What is the best treatment of the "time travel paradox"?

Similar questions: treatment time travel paradox.

I'm not sure I've found any satisfactory treatment. It depends on how you define "best", I suppose. The approach employed in the "Blackadder" Christmas special is perhaps one of the most amusing, but most certainly can’t be considered realistic in any way.

This is perhaps a standard device: certain bulk changes occur, those which are convenient for plot development, and no other consequences are observable. I've read lots of books which employ time travel as a device or in a few instances much of the purpose of the novel. In every case the degree to which they've attempted to be "scientifically accurate" has varied, but never have they described a situation which is believable from a scientific perspective.

Time-travel, per se, is a rather curious concept and is only made less plausible within the framework of relativity. In many situations I think that the only way that devices such like time travel can be incorporated into fiction of any sort in a way which is actually satisfactory to a reasonably "scientific" audience is to concede that it is not something which can be conveniently reconciled with our usual understanding of our surroundings and can only be made to work if the audience suspends disbelief to a greater degree than usual and accepts whatever explanation is offered as the truth in some fictional parallel universe. I’m fully in favour of attempting to make the science in books and films as accurate as possible, but when no real explanation exists it seems as though any attempt to provide some simple explanation is doomed to failure and in the very act of trying to provide such an explanation the book or film merely draws attentions to the problem.

One notable exception to this is those works in which the device of time travel is used just once and in just one direction. In these, the problem in fact doesn’t arrive: the nature of the time travel need never be explained and in the absence of any further reference to the time from which the protagonists "came" there is no need to consider what effects their actions might have on that time (although that might be part of the fun, of course). This course of action is taken in "The Victorian Chaise Longue" and so perhaps this book is amongst those whcih I would say should feature in the answer to your question, even if it achieves this by rather sidestepping the issues.

That said, books like Stephen Fry's "Making story" in which it is simply asserted that by whatever mechanism some change is made and these are the consequences of that change in the past seem to me to perhaps be the most satisfactory. It's plane absurd at a logical level that, say, the sterilisation of tler's parents by judicially drugging a nearby watersource will induce only those changes which are described in the book but that these changes might have been the main consequences is really much of the point of the book and the fact that it might not quite take into account every possible consequence of those changes and that the effects on the person who travelled back in time to make the changes are likely to have removed his desire to make that journey leading to some sort of paradox. These are, after all, books and films about time travel .

I'll continue to enjoy "Back to the Future", I think... but I will look forward to seeing whether any of the other respondents suggest really good treatments that I haven't encountered before. Quintus's Recommendations The Victorian Chaise-longue Amazon List Price: $23.90 Used from: $17.99 Average Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 4 reviews) An unusual "time travel" book.

Let's go with the classics Ray Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder. This is the ultimate in "what you do in the past affects the future" stories. A time traveler goes back in time to hunt dinosaurs (that are about to die anyway) and steps on a butterfly.

When he returns, things have drastically changed... The full story can be read here: onebee.com/media/PDF/A_Sound_of_Thunder-... 67alecto's Recommendations A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories Amazon List Price: $13.95 Used from: $0.75 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 5 reviews) .

Two fiction sources You might want to look at Diana Gabaldon’s series that begins with "The Outlander. " Also try The Time Traveler’s Wife. SunDiego's Recommendations Voyager Amazon List Price: $15.00 Used from: $7.04 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 150 reviews) The Fiery Cross (Outlander) Amazon List Price: $7.99 Used from: $4.17 Average Customer Rating: 3.0 out of 5 (based on 577 reviews) Drums of Autumn Amazon List Price: $15.00 Used from: $4.75 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 274 reviews) Dragonfly in Amber Amazon List Price: $15.00 Used from: $4.49 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 218 reviews) Outlander Amazon List Price: $7.99 Used from: $0.27 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 1220 reviews) SunDiego's Recommendations The Time Traveler's Wife Amazon List Price: $15.008 Used from: $5.009 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 1367 reviews) .

I will try to answer this but I know someone will top my reply as I am not well versed in the subject Several efforts about time travel and and the implications come to mind my choices may be unconventional and predictable as well. The first that comes to mind is the back to the future series of movies -#1 being the least convoluted of the three. Paradox was the premise in all of them.

The second to come to mind and this is an unconventional opinion Im sure ,A Christmas Carol,by Charles Dickens , Ebenezer Srooge is taken into the spirt world of the past, (present) and future so that he may live out a different fate that had be preordained before a change of heart changed his and the life of others, I might add this is my absolute favorite story of all time for me ,any time of the year but especially Christmas. The third and very welll told story was the final tale of the T.V. Series of Star Trek T.N.G.-called ALL GOOD THINGS, In it Captain Picard segways from the past to the present to the future in varied combinations to prevent and then discover a paradox that would stop the human species from ever existing , an excellent piece of science fiction. The fourth one I can recall (someone please give it a name I cant remember) is another Star Trek T.N.G. Where Data's head is found in a cavern under present day San Francisco by the crew of the Enterprise, the crew travel back in time to unravel the mystery of Data's severed head and meet Samual Clemmens of all people, Jack London is also thrown into the mix as well as Whoppie Goldbergs character GUYNAN , when she meets the crew from the future she says, ''Did my father send you " - this was also very well done ,and done well too.

There was a book TIME AND AGAIN where a character in the book used the torch of the Statue of Liberty to move from the past to present but the whole story escapes me at the moment. I also recall but with no detail Rod Serling made some efforts in this type of story as well ,all this has prompted me to ask and post another question ,this was fun to remember ,thankyou G O N Sources: MEMORY OF GOOD WORKS IOU-0's Recommendations Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 177: All Good Things...The Final Episode ('94-'95) Amazon List Price: $19.95 Used from: $0.01 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 30 reviews) Back to the Future - The Complete Trilogy (Widescreen Edition) Amazon List Price: $27.98 Used from: $14.44 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 460 reviews) Back to the Future - The Complete Trilogy (Full Screen Edition) Amazon List Price: $27.98 Used from: $10.57 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 460 reviews) IOU-0's Recommendations Time and Again Amazon List Price: $14.95 Used from: $0.01 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 159 reviews) .

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure has two big paradoxes in it, most notably the predestination paradox that Bill & Ted exploit to get themselves out of jail. Sources: Wikipedia TaradinoC's Recommendations Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure Amazon List Price: $14.98 Used from: $5.15 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 137 reviews) .

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I believe it could be a series of books, that I think would be considered Science Fiction.

I am looking for the author of science fiction books featuring the character "Cormac", a secret agent in the future...

Any new cool science fiction (not fantasy! ) books that you recommend?

I looked it up on wikipedia and I don't get it.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.