The Grandmother Paradox

[Unintentional]

The Grandmother Paradox

Wow! Where has this topic been all my life? THe Sims computer game, Commodore Computers, DC Comics!!! And Time Travel! Everything I love in one topic!

To put in my 2 cents, in The Universe In A Nutshell, Steven Hawking and his assistant are always argueing if paradoxes are capable of happening. Since they both subscribe to the "an unobserved particle takes every possible path to its destination" theory, they say it is possible to go back in time and kill your grandmother. The end result of "you" would still be "you", but one of the "you"s that took the path that got you to where and when you are now, killed his grandmother. Now all of "you" couldn't go back in time and kill your grandmother, but it is possible that one of "you" took that path.

Does that make any sense? Is anyone's head hurting? 'oh!:

 

[iooqxpooi]

The Grandmother Paradox

When you kill your grandmother, you must have traveled back in time for it to have happened, correct?

So you travel back in time. You go to another world, which you are supposed to kill your grandmother, and die immediately after(that won't automatically happen, but just an example). You kill your grandma, and you die. There are no 'you's in the world, and thus there is a different history.

Got it?

 

[iooqxpooi]

The Grandmother Paradox

You don't CREATE it, it is already created. You also don't exist in either timeline anymore.

 

[TTN]

Re: The Grandmother Paradox

This is just my theory. If you were to go back in time and kill your grandmother/mother, you will still exitst(since there has to be "john doe" in the time line) but as a different person.

 

[darkbreed]

Re: The Grandmother Paradox

here's my theory:
you travel back in time, and meet your younger self, it would be like meeting any other person. Except for the feeligns involved of meeting "oneself" of course. And if you kill this younger person, he would die, like any person you kill would. I dont see why "you" would vanish from killing a younger version of yoursel, as it would be like someone else that is killed. You allready exist so I dont see how you can just dissapear, then you wouldnt been there in the first place (in other words, you would have been killed when you were at the stage in the life where you actually were this younger self, and would never gotten older than that. And that would been impossible since you allready are the older version, and experience life as this older version, so only solution is to me there would only be the physical death of this younger version, that must exist in some paralell timeline/dimension)

To put it short, you travel back in time, but since you are in a place where you allready exist, its a copy of the "real" timeline from where you came. Its not the original one in any case, as you didnt meet a future self when you originally was the age of your younger self in the above example. So whatever you do there affects that "copy" and not the one you came from.

 

[StarLord]

Re: The Grandmother Paradox

Imagine your surprise when you try out your theory and instead of you vanishing with a loud pop of displaced air, the whole Universe around you crumbles into dust, there you are wondering who turned off all the lights and then you hear a loud sigh and words that travel for ever "Just LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!!!!!!!

 

[darkbreed]

Re: The Grandmother Paradox

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(\"StarLord\")</div>

Imagine your surprise when you try out your theory and instead of you vanishing with a loud pop of displaced air, the whole Universe around you crumbles into dust, there you are wondering who turned off all the lights and then you hear a loud sigh and words that travel for ever \"Just LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!!!!!!![/b]

haha that would been something :lol:

 

[Eduardo Torres]

Re: The Grandmother Paradox

I think we could deal with the Grandmother Paradox through the Transit Displacement Paradox, conceived by Robert Silverberg in his novel 'Up The Line' (1969). According to this paradox, travelers to the past took with themselves their 'own time', as if they were 'encapsulated' in a bubble of the present time just as it existed in the occasion of their trip. That means that modifications of History subsequent to their trip could not reach them, since they stayed out of their temporal matrix (the present from where they left). So, you could kill your grandfather when he was still child. You would not stop existing immediately, only if you returned to the present, where you would not have more any temporal connection, since you would never have been born.

The idea of creation of a ATL (alternate time line) sounds strange. What exactly would happen in the very moment of its creation?

Rgds,
Eduardo Torres

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(\"darkbreed\")</div>

here's my theory:
you travel back in time, and meet your younger self, it would be like meeting any other person. Except for the feeligns involved of meeting \"oneself\" of course. And if you kill this younger person, he would die, like any person you kill would. I dont see why \"you\" would vanish from killing a younger version of yoursel, as it would be like someone else that is killed. You allready exist so I dont see how you can just dissapear, then you wouldnt been there in the first place (in other words, you would have been killed when you were at the stage in the life where you actually were this younger self, and would never gotten older than that. And that would been impossible since you allready are the older version, and experience life as this older version, so only solution is to me there would only be the physical death of this younger version, that must exist in some paralell timeline/dimension)

To put it short, you travel back in time, but since you are in a place where you allready exist, its a copy of the \"real\" timeline from where you came. Its not the original one in any case, as you didnt meet a future self when you originally was the age of your younger self in the above example. So whatever you do there affects that \"copy\" and not the one you came from.[/b]

 

[darkbreed]

Re: The Grandmother Paradox

I dont know what happens at its creation of an alternate timeline, maybe its allready there and don't need to be "created". Just like this timeline is allready here, a traveler from a different timeline than us wouldnt need to have our timeline created for him to travel here, as it allready exists. Like everything exists at once.

Personally i find it stranger with theories about spontanously "non-existence" from traveling back and killing your own father or grandfather or such. How would this happen? With my theory you dont even have to worry about that question =) I find my theory solves alot of paradoxes, and makes things easier to understand about time travel.

 

[StarLord]

Re: The Grandmother Paradox

This would be a most excelent time to promote my theory regarding the Dove Ice Cream Bar. No matter how many times you eat it, it's still there.

I have one regarding a very fine bottle of Single Malt Scotch, but after a few experiences that involved a week long hangover, you would have to be insane to open that bottle again. it's just not worth the pain imho.