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00:00 Picture the scene. You've just woken up and you're scrolling through wherever it is you get
00:04 your news. Or you're on your way to work or school, listening to the latest bulletin on the radio.
00:10 Everything seems normal until, suddenly, you learn of a breaking story that will very literally
00:15 change the world forever. We know that the mystery of time travel has long fueled intricate
00:20 science fiction and innovative scientific research. We also know that there are theories in which it
00:26 could, even should, be possible. And we know that there are mounting conspiracy claims that actually
00:31 it's already here. It's just that time travel in the real world is kept under strict lock and key
00:37 by an ultra-exclusive, seriously secretive, minuscule minority of humankind somewhere.
00:42 Believe what you will, however, we can all imagine exactly what we would do if time travel were ever
00:48 invented. And that moment when it's first made common knowledge would be the turning point for
00:54 the rest of our lives. This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question;
00:58 what if time travel were released to the public?
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01:12 Imagine a time when the veil of time itself is lifted, and the secrets of the past, present,
01:18 and future are laid bare for everyone to explore. Welcome to a perhaps not-so-distant future
01:23 where time travel technology has been revealed to the watching world. A new era of limitless
01:28 possibilities. A knowledge revolution the likes of which we've never seen before. A period of
01:34 unprecedented cultural change. First, we'll consider the immediate reactions, then the
01:39 short-term effects, and finally, the long-term impact. The bizarre thing is that it likely
01:44 would take some time before the significance of time travel would really show. In the immediate
01:49 few hours and days, there'd be excitement, yes, but also disbelief and suspicion. If you heard
01:55 tomorrow that time travel was real, would you accept that unquestionably right away?
02:00 Part of the heightened intelligence of humankind is that we know to question and think over new
02:05 information, and this would be no different. Nevertheless, there are some things we can
02:09 predict with confidence. Social media would instantly erupt in a cacophony of opinion,
02:15 fast diluting down into an endless stream of time travel memes. As the news played out over
02:20 the internet, it wouldn't really matter if there were any doubts over the legitimacy;
02:24 it would just be a hype machine like nothing else before. On the global stage, we'd surely
02:29 see some form of united board for time travel, an amalgamation of world governments set up to
02:34 introduce such transformative tech. That is, so long as our governments know ahead of time.
02:39 In another version of events, it's actually a team of scientists, or even a lone inventor,
02:44 that reveals time travel to the world. In which case, there'd be a mad scramble by those in power
02:49 to try to control the situation. Of course, alongside everything else, there'd also be
02:53 massive cause for genuine concern for basically everybody. For those who follow religion,
02:59 time travel might be viewed as a challenge to the divine order. For those who ponder physics,
03:04 it could pose a serious threat to the very existence of themselves, their families,
03:08 to the physical reality of everyone alive. Interestingly, the general concept of time
03:13 travel does appear in ancient texts and religious scripture. Some interpretations of many Hindu
03:19 legends, including the story of the goddess Revati, describe the notion of time dilation,
03:24 a phenomenon we now know to be real, and at the heart of countless modern-day time travel theories.
03:30 Meanwhile, in the Bible, passages like those dealing with the visions of Ezekiel have before
03:35 been interpreted as potential time travel experiences. Even with that in mind, though,
03:39 publicly available time travel would enable all who use it to play God in the eyes of some,
03:45 which could lead to huge problems - and maybe even the end times. And while such cultural tales may
03:51 not always register with those geared more towards science, the dangers of logical paradoxes surely
03:56 do. Such as with the famous "grandfather paradox", which could result in anyone essentially being
04:02 deleted from their own timeline. Or the "bootstrap problem", which could instantly plunge any person
04:08 into an inescapable time loop. Such concerns are perhaps more individual than the mass
04:13 mantras of organised religion, but the outcomes are potentially just as terrible.
04:17 What's clear is that, in amongst all the excitement, chaos, and time-tickled hysteria,
04:22 we would need to get a grip on things quickly. There could be dire consequences if we didn't.
