A lot of people think that time travel to the past is just a matter of time.
An example of the problems therein is illustrated by the following paradox:
1. You build a time machine.
2. You travel back in time.
3. You meet your own grandfather when he is 20 years old.
4. He is so shocked he dies of a heart attack when you tell him who you are.
5. He never meets your grandmother, they never marry and never beget your mother.
6. You are never born.
7. So because you don't exist, you never build the time machine.
8. Without the time machine, your grandfather cannot die, therefore you are born.
9. So you build the time machine.
10 (See step 2)
Many scientists think that time travel into the past is impossible because of this reasoning.
Movie makers have made use of this idea in subtle ways. Star Trek IV; The Voyage Home uses transparent aluminum. Scottie gives the scientist of 1984 the formula for transparent aluminum, which is of course an invention from the future.
They then use it in the movie, giving credit that it was invented in 1984. So the invention originated in 1984. The question is: Where did the knowledge come from?
Another better example was in the Terminator movies. In T1, the Terminator was sent back through time to kill the hero's mother, because the machines were losing the battle in the future, the hero leading the humans seemingly to victory.
In T3, the third Terminator is again sent back to kill the hero, and to get to him, infects the machines with a virus. The virus causes the 3rd world war, and subsequently the new war against the machines, which the machines start to lose, triggering an action to send a machine (T1) back into the past to kill the Hero before he becomes powerful enough to lead the humans seemingly to victory.....
The loop is quite clear, although James Cameron wraps it up within 3 movies and a gamut of special effects.
This post is closely related to http://phdnotdph.blogspot.com/2005/07/is-time-travel-possible-honest-answer.html
But the point of view is diametrically opposed.
As Douglas Addams once said, the main problem with time travel is not the above, but of "tense". How on earth can you describe something which would have been done if you had done something else in the past future of the future past?
If you look carefully at the two examples, you will see the proof.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
The Time Travel Paradox
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2 comments:
Excuse me, Sir, but if you read REALLY carefully, this post is about time travel into the past, not the future (that was dealt with in the past)
4. He is shocked he dies of a heart attack when you tell him who you are.
I submit that the above statement can not logically happen. As proof of this, I submit that since you exist, this event did not happen as stated. The logic is flawed. Otherwise you have proof that cause and effect do not always follow in their proper sequence, since you obviously lived. Therefore scientists can not preclude the possibility of time travel into the past.
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