Sunday, July 25, 2010

No More Time Paradoxes?

It seems that quantum mechanics may solved the whole time paradox problem of time travel, by a theory known as postselection. Yay! Just what we need. More quantum mechanics to enrich our lives. ^^

The classic paradox is where you travel back in time and kill your grandfather. Under postselection, some alternative reason would appear out of nowhere to explain your existence. For example, suddenly you father was illegitimate and your grandmother marries your real grandfather after you kill her husband. And if you kill your real grandfather, it turns out you grandmother lied about who your father's real father was and marries your real, real grandfather. And so on, and so on, and so on...

I'm sure all of this will make building that first quantum based time machine so much easier. Of course, my time machine doesn't work that way all. Oops, did I really write that I have a time machine? I better erase it. Why won't it erase? Damn those quantum mechanic time travellers and their alternate technologies. ^^

3 comments:

  1. I like Futurama's version: you go back in time and become your own grandfather or how Fry puts it "I did do the nasty in the past-y."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Myles, that's a great episode.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Again, I know this post is old, but I had mentioned on your Simcoe Railway post that our car club has organized a special day there yet I didn't mention the car. It's the DeLorean. And yes, one of us *should* be bringing his screen-accurate Time Machine.

    ReplyDelete