U arrival, kill self?

From: ileg@mailinator.com
Date: Thu, Apr 1, 2004 3:15 AM

Title: Immediate Instructions for the Time Traveler (Intentional or
Othewise)

Ask yourself:

1) "Do you currently or will you ever again have the ability to travel in
time?"

Having arrived at your current event by time travel you may or may not have
the option of traveling again, such as to return to your departure event.
Did your time machine arrive with you, or will you gain access to one between
now and your eventual death?

This simple-sounding question turns out to be rather challenging to answer
definitively, but every effort should be made toward resolving it: later
questions of some importance can only be answered confidently once this is
settled. As it turns out, it makes little difference whether you have this
ability currently versus having it at any point in your personal future.

2. "If so, consider whether you should immediately and irrevocably destroy
your ability to travel in time."

Perhaps surprisingly, thoughtful analysis will reveal that the most numerous
and serious risks to any goal or effect intended by the traveler generally
derive from his or her continuing access to the time machine after the bilk
attempt. Using an analogy to explain this risk, imagine yourself as a
supplicant asking a favor of the court: if the answer is yes, don't ask a
second time!

If the traveler is a person and not a machine, another risk of retaining the
ability to travel in time relates to the psychological impact upon the
traveler of the initial journey. Before lightly discarding this risk
consider why Cortez reputedly burned his men's ships upon his arrival in
Mexico.

If the time travel mechanism itself cannot be disabled, and of course
depending upon the traveler's goals, the best odds of success may be achieved
by attempting suicide at the earliest opportunity after attempting the
desired bilk. I mention this desperate option since desperate imperatives
may well inform the traveler's priorities.

-Gastrorgo Ilee
Seattle, 2004

mailto:ileg@mailinator.com
'habituas erat ardora'

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Subject: Re: upon arrival, kill self?
From: polar bear <bear@pole.com>

I'm travelling forward in time right now.

Amazing isn't it?

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Subject: Re: upon arrival, kill self?
From: Joe Cosby <joecosby@SPAMBLOCKmindspring.com>

well cut it out, you're making me seasick.

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Subject: Re: upon arrival, kill self?
From: nenslo <nenslo@yahoox.com>

I've been trying for years to figure out how NOT to travel in time.

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Original file name: upon arrival, kill self? - converted on Saturday, 25 September 2004, 02:05