The Argument Against Time Machines.

So I ponder this a lot. Why don't we have Time Machines? I believe that it's possible to move around in time. In fact, it may already be happening (just google "CIA Time Machine"), but the general population knows nothing of it. Or do they? Nope. They don't. I think that time travel is already a developed technology. I don't think it's a lack of ingenuity and technology why time travel isn't widely used (could you imagine being able to go back and view the dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden? Sweet.). I do think it's all about being practical.

A. The smell.
If someone were to go back in time more than say, 150 years and especially 1,000 years or more, they would be overwhelmed by the smell. No toothpaste/toothbrushes, no showers, no deodorant. And worse, no toilets (in the modern sense) or toilet paper (try shaking hands in the Dark Ages...). You know when you are talking to someone with halitosis, but you didn't know they had it? You get that knee jerk reaction that's a cross between a horrible gag reflex and the unending desire to punch them in the face. Now multiply that by a gazillion. Lots of puking and punching.

B. No Starbucks.
Kinda self-explanitory...

C. Desire.
Now this covers a multitude of things. The biggest is the "what if I do step on this butterfly?" syndrome. That's where the person that goes back in time decides he (or a time-traveling-she) can play God and change the course of events for everyone by tweaking something small. Or curiosity gets the best of him (or a time-traveling-her) and they decide they want to see how much it actually does change the time stream to step on a butterfly. Eventually something disastrous will happen. Like all the honey bees will start disappearing. Wait a minute... And let's not even start on the lottery winning.

D. Disease.
Now this one is probably the biggest reason, which is why I saved it for last. The big finish, if you will. And if you won't, well, there's the imaginary door. Do you remember in fifth grade when we learned about American history? Specifically the part where the settlers and expansionists gave the Native Americans disease ridden blankets? If you don't, quick recap: a bunch of them died. The same is possible if someone with the common cold or flu of today goes back in time about a thousand years. The common cold of today is an extremely advanced version of the cold or flu that lived back then, just evolved for over a thousand years. Like the Terminator of viruses, sent from the future to destroy anyone in it's way. People in the past don't have the antibodies to deal with the common illnesses of today and thusly would die in waves... like the bubonic plague. Hmmm. You don't think... do you? Anyway, the same could be said for the future people. You never know if they are going to come across (came across? I mean this is past tense) a disease that is extinct today. Imagine if they contract something from an ancient hooker (another form of the "desire" problem). Something like a horrible crotch eating disease that wasn't recorded anywhere but eventually died out because people with plague eaten crotches can't procreate (so the tale of said disease can't spread) and sans crotch, no spreading the disease. In our sex crazed society today, the crotch eating disease would scour the world. Paris Hilton would die within a week.

Anyway, to recap:
Time Travel is cool, but dangerous (deloreans going 88 miles per hour then bursting into flame... think of all the ruined photo huts). There is no telling what would happen if someone without some extreme discipline and training were to go back in time. Back to the future is a small example of this. Marty McFly nearly ruined his existence, but ended up ruining Biff's, thereby messing with the natural order of the strongest surviving. And while we are on the subject, wouldn't the gambling Biff did in the second movie change the outcomes of future games by the huge amounts he won, and therefor change the future and his ability to always find the winner? You think it would.

These are things I think about.