Time Travel Paradox Kicked in Balls

[Zeonix]

My understanding is the present is set in stone and can't be changed, so even if you went to the past and attempted to murder someone, you wouldn't be able to change anything or else you would have already experienced that change in your natural time line. So if you had the goal of murdering Thomas Edison when he was a baby, that change would already have been present in your time line. Because he didn't die as a child in your time line, it is obvious that you were unsuccessful in your attempt to kill him in the past. The very fact that you intended to kill him while he's a child is proof that you have already failed, or else the thought would have never occurred, seeing as how it would have already happened.

Which is where I wonder if we're actually traveling to our past or to an alternate time line/universe. Is time the same everywhere or is a parallel universe's present our past or future? Even then, would you be able to alter their present, past or future or would the same rules that apply to our time line also apply to theirs?

 

[kam!]

My understanding is the present is set in stone and can't be changed, so even if you went to the past and attempted to murder someone, you wouldn't be able to change anything or else you would have already experienced that change in your natural time line. So if you had the goal of murdering Thomas Edison when he was a baby, that change would already have been present in your time line. Because he didn't die as a child in your time line, it is obvious that you were unsuccessful in your attempt to kill him in the past. The very fact that you intended to kill him while he's a child is proof that you have already failed, or else the thought would have never occurred, seeing as how it would have already happened.

Which is where I wonder if we're actually traveling to our past or to an alternate time line/universe. Is time the same everywhere or is a parallel universe's present our past or future? Even then, would you be able to alter their present, past or future or would the same rules that apply to our time line also apply to theirs?

What would be really strange is if someone were to time travel back to solve an unsolved murder and ends up killing the victim himself, fleeing right after the murder.

 

[Zeonix]

What would be really strange is if someone were to time travel back to solve an unsolved murder and ends up killing the victim himself, fleeing right after the murder.

That's what tends to happen in time travel movies. They find out, "Oh ****, that only happened because I time traveled before I time traveled before I time traveled before I time traveled before I...". But I think that would only apply if you could actually affect the present by changing the past.

Maybe you can change the past, but you'd have to travel to a specific parallel universe where what you intended to do actually happened. That would go back to the infinite universes for infinite possibilities theory.

 

[Odin]

Anyone seen The Butterfly Effect? Does this theory disprove that movies method of time travel?

 

[Sicron]

My understanding is the present is set in stone and can't be changed, so even if you went to the past and attempted to murder someone, you wouldn't be able to change anything or else you would have already experienced that change in your natural time line. So if you had the goal of murdering Thomas Edison when he was a baby, that change would already have been present in your time line. Because he didn't die as a child in your time line, it is obvious that you were unsuccessful in your attempt to kill him in the past. The very fact that you intended to kill him while he's a child is proof that you have already failed, or else the thought would have never occurred, seeing as how it would have already happened.

That is the very essence of the paradox. When you kill your grandfather, you could have never existed, but if you never existed, how could you kill your own grandfather?

Then Einstein came in and said that it is possible, but for that action, a new parallel universe is created where that event did happen. I guess we will never know untill the moment arrives where we can ravel back in time.

 

[Zeonix]

That is the very essence of the paradox. When you kill your grandfather, you could have never existed, but if you never existed, how could you kill your own grandfather?

Then Einstein came in and said that it is possible, but for that action, a new parallel universe is created where that event did happen. I guess we will never know untill the moment arrives where we can ravel back in time.

If that happens, you're not so much traveling through time as you are traveling to a parallel Universe. The article states it isn't possible to change the past in a way that would affect the present, so even with parallel Universes in mind, you're not really changing anything. In fact, if we go with the concept of parallel Universes, a separate Universe for every possibility already exists. You're still not changing anything because it's already happened in one Universe or another.

 

[Darth Revan]

what about a ripple affect where parrelel realitys start colliding

 

[Zeonix]

The bubble effect keeps everything in check.

 

[Dokutayuu]

Interesting concept.

Everything seems to be set because if it changed the change would be impossible. I'll spend many a night pondering this ^^.