• Question: What would actually happen if a paradox occured when someone travelled back in time?

    Asked by gallifreyanhippo to Aled, Ellie, Fiona, Kev, Willem on 10 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Willem Heijltjes

      Willem Heijltjes answered on 10 Mar 2014:

      Hi Galli (can I call you Galli?)

      That’s a great question!

      In science fiction, you often hear that “the universe will end” if a certain time paradox happens. But this is probably not the case.

      What is really puzzling about time paradoxes is that they, absolutely, *cannot happen*! This is why they are called a “paradox”.

      Some people think this means that time travel is impossible. Others think we have to find a new way of thinking about *causality*, the idea of cause and effect. I, too, like the idea of time travel, so I hope we can find a way of making the paradox go away! 😉

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