Context: He's in the files
this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
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I have thoughts.
It was ridiculous that Hawking thought a time traveler would make it to his party for several reasons. There are a few models of time travel, and only one of them has an internal logic that allows for traveling without paradoxical consequences; multiversal divergence.
Our version of the time traveler party was one of an infinite amount of time traveler parties that hawking hosted throughout the multiverse. A time traveler would be traveling to that time like picking a grain of sand on a beach, where each grain of sand is a near identical party to the last.
As our version of the party diverges from the realities with time travelers who chose to travel to the hawking party, there would be a diminishing set of infinities containing time travelers that were attempting the journey.
Thus while the chances of a time traveler going to the party are 100%, the party being our version of the party approach 0 infinitely fast.
Hawking knew no one was going to show up. It was done as a sort of proof against it. He just thought it was more likely then the existence of god.
it would frankly be dumb not to throw the party, because at worst you just have a bit of a weird boring party, and at best you meet some fucking time travellers
But what if the time travellers start asking for your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle?
Say, that's what he said at the party!
You're missing the point completely.
You do not actually know if "paradoxical consequences" are a thing. Logic might, like everything we believe right now, turn out not to be how the world works.
Stopping yourself from doing an experiment because "current knowledge makes it seem impossible" is how science never advances.
I have no idea what you're arguing against, or what point you think I've missed.
Have you assumed that I have discounted other models because of the model I chose for my comment? Bah! You assume too much.
I did not state that doing the experiment was a bad thing; my comment was in humor even!
Well, usually if people call something "ridiculous" they mean that it's so bad that it's funny, i.e. not worth considering.
In any case, I'm not really arguing either, you assume too much!
You can spend your entire life thinking about it and you Will never reach a definitive answer. Or, you can spend a day to set up an experiment and throw a party.
Yup