Time Travel Paradox...

[TobiasMasonPark]

     A few weeks ago, I was watching an episode of the Big Bang Theory, and Leanord purchases a prop from the H.G. Wells film, the Time Machine. In one scene [in the show] Leanord voices that he wishes he could go back in time and stop himself from buying the machine. To which Sheldon tells him that, should he do so--and assuming that he could-- then he would create a paradox; preventing him from purchasing the time machine would prevent him from going back in time, and thus eliminates his purpose for time traveling. And this has always confused me about time traveling. I mean, if you go back into the past to stop a certain occurance--like buying a time machine-- then your preventing the future action of travelling through time in the first place. It's confusing...I'm not even sure what I just wrote made any sort of sense...But it made me think about the Animorphs, and time travel paradoxes. In megamorphs three, they prevented John Berryman from being born, which seemingly prevents Visser Four from ever acquiring the time matrix, which--since the Animorphs had to use the time matrix, at least to some extent--means that the Animorphs never went back and time and THUS never prevented John Berryman from being born...

     So really, the universe--the Animorph's Universe-- should have gone BOOM! from paradox.

[NateSean]

The thing you have to remember about time travel is that it doesn't exist in the sense that science fiction writers want it to. In the contexts of fiction, you could explain away time travel any way you wish and it's perfectly acceptable.

The case of the Grandfather Paradox, which is the example mentioned here, is proposed by a number of universes, including the Time Cop movies. But it doesn't have any effect in the Back to the Future films, or in The Lake House.

[TobiasMasonPark]

     So they end up creating two universes? One where Berryman is still alive, and one where he doesn't exist?

     And, speaking of Back to the Future, have you noticed how they spend two movies supporting the theory that changing the events of the past have drastic effects on the future, but they totally go against this theory in the third film when Doc Brown says "The future hasn't been written yet--no ones has." But, unless I'm mistaken, didn't they GO to the future in the second film?

[NateSean]

Actually, if you want to go super technical, the future hasn't happened yet so one can't travel into it.

There's a story I read in an anthology once that was really funny. It was based on the idea that if you travel into the future, once you return to your own time you'll have no memory of the trip since paradoxically the trip could never have happened.

I won't spoil the story because if you ever get a chance to read it, it's actually quite funny.

[TobiasMasonPark]

     But they DID go to the future In the second film.

     The Animorphs thought they went to the future in book seven, but that turned out to be an illusion of some sorts--one of the many possibilities that exist.

[NateSean]

Back to the Future is full of plotholes. You could make a drinking game out of it.

For example, they establish the butterfly effect as being instantaneous in the first film. The minute Marty begins interfering with his mother meeting his father, his siblings begin fading. (Ever wonder why they fade first, since he was the youngest of the McFly clan?) We even see that he begins to fade as George gets pushed aside in the final dance sequence, only to stand up for himself, thus reassuring that Marty is in fact born.

So why doesn't the almanac from the future or the hoverboard fade out of existence if the future never happened?

You could go all day pointing out gaps like that.

[MoppingBear]

As far as Animorphs goes, the Time Matrix was actually stated to have a paradox prevention mechanism, as such the timeline of the people using it is protected, which allows them to change things around them without being subject to the grandfather paradox.

[Phoenix004]

Anything with time travel in has plot holes. If something has time travel in, just stop trying to understand it, because you never will.

[Nar Klawip]

Phoenix004 has a point.

NateSean, what was the name of that story?

[Liz]

Yeah, there are definitely issues there and in TAC.  I remember the Ellimist  intervened in TAC when they used the Time Matrix, but I don't remember if he was involved in MM3...?

I liked the way time travel worked in Harry Potter, where you couldn't change anything...

As far as Animorphs goes, the Time Matrix was actually stated to have a paradox prevention mechanism, as such the timeline of the people using it is protected, which allows them to change things around them without being subject to the grandfather paradox.

What book is that in?

[roguebluejay]

My favorite idea about time travel is that it cannot exist, because we know from our own history that there were not thousands of spectators from the future at every key historical event!

[Josh (J)]

Anything with time travel in has plot holes. If something has time travel in, just stop trying to understand it, because you never will.

Precisely.
In fact, I'm writing a time travel story, and I'm having a hard time while at it...somethings can just never be explained.

[NateSean]

NateSean, what was the name of that story?

I'll sniff around and see if I can find what anthology I read it in. Might even be able to get it online. I only know it wasn't Ray Bradbury.

[MoppingBear]

Yeah, there are definitely issues there and in TAC.  I remember the Ellimist  intervened in TAC when they used the Time Matrix, but I don't remember if he was involved in MM3...?

I liked the way time travel worked in Harry Potter, where you couldn't change anything...

As far as Animorphs goes, the Time Matrix was actually stated to have a paradox prevention mechanism, as such the timeline of the people using it is protected, which allows them to change things around them without being subject to the grandfather paradox.

What book is that in?

Megamorphs 3,

[spoiler]the part where they go back to erase Visser 4's host, and find that his parents are still there, and still hippies despite all the changes, there is a throw away line about the user having their timeline protected.[/spoiler]

[Phoenix004]

My favorite idea about time travel is that it cannot exist, because we know from our own history that there were not thousands of spectators from the future at every key historical event!

True, but I never liked that theory, mainly because it implies time travel will never happen (which would really suck). On the other hand, you'd think by the time we create time travel, invisibility would be pretty easy to invent in comparison...