Time Travel a la Stephen Hawking

[TheDarkestOfAngels]

I've been mesmerized by Hawking's Into the Universe series and one of the episodes is on time travel. Now, assuming the connecting wormhole proximity is close, and our ability to increase their size to allow a human to pass through, it seems very plausible that this could actually happen. If anyone else has thought about time travel I'd like to see what you all think about a few questions/ideas I have:

- We've all heard the "number one rule" of time travel: don't be seen. Assuming our descendants are capable of coming up with the technology to harness the 4th dimension, do you think they would come back to our time now?

My guess is no. Either because humans didnt' survive long enough to invent time travel or because travel backwards in time cannot be done. It's hard to say because with all the talk of time I've heard (I did see that program you're talking about) we still know very little about time and many of the things Hawking discussed in the program in regards to backward time travel.

-In no way is this meant to be a conspiracy theory, but it is curious to think about some of the older UFO sightings and chuckle to yourself about the possibility that they could be from the future... we didn't have the technology to truly explain a lot of the sightings back in the 30s, 40s, 50s... or previous times - it's an interesting thought.

Sightings actually go all the way back to ancient times and may even be on record in odd places, but honestly, I'm more willing to believe they're space aliens than humans from the future.
Of course, anything is possile but very little is provable. An interesting thoughts still.

-If you could time travel, in either direction and survive the potentially extreme conditions and not disrupt history, what one place would you go? Who/what would you visit?

The future, preferably around the 24th or 25th century just to see how far we've gone and what the science fiction of that era looks like.

Though I do have some interest in visiting the past. I would't mind seeing humanity around the time where we first appeared, particuarly during the time when more htan one human species were on the same planet at the same time.

Just picking one instance in time to visit is a pretty daunting task. Although I'd love the opportunity to visit America at its birth (anthropologically-speaking) or the Renaissance, or Galileo, or the Egyptians, or Newton (the list is endless really), I think I might pick the time of the great Greeks. Although, it would be fun to see if Jesus really lived when Christians believe he did, but since his existence has no real impact on my life I'll let that one be.

That would be interesting, but even if I brough video evidence, signed autographs and photographs, foot prints, artifacts, an eye-witness from that time for testimony, and several experts to travel with me and independantly confirm and collect evidence, I think the religious folks would say that all the evidence is doctored and the eye witnesses liars and there's a conspiracy among everyone who goes back in time so they can hold on to their superstitian.