The Concept of Paradoxes in Time Essay Example
The Concept of Paradoxes in Time Essay Example

The Concept of Paradoxes in Time Essay Example

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  • Pages: 4 (1014 words)
  • Published: September 30, 2021
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Time travel is a perplexing concept with inherent contradictions. It involves discrepancies between different points in time, requiring an individual to depart from and arrive at their destination.

The time it takes for someone to travel from their departure point to their arrival point is known as the duration of a journey. While time travel is a common theme in science fiction, not all writers adhere to consistent depictions of time. To maintain consistency within time travel stories, some propose controversial physical theories such as circular time or faster-than-light travel (Lewis et al 2006, pg146). For instance, if an individual departs and arrives after one hour, their arrival does not occur exactly one hour after their departure; it occurs later if they traveled into the future or earlier if they traveled into the past. Both departure and arrival events are sepa

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rated by equal amounts of time, suggesting the potential existence of two distinct dimensions of time.

One key point is that for time travel to be feasible, there must exist not a simple line but rather a plane. There will be a discrepancy between two distinct temporal segments: the initial stage that begins reading and the subsequent stage that completes it. If change is the qualitative distinction between different parts of a whole, then anything without temporal segments cannot undergo change. For instance, numbers are unable to experience change; similarly, the events occurring during individual moments in time cannot be divided into equivalent temporal parts. It is crucial to differentiate between change itself and Cambridge change, which can affect anything. A number can undergo transformation, transitioning from one state to another, such as becoming the exchange rate

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between currencies.

A momentary can also change its time from a year ago to a year and a day ago, although these changes may not be genuine. It is not solely the reversal of time that brings about change in the thing itself (Lewis et al 2006, pg146). A time traveler is represented as a streak in the manifold of space-time, consisting of stages located at different times and places. If the traveler moves towards the past, their streak turns into a zigzag, causing them to double back on themselves. On the other hand, if they move towards the future, their streak stretches out. Regardless of the direction, there are no stages in between the departure and arrival, and the journey has a duration of zero. In this case, the streak can be considered broken (Lewis et al 2006, pg153).

When considering how two events are separated by equal amounts of time, it is important to recognize that time may have two independent dimensions. These dimensions can be distinguished as personal time and external time. Personal time refers to the role that time plays in the sequence of events in a time traveler's life (Lewis et al 2006, pg148).

Expanding our understanding of personal time to include surrounding events may require multiple locations. However, excessively extended personal time loses its usefulness in keeping track of the time traveler's history. When a time traveler talks to themselves on a phone, it may appear as if two different people are having a conversation. In this case, it can be said that the time traveler exists in two places at once since neither stage involved in the conversation represents their entirety.

In

addition, if there are local reversals, closed causal chains may occur where some links follow the normal direction while others can be reversed.

There may be loops in time if there is reversal, and each event on the loop has its casual explanation. Another trickery of fatalism is that what is known cannot be false, meaning success is not only composed of facts that belong to the external future. Additionally, events may have two unequal separations if they are more separated in one of the time dimensions than the other. The lives of common people follow a straight diagonal line across the plane of time, with a slope of exactly one hour of time per hour. On the other hand, the life of a time traveler follows a bent path with a varying slope. This account does not seem to align with the concept of time travel as depicted in other stories (Lewis et al 2006, pg152). The time traveler’s world can be described as a four-dimensional manifold of events.

Time can be differentiated into time-like dimensions and space-like dimensions according to the laws of nature. While time remains one-dimensional since there are no orthogonal time-like dimensions, there are enduring time-like streaks composed of temporal parts. The stages of a time traveler do not exhibit regularities related to external time, except when assigning coordinates based on an arbitrary choice of a zero point. This assignment ensures that the regularities related to this choice match those commonly observed with respect to external time. Time locations can be assigned not only to the stages of a time traveler but also to the events happening around them. Intervals of external

time can be likened to distances "as the crow flies," while intervals of personal time can be likened to distances along a winding path resembling a mountain railway. What connects the stages of a time traveler is the same type of mental connectedness that links them to others.

The distinction between an ordinary individual and a time traveler is their respective relationship with external time. Whereas an ordinary person remains constantly linked to the present, a time traveler stays continuously connected to their own specific timeframe. Nonetheless, these paradoxes do not offer enough evidence to support the feasibility of traveling through time. Once a paradox emerges, its likelihood drops to zero. This impossibility arises from the self-adjusting principles of quantum physics laws (Lewis et al 2006, pg145). By maneuvering through paradoxes, one can pursue alternative routes to acquire deeper comprehension and wisdom about existence.

Switching paths in the future is not a failure and does not diminish one's effort and dedication. Making a decision is necessary to pursue future passions.

Work cited

  • Lewis, David. "The paradoxes of time travel." American Philosophical Quarterly 13.2 (2006): 145-152.
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