tr said:
How does this preclude distortion of gravity and traversing world lines? (given that MWI is correct, of course,
We were not talking about "distortion of gravity" nor "traversing world lines". We were talking about "time travel to the past".
I was asking for the reasoning for this claim specifically;
tr said:
I would recommend you consider modifying your view and recognizing that the event happened before Einstein ever conducted his experiment.
Please explain how the event...wearing different shoes...occured before he wore different shoes. That is what you stated.
I see. This is a good example of arguing a point of view without the latest information at your disposal. In Conviction of a Time Traveler, I make the quite specific point that time travel was
not the true power of the machine; it was the distortion of gravity that was its true purpose.
Time Travel was a side effect of the machine's true purpose
This is a key point to understand. Without this understanding, your pursuit of truth in regards to the Titor story (and time travel in general) won't make much real headway.
More to your point above, before we can begin truly dissecting the Titor story and its implications, we must know where to begin. Titor appearing here in 2000 (or 1998 for that matter) in not the correct place to start. We must first correctly define the machine itself (since obviously the machine predated Titor's involvement with it).
A simple and pedestrian way to get a small understanding about this would be to look at the Titor posts themselves. Did you ever notice that he always put the words "time travel" in quotes, as in "time travel?" Didn't you find that odd?
There is much more here, my friend. First, you must know where to begin.
The reason Einstein's experiment "already happened" before he conducted it is because it did; on the world line "right next door," so to speak. Remember, world lines are staggered, events on parallel world lines are not perfectly "aligned."