Polymath Redux

Chapter 29: PROJECT: Hellgate Part 6

If one was given a time machine, would it be in their obligation to use it to fix the errant of humanity? Of course this question cannot be answered with a simple 'yes' or 'no' without examining the vast array of consequences of such actions and the morality of those answers.

No doubt very few people would argue that using the time machine to 'correct' history would not be morally presumptuous. To say that would be okay to do so would imply that one era's morality was much more superior than another era's; which simply untrue, since morality is a subjective construct native to its respective era. So if we assume that to be true then it would therefore only be for the self-satisfaction of the time traveler to alter history.

There are no guarantees that whatever actions taken by the time traveler to 'correct' what one believes as the 'errs of history' will result in a better future. In the first place, what does it mean to have a 'better future'?

However consider the situation wherein a time machine has already come to existence. In such a situation it could also be argued that not using it to change history would be selfish and morally presumptuous in its own right. A person from contemporary society may think that WW1 and WW2 were 'wrong'. If that were the case then would it not also be against that person's morals to do nothing when they have the power to fix what they believe were wrong?

'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing'; we all have a moral obligation to fix what we believe is wrong.

Of course there is no one who has absolute authority to claim what is an 'wrong' and what is 'right', but that can also mean that 'right' and 'wrong' is simply up to a person to measure, or better yet those constructs don't actually exist. Everything merely follows a strict rule of cause and effect, and whatever decisions were made resulted in whatever consequences. If we believe that to be true the it can be argued that with the addition of hindsight, then it is perhaps true that contemporary citizens technically have better 'morality' than those of the past, if only a little.

There is no right answer to this; only arguments with their own merits. The only 'true' answer is whatever a person believes to be the true answer; it is up to an individual to decide and live with that decision. One must also note that indecision and inaction to use the time machine can also be considered an answer and thus have their own consequences.

So then what is Mordred's answer to this question?

'Yes'.

Undoubtedly his answer would be to use the time machine to 'correct' the past. While that decision may not necessarily lead to the betterment of humanity as a whole, it would be truly arrogant to not even try. One must try to fix what they consider to be errors and it is only through trial and error that one can grow as a person. If their actions result in a negative outcome then that just simply means that they have to take responsibility.

To Mordred, his current circumstances are similar to this question.

What makes a time machine so potent is not that it can travel through time, but that it can take 'knowledge' through time. A time traveler has one thing over other people and that is 'knowledge'. Though the situation was different, for Mordred the principle essence of that question was the same. He had one thing over the people of this land: 'Power'.

It is as they say, 'knowledge is power'.

Through the use of the [surveillance spectres] Mordred was able to see that the course of the battle was changing. There was a massive concentration of soldiers and adventurers all preparing for a final charge towards victory with Irina spearheading the entire force. The people of this city had finally figured out that their only chance of victory was through stopping the silver light pillar and that they needed Irina's assistance to get past the enemy.