Tell me more ×
Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 6 down vote favorite

Normally Star Trek seems to based on some sort of logic, but the time travel in "Star Trek: Enterprise" seems to have no logic at all, or am I just missing it?

Example: If they go back in time to change something it takes time until it has any effect in the future? I can't see any reason for this.

share|improve this question
10  
Let's just face it. Time Travel is illogical, period. – PearsonArtPhoto♦ Jan 27 '12 at 13:09
3  
What was it T'Pol used to say? The Vulcan Science Ministry has decided that time travel is impossible, or something like that. – Xantec Jan 27 '12 at 13:30
1  
It is important to remember Star Trek's motto: "We Hate Continuity." atwitsendcomics.com/comics/index/23/Old-Kirk – Jack B Nimble Jan 27 '12 at 15:17
1  
Time travel was always way too easy in Star Trek. – Philip from Australia Jan 27 '12 at 22:30
5  
Is there a question here aside from "let's talk"? – neilfein Feb 14 '12 at 20:36
show 4 more comments

2 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

In ST:Enterprise, time travel happened many times successfully despite the fact that the Vulcans said concept of time travel illogical..
Once Archer was taken to the 31st century in the future, which created a new timeline in which everything was destroyed including time machine.. At that time, the original timeline was intact containing the time traveling event too.
Every time-based manipulation creates a new timeline for reality to flow... it's common in many sci-fi canons.

share|improve this answer
6  
Especially since they never settle on a constant effect of time travel. In some cases it creates and alternate timeline that continues to exist, in some it destroys the timeline, in others it leaves the experience of the timeline intact, but the actual facts change, and don't even start on Chakotay the time pruner. Time travel in ST fits that story's plot and cannot be taken to have any relevance to any other story. – Tyson of the Northwest Feb 15 '12 at 20:46
up vote -1 down vote

In a non-Star-Trek piece of fiction (Millenium, a novel whose author I can't remember), changes that they made propagated to the future with such a lag, I think at the rate of several minutes per century of difference. Since the protagonists were many thousands of years in our future, an accidental paradox they create gives them about 3 days to resolve the problem.

It was well-thought out, and I don't consider that particular mechanism to be dumb, unless it's just due to writers' sloppiness.

Ah, looks like it was Varley. I recommend it, by the way.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.