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**devonin** · 03-15-2008, 11:31 PM

Time travel to the past presents no paradox once you realise that anything they would do "in our past" -is- the past as we've recorded it. If I am going to go back in time to 1935 to try and kill Hitler before the war starts, I will do so, and have already done so, and clearly I failed in my attempt. There's only one 1935, and if I am going to go back in time to then to try and kill Hitler, the only 1935 has me in it, trying to kill him and, as we've seen, clearly failing.

The trick is to understand the distinction between "can" as it pertains to one's abilities, and "can" as it pertains to an individual attempt. I -can- go back in time and kill my grandfather. I could buy a gun, spend months becoming prefocient in its use, until I am a crack shot, plan out exactly where and when I'd have my best chance, and consider myself up to the task. If anyone -can- succeed, I can. However, that is only the sense of 'can' that pertains to my abilities. The fact that my father and I exist is testament to the fact that even though I am -able- to kill my grandfather, on the occasion in which I attempt to do so, I fail.

Michael Jordan could make a 3-point shot in the final seconds to win the game. If anyone could do it, he could. That doesn't mean that on every attempt he is guarenteed to succeed, nor does his lack of success on a given attempt invalidate the claim that he can do it.

So to sum that up: You can't change the past from our present perspective because all of the changes you are going to make are what has happened. So that suggests that were we to develop time travel to the past, we also obviously developed a strict ruleset governing who can go back in time, and what they can and cannot attempt to do while they do so.

The same lack of apparant catastrophe you use to suggest that time travel will never be invented just as strongly argues for the existance of time travel that has only ever been used wisely.

Alternatively, take the cop out by arguing that time travel necessarily involves travel to a parallel universe.

03-15-2008, 11:31 PM	#2
devonin Very Grave Indeed Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Ontario, Canada Age: 42 Posts: 10,120	Re: Time Travel Time travel to the past presents no paradox once you realise that anything they would do "in our past" -is- the past as we've recorded it. If I am going to go back in time to 1935 to try and kill Hitler before the war starts, I will do so, and have already done so, and clearly I failed in my attempt. There's only one 1935, and if I am going to go back in time to then to try and kill Hitler, the only 1935 has me in it, trying to kill him and, as we've seen, clearly failing. The trick is to understand the distinction between "can" as it pertains to one's abilities, and "can" as it pertains to an individual attempt. I -can- go back in time and kill my grandfather. I could buy a gun, spend months becoming prefocient in its use, until I am a crack shot, plan out exactly where and when I'd have my best chance, and consider myself up to the task. If anyone -can- succeed, I can. However, that is only the sense of 'can' that pertains to my abilities. The fact that my father and I exist is testament to the fact that even though I am -able- to kill my grandfather, on the occasion in which I attempt to do so, I fail. Michael Jordan could make a 3-point shot in the final seconds to win the game. If anyone could do it, he could. That doesn't mean that on every attempt he is guarenteed to succeed, nor does his lack of success on a given attempt invalidate the claim that he can do it. So to sum that up: You can't change the past from our present perspective because all of the changes you are going to make are what has happened. So that suggests that were we to develop time travel to the past, we also obviously developed a strict ruleset governing who can go back in time, and what they can and cannot attempt to do while they do so. The same lack of apparant catastrophe you use to suggest that time travel will never be invented just as strongly argues for the existance of time travel that has only ever been used wisely. Alternatively, take the cop out by arguing that time travel necessarily involves travel to a parallel universe.