Temporal Paradox

A temporal paradox is a confusing problem that happens when thinking about time travel. It occurs when events in the past or future create a contradiction or conflict. Temporal paradoxes are often discussed in science fiction stories and movies.

Types of Temporal Paradoxes

There are several types of temporal paradoxes. Let's look at some of the most common ones:

The Grandfather Paradox

The Grandfather Paradox is a famous temporal paradox. It goes like this:

Imagine you travel back in time to when your grandfather was young.
You accidentally or purposely stop your grandfather from meeting your grandmother.
As a result, your father (or mother) is never born, and you are never born either.
But if you were never born, how could you travel back in time to stop your grandfather?

This creates a contradiction: you cannot exist to go back in time and change the past if you never existed in the first place.

The Bootstrap Paradox

The Bootstrap Paradox, also known as the Ontological Paradox, involves an object or piece of information that has no clear origin. Here’s an example:

Imagine you travel back in time and give Shakespeare a copy of his complete works.
Shakespeare then publishes these works as his own.
Centuries later, you read Shakespeare's works, travel back in time, and give him the same copy.

The question is: who wrote Shakespeare's works originally? They seem to exist without being created by anyone, which creates a paradox.

The Predestination Paradox

The Predestination Paradox happens when a time traveler’s actions in the past create the very conditions that lead to the time traveler's journey back in time. Here’s an example:

Imagine you receive a mysterious note that saves your life.
Years later, you find out you were the one who went back in time to deliver that note to yourself.

This means your actions in the past were predestined, or meant to happen, because they directly cause your future actions.