Examples Of The Grandfather Paradox - 1168 Words

The Grandfather Paradox: This essay will argue that the Grandfather Paradox makes it unlikely that time travel will ever be attainable. The premises of this argument are: If time travel to the past was possible you could kill your grandfather (before he conceived children) It is impossible for you to kill your grandfather before he conceived children (Because you wouldn’t exist to try and do so) Therefore time travel to the past is unlikely to ever be possible. 1 This argument refers to the contradictions that arise from the act of changing the past. For example: Your grandfather conceived children, this event has already occurred and caused your existence, therefore it is impossible for you to kill him before he conceived children†¦show more content†¦It specifically addresses part 1b. This is a well documented principle developed by a Russian Physicist named Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov. The theory is that anything a time traveler does, has already become part of history, the time traveler is meant to travel to the past. This argument relies heavily on the theory of Closed Timelike Curves (CTC). which were envisaged by Willem Jacob van Stockum in 1937, and developed by Mathematician Kurt Godel (1949). In a CTC the wordline (the history of the timeline, past and present) of an object or person describes a curved, looping path. The loop curves back on itself and arrives back at the present in the same place. â€Å"In other words, a closed timelike curve is the mathematical result of physics equations that allows for time travel.†2 This theory allows for the possibility of traveling to the past and changing some, but not all, events. A key factor in the theory of CTC’s is the idea that following the curve doesn’t change anything, it loops back on itself and becomes the original timeline, so the changes that occurred in the past have always been that way. Only self consistent events can occur. For example: John wants to kill his younger self three years in the past. He travels to the past, meets his earlier self, and shoots. But instead of of killing his younger self he shoots himself in the shoulder. This is the way things have always been, Jack has had aShow MoreRelatedHumans and the Ability to Dream?1002 Words   |  4 Pagesmany physicists cover in their lifetime. Their thoughts on it, however, sometimes seem rather juvenile. For example, Stephen Hawking once argued that time travel cannot be possible, or is at least limited, because there are no tourists from the future. In retaliation, Carl Sagan said that future tourists could just be pretending to be actual residents of our time period. Though these examples don’t seem extremely scientific, there are possibilities that exist that could be the key to time travel. Read MoreThe Value of Time Travel Essay663 Words   |  3 Pagesphilosophical, there are also paradox theories about time travel. One paradox theory is the grandfather paradox. The grandfather paradox means that if someone can go back in time and kill their grandfather, would they still be alive or they will disappear. If someone kills their grandfather, then their mom or dad won’t ever be alive which results of that person never being born. This means the person will disappear. In another example is what happens if someone kills their grandfather after the mom was bornRead MoreAdvantages Of Time Travel1640 Words   |  7 Pagesand that time traveling in the future is much easier and more likely to happen. One theory that comes into play when it comes to time travel is the special theory of relativity. It is â€Å"special† because it only applies to certain situations. 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If we travelled back in time more years that we are old, the effect would occur before the cause, making the effect and the cause both impossible. The Mad Scientist Paradox occurs when a scientist sees himself in the past and shoots his selfRead MoreCan There Be Time Travel Without Paradox? Essay2418 Words   |  10 PagesCan there be time travel without paradox? Time travel has long been a fascination of the science fiction genre, with many of the great stories concerning time travel being centred around the philosophical issues of the paradoxes seemingly caused by just the possibility of time travel, namely that of bootstrap and grandfather paradoxes. A question that is often bandied about is whether or not time travel is possible, now unless those questioning are physicists attempting to warp space-time back uponRead MoreTime Travel Is Not Only Possible? Essay2401 Words   |  10 Pagesseemingly caused by just the possibility of time travel, namely that of bootstrap and grandfather paradoxes. A question that is often bandied about is whether or not time travel is possible, now unless those questioning are physicists attempting to warp space-time back upon its self-using long equations and ‘Tardis like machines, what is, in fact, being asked by the average person is can there be time travel without paradox? I will attempt to answer this question, with the use of the most notable and pressingRead MoreThe House of the Spirits and Kiss of the Spiderwoman Essay1077 Words   |  5 Pagescharacter Alba displays subversive tendencies around her progression into adulthood. For example, Alba joins the revolution at age 18, mostly because â€Å"she wanted to talk about love† with Miguel. She also wants to assist the revolution because she believes that some of the practices that exist are unfair. However, Alba still wants her grandfather, Esteban, to have some sort of power within the government. The paradox within this scenario lies in the fact that Alba wants to belong to the proletariat causeRead MoreBlack Holes: Forces of Gravity Essay1524 Words   |  7 PagesDensity, the compactness of an object, is a better way of describing a black hole because the way we think of size has no meaning here. You could also talk about its mass, or the sheer amount of material inside of it, but that is hard to quantify. For example, a black hole the size of an atom may contain all of the masses of our greatest mountains, but you can imagine something like that must be very dense. Either way, there are two common models for what a black hole could look like. If a black hole is