time travel paradox fiction

In a paradox time travel story, causality is often disrupted. One type could be the predestination paradox. Say a time traveler goes back to give a famous scientist an idea that leads to a great invention. But it turns out that the time traveler only knew about the idea because of the invention in the first place. It makes you wonder about the nature of time and whether events are fixed or can be changed.

A lesser - known but great time travel paradox fiction is 'Time and Again' by Jack Finney. It dives deep into the idea of traveling back in time and the paradoxes that can occur. It's a thought - provoking read that really makes you consider the implications of time travel on the past, present, and future.

A different approach is self - correction. In some time travel paradox fictions, the universe has a way of self - correcting. So if you try to create a grandfather - paradox - like situation, some force in the universe will prevent you from doing so. It could be something as simple as events conspiring to stop you from making that final, paradox - creating action, like your gun jamming when you try to shoot your grandfather in the past.

The time paradox in science fiction can be really mind - boggling. Some stories use it as a central plot device. One way to deal with it is through the concept of parallel universes. So, when you change something in the past, you create a new timeline or universe. This way, the original timeline still exists, and the paradox is sort of resolved. Another approach is the self - consistent time loop, where events are predetermined to avoid contradictions.

The bootstrap paradox is also quite fascinating. For example, a time traveler goes back in time and gives Shakespeare a copy of his own plays. Shakespeare then publishes them as his own. But the question is, where did the plays really originate? It shows how time travel can mess with the concept of creation and origin. In this case, the information about the plays seems to have no real starting point, creating a paradox.

Another ending could be that the time traveler enters a parallel universe instead of their own past. So, any actions they take don't create a paradox in their original timeline. For example, if they kill someone who looks like their grandfather in this parallel universe, it doesn't affect their own existence in their home universe.

Well, one plot is the information paradox. Imagine a time traveler going back and giving Shakespeare all his plays, so Shakespeare didn't actually write them in the original sense. This blurs the line between creation and theft in time travel stories. Also, the ontological paradox where an item or idea has no real origin but is passed through time in a loop is quite common in these stories.

In 'The Terminator' series, the very idea of sending a terminator back in time to kill Sarah Connor before she gives birth to John Connor is a time paradox. If they succeed, then there would be no John Connor to lead the resistance in the future, so there would be no reason to send the terminator back in the first place. This creates a complex loop of cause and effect that is central to the story's intrigue.

One common theme is the grandfather paradox. This is where a time traveler goes back in time and does something that would prevent their own existence, like killing their grandfather before their father was born. Another theme is the bootstrap paradox, where an object or information has no origin because it was brought back in time and became its own source.

Predestination is a common theme. For example, in stories where a character goes back in time to prevent an event but ends up causing it. Another theme is the bootstrap paradox, like when an object or information has no origin but is passed through time loops. Also, the idea of alternate timelines often pops up, where a change in the past creates a new future that branches off from the original one.