Proof of time travel? Shyeah, right.
Although this is a kind of fun time travel idea. This guy, Rigby, has pledged that if he has access to time travel in his lifetime, he will come back from the future and appear at the Empire State Building at 4pm on August 3, 2002. To prove he has traveled back from the future, he got that date tattooed on his arm. Get it?
So if you go to the Empire State Building on August 3, 2002, and there’s just a 20-something dude standing there with the date tattooed on his arm, we can assume this guy never has access to time travel in his lifetime. (Or so he says…more on this in a moment.)
However, if you go to the Empire State Building on August 3, 2002, and there’s a 20-something dude standing there with the date tattoed on his harm and a somewhat familiar-looking 82-year old guy with the same tattoo walks up and greets him, then this is The Future Rigby who has traveled back to that date to say “Hey.”
Rigby is pretty eager about the idea that even if his octegenarian self doesn’t show up to meet the 2002 version of himself in August, “I will be able to say WITH 100% CERTAINTY that I will NEVER EVER have access to time travel in my lifetime. In effect, I will be the FIRST PERSON in history to say, with 100% CERTAINTY, something about the future that has not yet occurred.”
Putting aside all the time travel paradoxes and violations of the laws of physics and whatnot, this 100% certainty stuff is utter nonsense. Maybe Old Rigby has access, but doesn’t hold up his end of the bargain. Maybe Old Rigby has access, but time travel only goes backward as far as yesterday. Maybe Old Rigby has access, but en route to 2002, the Time Police pull him over around 2014 for violation of the Federal Time Protection Act of 2045 and use a loophole in time to condemn him to watch Olsen Twins videos for eternity while never aging.
Granted, if it happens, it’ll be pretty cool. But, if not, all Rigby can be sure of is that something didn’t happen. Big frickin’ deal. Lots of things don’t happen every day. There’s a causal fallacy of logic at work here, but don’t get me started on all the logical fallacies involved in time travel.
Better idea: I’d love to find a game old codger to get the same tattoo and walk up to Rigby on August 3 and say, “Hey, Me!” Heh heh. In fact, if Old Rigby does show up to meet Young Rigby, someone better have a DNA test lined up to prove that they’re the same person. Otherwise, Rigby might be pulling the scam I just proposed.