Looks like somebody has read Anathem.

I vehemently disagree with many worlds theory. I think its a total mindfuck. However I do think that the future influences the present and the past.

Time is a physical entity that can be warped, but nobody is creating snaphsots of reality to travel back to and future is entirely a human concept.

Or, analogy to a river (although flawed): you can't create a loop and expect it to still flow. But circumstances can make it flow slower or faster.