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Ah yes, can you change the past or was there a time traveler version of you running around failing to change things the whole time? See season 5 of Lost for end

Ah yes, can you change the past or was there a time traveler version of you running around failing to change things the whole time? See season 5 of Lost for endless discussion on this point. You also can avoid paradoxes if it turns out that time travel just puts you on an alternate timeline. There's a different paradox with this version of time travel though. Suppose I'm a kid and future-Me comes back and tells me a story. "you will write down this story and publish it and it will be famous." I do as he asks and he's absolutely right, leading me to eventually return the favor to my past self in a time loop. Where did the story come from?

littlestymaar 6y ago
Your story allows a “closed timelike curves” to exist, then it must be considered as a physical constant. Where do c (the speed of light), G (Gravitational constant) or π comes from?
- schwartzworld 6y ago
  Can you elaborate?
dnh44 6y ago
The film Predestination also deals with this paradox. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2397535/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2397535/
Digit-Al 6y ago
Have you ever read "All you zombies" by Heinlein? https://gist.github.com/defunkt/759182/ad44c6135d168ae54503a281bb7e1a24c6c2ea0c https://gist.github.com/defunkt/759182/ad44c6135d168ae54503a...
diggernet 6y ago
See also "As Never Was", by P. Schuyler Miller.
simiones 6y ago
It may be that, just as it's impossible for you to be killed by yourself from the future in this type of universe, it's also impossible to create information out of nothing, so the specific scenario you described would just be impossible. This could be a kind of conservation law - imagine that instead of a story you had a golden coin, that you receive from your future self, keep, and give back to your past self after you travel, you've added some mass to the universe, which would be impossible because of conservation of energy.

littlestymaar 6y ago

Your story allows a “closed timelike curves” to exist, then it must be considered as a physical constant. Where do c (the speed of light), G (Gravitational constant) or π comes from?

schwartzworld 6y ago
Can you elaborate?

dnh44 6y ago

The film Predestination also deals with this paradox. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2397535/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2397535/

Digit-Al 6y ago

Have you ever read "All you zombies" by Heinlein? https://gist.github.com/defunkt/759182/ad44c6135d168ae54503a281bb7e1a24c6c2ea0c https://gist.github.com/defunkt/759182/ad44c6135d168ae54503a...

diggernet 6y ago

See also "As Never Was", by P. Schuyler Miller.

simiones 6y ago

It may be that, just as it's impossible for you to be killed by yourself from the future in this type of universe, it's also impossible to create information out of nothing, so the specific scenario you described would just be impossible. This could be a kind of conservation law - imagine that instead of a story you had a golden coin, that you receive from your future self, keep, and give back to your past self after you travel, you've added some mass to the universe, which would be impossible because of conservation of energy.