4 ms·

By paradox, do you mean something like reverting order of events in some inertial frames?

• whatshisface 8y ago
  The order of events is fair game to reverse so long as they are far enough away from each other that one couldn't have caused the other. The order of pairs of events like that reverse all the time. It's only a time paradox if you can actually do something paradoxical, like killing your grandfather.
  • effie 8y ago
    > if you can actually do something paradoxical, like killing your grandfather. ... before certain crucial event in his life, you mean, I assume. How exactly does having a superluminal telephone imply I could change history? Changing history is the paradoxical part - don't assume it can happen.
    • whatshisface 8y ago
      Here is an article that goes in to the detail[0]. In so many words, you can use the superluminal telephone to transmit information to your own past. In essence, there is a certain amount of freedom in the simultaneity of events that is well-known to exist (having been experimentally verified). You can abuse it to create time paradoxes if and only if you can send messages faster than light - without FTL it is a curiosity that seems strange to some but otherwise doesn't upset anything. [0] http://www.theculture.org/rich/sharpblue/archives/000089.html http://www.theculture.org/rich/sharpblue/archives/000089.htm...
      • effie 8y ago
        Thanks for the link. See also the comments below the essay which give some valid criticisms.