Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > No, blindly applying the scientific method with a child-like naivety that human beings don’t lie and deliberately make things up leads to scientists falling for thinking the worst kind of woo is real. Comparing it to flat-earthers is utterly absurd. Scientists have fallen for all kinds of flim-flam and belief in paranormal and psychic powers because they neglected the very obvious possibility that the one demonstrating these proofs was deliberately cooking the data in the worst possible way. Sorry, if someone can come up with the numbers for Powerball or Mega Millions, the logical and scientific conclusion isn’t to take them at their word that they are time travelers or possess psychic powers, or are receiving visions from the future, or that God is talking to them, or aliens are communicating with them, or that magic is real. I’m starting to wonder whether you read my post. I did not advocate for accepting a purported time traveler’s claim on the basis of one Powerball win, or even many such wins. If someone reports the winning numbers for the next half-dozen Powerball drawings, there are four possibilities I can think of: - He’s engaging in sleight of hand somehow. - He’s figured out a way to hack the draw. - He’s extraordinarily, galactically lucky. - He’s an actual time traveler. What I advocated for was further investigation - not specifically into how a series of Powerball wins might have been achieved but into other observations that might be consistent with time travel while lacking any other plausible explanation. Having the time traveler provide detailed predictions of natural or manmade disasters might be one such observation. Watching him come and go from our timeline might be another such observation. If instead your approach is to immediately claim sleight of hand and then refuse to investigate the matter any further, then it would seem there is no level of evidence that would convince you that this person is a time traveler. If so, then this is entirely analogous to flat-earthers, who refuse to believe any round-earth evidence presented to them, to the point of reflexively dismissing really irrefutable evidence as the product of conspiracy or fraud on the part of round-earthers. If I’m wrong about that, then what level of evidence _would_ convince you? Also, there is absolutely nothing about the scientific method that precludes considering the possibility of fraud or deception on the part of the person making the extraordinary claims. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/98 "2024-01-29T19:06:04Z")
The OP asked about a fast and easy way to prove one’s time travelling capabilities, and that’s where the problem lies. It’s certainly possible to devise a sophisticated experimental set-up that excludes other explanations for the accuracy of the traveller’s predictions to such an extent that we’d have to accept his time-travelling claims; but they’re complicated, expensive, and lengthy. The fundamental problem is that time travel is such an extraordinarily strong claim to make that we’d want extraordinarily strong evidence to accept it; this pretty much excludes any fast and easy way of the sort the OP is asking for. ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/99 "2024-01-29T19:13:36Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > If I’m wrong about that, then what level of evidence _would_ convince you? Not directed to me, but it’s a good general question. My answer would be **no evidence would convince me**. Not in a real life scenario of how this would occur. I don’t think human time travel is real or possible. So, I’ll never “get there”. It would only ever come across to me as a trick that I cannot figure out (imagine the time traveler happens to be David Copperfield - that helps understand my thinking). It’s like an inverse flat-earth situation. Let’s say it _is_ actually flat and Copperfield comes up to me with real evidence to prove it. I just wouldn’t believe the evidence. I’ve been too pro-round earth for way too long based on some really solid well-vetted evidence and flat earth has been roundly rejected. I’d likely need other credible people to tell me it’s actually flat (based on their own observations, etc) and telling me over a _long period of time_. I think all this says more about me than I realized. I’m not completely open-minded like I’d like to believe and I’m reliant on group-think. But there’s just no way I’d ever come to the decision that someone is a time-traveler by myself. I could never discount or get past that it’s just some sort of trick. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650/100 "2024-01-29T19:45:47Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I’m starting to wonder whether you read my post. I did not advocate for accepting a purported time traveler’s claim on the basis of one Powerball win, or even many such wins. If someone reports the winning numbers for the next half-dozen Powerball drawings, there are four possibilities I can think of: > > - He’s engaging in sleight of hand somehow. > - He’s figured out a way to hack the draw. > - He’s extraordinarily, galactically lucky. > - He’s an actual time traveler. I’m starting to wonder that myself, because that is exactly what you advocated, bolding mine: > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Things like the Powerball and Mega Millions drawings are pretty closely guarded, and are done on live TV with physical balls in a tumbler; it’s hard to imagine how someone could fix a draw like that. **If the traveler wins all of the big lotteries repeatedly over the course of a week or two, and lottery officials can’t find any evidence of fraud (other than your surmounting of astronomical odds against you), that would be extraordinary evidence in favor of the traveler’s claim.** Would you be so quick to take the ‘time traveler’ at his word if the reason he gave for his seemingly inexplicable knowledge was ‘God told me,’ ‘aliens communicate with me,’ ‘I’m psychic,’ or ‘magic is real, I went to Hogwarts?’ Would you be accusing me of coming from the realms of flat-earthers or (ironically) religious believers? Just because you can’t explain how a magic trick is performed is no reason to take a magician at his word that he has performed actual magic. Just because you haven’t found the mundane explanation of how someone has ‘predicted’ a bunch of Powerball and Mega Millions drawings isn’t extraordinary proof that they came from the future, or any reason to take them at their word that this is the actual explanation. Again, if the reason they gave was God, you’d be in the awkward position of both saying this is extraordinary proof that God exists while at the same time telling me that I’m in the territory of religious believers. As an aside, there’s a rather obvious and immediate mundane motivation for winning so many Powerball and Mega Millions drawings. Accepting time travel as being real and the reason because one can’t figure out how they committed fraud is bizarre at best. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-a-time-traveler-whats-a-fast-and-easy-way-to-prove-that/996650.md?page=6)