Research Paper On The Grandfather Paradox
My essay will consist of a highly popular time travel paradox called “The Grandfather Paradox”, which essentially discuses how an individual can travel back in time to prevent a pre conditioned event from occurring. This paradox discus how an individual can travel back in time to kill their grandfather, therefore grandpa never meets grandma which leads to the individual to never to be born, he essential commits an accident suicide, meaning that the individual really never killed grandfather in the first place. Such paradox then leads to the controversy with time travel because many believe it is highly possible but this paradox shows how it can’t be possible. The reasoning being is because the individual essentially goes back in time when they
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His solution is based on the context of the term “can”, which he states that the traveler who goes back to the past can and cannot kill grandfather. Lewis argues that the traveler can go back to the past and can kill grandfather. However, at the same time he cannot since grandfather is part of the present. Meaning by killing the grandfather, the past would be change, which we all know one can not change the past. When someone invokes that someone “can” we infer that they have the capacity to do so, meaning holding certain things fixed (lecture 6). To determine what things are fixed, it is all based on the context. This ties back to time travel because in order to travel backwards in time, the time traveler must keep in mind that he or she cannot change the past events but they can participate in the past (lecture 6). To continue off of David Lewis time traveler’s limitations, a time traveler can only do such much. Meaning, if time travel were possible then the time traveler can be present in the past but can not alter any events in the past that did not occur. Altering the past is not possible therefore if we tie this back to the Grandfather Paradox, Jim couldn’t have killed his grandpa in 1945 since his grandfather was still alive at that time. This means that a time traveler has very limited freedom of what actions he or she takes once they travel
His solution is based on the context of the term “can”, which he states that the traveler who goes back to the past can and cannot kill grandfather. Lewis argues that the traveler can go back to the past and can kill grandfather. However, at the same time he cannot since grandfather is part of the present. Meaning by killing the grandfather, the past would be change, which we all know one can not change the past. When someone invokes that someone “can” we infer that they have the capacity to do so, meaning holding certain things fixed (lecture 6). To determine what things are fixed, it is all based on the context. This ties back to time travel because in order to travel backwards in time, the time traveler must keep in mind that he or she cannot change the past events but they can participate in the past (lecture 6). To continue off of David Lewis time traveler’s limitations, a time traveler can only do such much. Meaning, if time travel were possible then the time traveler can be present in the past but can not alter any events in the past that did not occur. Altering the past is not possible therefore if we tie this back to the Grandfather Paradox, Jim couldn’t have killed his grandpa in 1945 since his grandfather was still alive at that time. This means that a time traveler has very limited freedom of what actions he or she takes once they travel