The Problem Of The Time Paradox In Science Fiction

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Video: The Problem Of The Time Paradox In Science Fiction

Video: The Problem Of The Time Paradox In Science Fiction
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The Problem Of The Time Paradox In Science Fiction
The Problem Of The Time Paradox In Science Fiction
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The problem of the time paradox in science fiction - time travel, time machine, time
The problem of the time paradox in science fiction - time travel, time machine, time

Time paradox (temporal paradox) - a paradoxical situation arising as a result of time travel in the opposite direction, when, as a result of some actions in the past, such a trip cannot be undertaken.

A typical example is the grandfather's paradox, when the hero, traveling in the past, kills his grandfather before he can conceive his father. This is a paradox, because by killing the grandfather, the hero prevents his own birth and thus prevents the time travel that prevents his birth.

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Different schools of thought consider the question of how grandfather's paradox will be solved if the time machine is invented.

Time sequence protection hypothesis

The essence of this hypothesis is that a time traveler simply cannot create a paradox, because the natural passage of time will not allow him to. For example, he will appear in the wrong place and will not be able to do anything at all, or various turns of fate will interfere with him, or even he, without noticing it, will restore the course of events in the form in which he remembers them. This, by the way, creates another paradox - the paradox of predestination, it is also a time loop, when a time traveler is predetermined to go on a journey in time and there to perform some actions that have already occurred. Usually these actions predetermine the need for travel in the future, an example would be a phone call to yourself.

A similar theory holds that time travel is responsible for the way the world is today, that is, the actions of travelers in the past affect the present. On the other hand, in this case, travelers will try to interact with the past as little as possible for fear of the consequences.

In Fallout 2, the Chosen One can enter Vault 13 using a temporary portal and accidentally break the water chip, the breakage of which will force his ancestor, the Vault Dweller, to leave the Vault, in order to subsequently be exiled and found a village in which the Chosen One will be born. By the way, the hero may not go to this portal and even never see it during the whole game, but events have already taken place, which makes fans wonder about the true cause of the breakdown.

Such a course of history can be easily imagined. Imagine that time is a book. The time machine allows you to turn over several pages, but the text in them will not change because of this, neither written about others, nor written about you.

Time Sequence Damage Hypothesis

This hypothesis assumes that any actions of the time traveler have a strong influence on the future and cause the so-called "butterfly effect", that is, even a slight change in the past leads to a complete change in the whole history in the future, as, for example, in the movie "The Butterfly Effect" or in Ray Bradbury's story "And Thunder Came," when during a Jurassic safari one of the participants steps on a butterfly and the wrong president is elected in the United States.

A very popular illustration of this example is Back to the Future, where schoolboy Marty McFly travels in a Doc Brown time machine and tries to first save Doc from death, and then restore the "natural" course of history to return to the familiar world.

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In addition, this hypothesis underlies many works with the so-called "alternative history". For example, the Command & Conquer: Red Alert series of games takes place in a world in which, after World War II, Einstein created a time machine, returned to the past, and killed Adolf Hitler. As a result, in the 50s, the USSR, under the leadership of Stalin, invades Europe and unleashes a world war.

In World of Warcraft, the Bronze Dragons, the lords of time, sometimes ask the player to restore the natural course of history, arguing that if this is not done, the consequences will be much worse. Thus, players manage to take part in the events that took place in the past of Azeroth, which they saw in previous games from Blizzard: the opening of the Dark Portal between the worlds by the magician Medivh, the battle for Mount Hyjal, Thrall's escape, the Purification of Stratholme by Prince Arthas Menethil.

Multiple Universes Hypothesis

The essence of this hypothesis is that there are an infinite number of universes, one for each choice. Thus, if the time traveler killed the grandfather, there would be a universe with a living grandfather and a dead grandfather.

Another hypothesis is that the murder of the grandfather creates a new universe in which the murder took place, but this does not affect the killer or his original universe.

For example, in one of the comics, Superman tries to prevent many historical events, for example, the murder of Lincoln. However, returning to his time, he does not find any differences, but later discovers a neighboring universe with an alternative history that appeared as a result of his actions.

The Merging Universes Hypothesis

Contrary to the multi-universe hypothesis, this hypothesis assumes that any action taken during time travel rewrites the past. Thus, if a time traveler meets his take from the past, he will simply merge with him, becoming part of the time in which the action takes place. The same is true for events: two events will merge into one, which does not generate a paradox. That is, the death of a grandfather in one universe and his life in another will merge so that the hero's past would allow him to continue to exist, or, if this is impossible, to destroy all traces of him from the future.

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