Re: Billy's Time Travelling Dilemma - Milan, WA1

 Here's a perspective from what I think Vonnegut would say from Billy's perspective regarding his time traveling:

This is Pilgrim here. I read your blog through a special friend of mine who recorded it on microfilm and translated it back to me. I have to say, I enjoyed reading your insights into my thoughts. However, I have a few gripes with your thought process. Why jump so quickly to 'illegal' substances simply because your Earthling mind fails to grasp the entire story? My time traveling isn't an incredible feat, but rather it is a method of me focusing less on the bad moments of life and instead taking it all in as one experience (with more emphasis on the good parts, of course). As you know, I was indeed abducted by the Tralfamadorians who shared with me their insights on Earthling society. They call us the great explainers, and this time I will fulfill the namesake that with which we have been labeled.

Why should I want to change my fate? That in itself is impossible, because fate is unyielding; it is something forever frozen in time, like bugs in amber. Moments in the future are meant to occur simply because the moment is structured that way. Your free will only depends on the context in which you are speaking. For example, in the case of destiny, there is no free will for destiny has already taken into account all of the choices you will make. However, your destiny collides with other events in life and even other people, which leads us to believe that we have a choice in our future. Should you instead ignore the fact the fate is already decided, then you obviously believe that you have a choice in how you want to live. While this may be true from that perspective, fate has already taken all of your choices and change of hearts into mind when it was created. These are things that everyone must accept and understand before they can even begin to fathom the values that the Tralfamadorians follow and uphold.

Furthermore, people are meant to die because we are all destined to pass away at a predetermined time that we do not know until it has passed. People will pass away all the time, so why bother thinking about such a depressing topic? It is better to remember the times that those people were alive rather than when they are gone. War is a result of the fact that humans dwell on the past, and more specifically negative things in the past, and want to change the future. If we accepted that the future is already predetermined and that it cannot be changed, than we would save ourselves the suffering of fighting for it and instead lend ourselves the massive benefit of enjoying our lives the way they are now and instead focus in improving them. If there are no negative thoughts in everyone's mind, it is impossible for war to occur because it is a direct result of people wishing to fight one another over the change of something detrimental in their lives.

So, my friend, whoever you are, know that I'm a human being as you are. But the difference between you and I lies in the ideals that we cherish and live towards fulfilling. You live believing that your ideals are things that have to be fought for, and in doing so the end justifies the means; I live believing our ideals must be deserved and fought for without the mindset of killing others before they can come to fruition.

Billy's Time Travelling Dilemma - John

Oh Mr. Pilgrim, how do you accomplish this incredible feat known as time travelling? Is it really a divine gift allowing you to move through time, or is it merely just your imagination, taxed from the stress of war? With the possibility of travelling through time, I honestly don't understand why you haven't tried changing your life. You had the ability to right all the wrongs with your life, having seen everything an endless amount of times, yet you idly walk through your time travelling moments, not even trying to alter things for the better. Why wouldn't you stop Weary from bullying you or not board the airplane you knew would end the life of your father-in-law? My understanding of this has led me to believe that you can't control what happens, because it isn't a case of time-travelling.

Another possibility is shell-shock, a word used to describe the physiological trauma caused by the horrors of war. This option also seems improbable because let's be honest, what misfortunes have you seen in war? Casually strolling through while your comrades die at your side, not even armed or prepared to fight the enemy? Have you pondered the gruesome feelings that others experience in war times? Is there not a time where you felt disgust at the sight of death and decay that lies around you? I doubt so, with your monotonous way of living.

This leads us to my theory. Your so called "time-travelling" is induced by a powerful hallucinogen, allowing you to supposedly see the past as well as the future. I've racked my brain for any other possible methods of how you do what you do but this comes to me as the only possible logical answer. And we all know that you're no stranger to drugs either; remember the giraffes? Now wasn't that a drug-induced hallucination? What other explanation is there for the deranged visions that you perceive? with all this talk of tralfamadorians and such. Who would honestly believe your stories of such dubious creatures? The moments where you lose track of time and lose all the feelings in your body. Hasn't it happened before, such as when you nearly froze yourself to death without being able to feel or even notice that your daughter was outside your doorsteps. Hallucinogens dull the senses and leave you in this monotonous state. So pick your poison, Mr. Pilgrim, your adventures await.