04:28 So, what would the next steps be? How would this new knowledge be implemented? Would time travel
04:32 become a commercial product, accessible only to the rich and privileged? Or would it be a universal
04:38 right for everyone? Controlled commercialisation might lead to exclusive time resorts, history-
04:43 themed adventures, and perhaps even temporal reality shows. Meanwhile, a free-to-use model
04:49 would democratise time travel, enabling people from all walks of life to explore time. But is it
04:55 really as simple as that? If time travel were a commercial product, then it's a sure bet that it
05:00 wouldn't be cheap. Perhaps the closest comparison we can make is with the early stages of space
05:04 tourism, with a tiny minority paying massive amounts to just a couple of powerful people,
05:10 all to get them into space before anyone else. But, of course, there would be a major difference
05:14 with time travel because of the immediate impact any traveller could have on the surrounding world.
05:20 Head to space, and you're still only ever dealing with your own life and timeline.
05:24 Your time in space would count as an especially rare moment compared to the lives of everyone else,
05:29 but it wouldn't bleed over and affect anyone else in any sizeable way. That isn't the case
05:34 with time, where whatever the traveller does certainly would have consequences beyond their
05:39 own experience. If the fabled "butterfly effect" proves true, then even the tiniest action committed
05:44 by any super-rich crononaut could spell disaster. But then again, if time travel were free to all,
05:51 then we'd still have all of those exact same issues… except now everyone would be at risk
05:55 of triggering a seemingly infinite number of potential disasters at any one time.
06:00 For some who believe that time travel tech does already exist, this is the primary reason why it
06:05 hasn't been made public knowledge… because free travel could literally spell the end of us as a
06:10 species. The question, even before releasing to the public, then, is how do you police time?
06:16 Just as the everyday world has its own emergency services and deliverers of law and order,
06:21 time travel would need its own protectors. Some kind of universal agency would have to
06:26 be immediately established. Let's call them the guardians of the continuum, tasked with monitoring
06:31 all time activities to prevent abuse, and also to maintain the integrity of the timeline past,
06:36 present and future. Thanks to logical conundrums like the butterfly effect, time travel is an
06:42 infinitely layered minefield, laced with deadly outcomes that could explode into action at any
06:48 moment. So, again, how do you police that? One answer could be that, ultimately, you can't…
06:53 which means that life for everyone, post the revelation of time travel, could easily and
06:58 quickly descend into a never-ending quest just to survive. Say we did find a way to maintain
07:03 control, though, perhaps via some kind of interdimensional tracing tech. If nothing else
07:08 goes wrong, and if time travel does become the norm, then how do we change as a result?
07:13 With forward travel in particular, we'd suddenly all be able to see the consequences of what we do
07:18 before we actually do it… assuming that all would aim for the best consequences, or else fall
07:23 foul of time law, this should mean that nothing bad ever happens again. It would be the cause and
07:29 effect turned on its head, with the effects guiding the actions that constitute the cause,
07:34 all of the time. Meanwhile, the same would be true of backward travel. Whatever outcomes unfold as a
07:40 result of your meddling in the past should be able to be refined and refined and refined,
07:45 to a point at which what actually happens is always exactly what you want to happen.
07:50 On the face of it, there is one major problem, because everyone wants different things,
07:54 and so time travel en masse could never work. However, perhaps it is the removal of individual
08:00 needs and desires that would emerge most of all as the enduring legacy of time travel.
08:05 The introduction of time travel would undoubtedly mark a paradigm shift in human civilization.
08:10 Our relationship with the past, present and future would be forever altered. But,
08:15 also, our relationships with each other would change. We'd no longer have set generations.
08:20 We'd all age at different times and places. We'd never exist alongside each other in quite the same
08:26 way again. This is life in four dimensions proper, and it could quickly lead to many of the most
08:31 seemingly far-off future technologies being introduced almost automatically - including
08:36 shared consciousness, the hive mind, and digital immortality. Because, in a world where we all
08:42 know how to travel in time, would any of us ever need to die? If living forever is ever something
08:47 that we do manage to achieve, then time travel could take us all to that level way ahead of
08:52 time in the traditional sense. For now, we can only imagine. Time travel isn't public knowledge,
08:59 and many believe that it might never be possible. But, still, what would you do if one day you did
09:05 switch on the news to the headline we've all been waiting for? Because that's what would happen
09:10 if time travel was released to the public. What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let
09:15 us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled,
09:19 and make sure you subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.