Post by lhw on Nov 17, 2004 20:56:03 GMT 1
Let's say, for argument's sake, that you have the perfect family situation. You have siblings, your parents are fine, and your grandparents are doing well in their old age.
Somehow, you come across a Time Machine (whether you invent it, or discover it is irrelevant). Once you have it, you decided to travel into the Past. Not too far, mind you. Just far enough to meet your grandparents before they had any kids.
You easily accomplish this, and find yourself having a good time with them (they're cooler than their age had led you to believe). However, due to an accident which is entirely your fault, your grandfather is killed...before he can sire your father.
So, not knowing what to do, only knowing that the family line must somehow continue, you become involved with your grandmother. However, once her son is born, you decide to travel back to your time to see how things have progressed.
Now, the accidental death of your grandfather caused a split in the normal stream of time. So, upon your return, you would find yourself in one of four possibilities (that I can easily foresee, anyway).
Stream 1: You find yourself back in your normal time stream, experiencing "the past" as nothing more than your own personal future. And now that you're back in the present, it's like it never happened.
Stream 2: You return, still a member of the family, only to find yourself in much different circumstances. The fact that your grandmother was a widow at an early age, and all the family history is now different than what you remember, being the least of the changes. Since you alone know the truth, you find yourself in the situation where your siblings are now your grandchildren, and your father is your son. Should you have any kids of your own, they would now become your own great-grandchildren.
Stream 3: You find that upon your return, you were never born at all. In fact, your "father" (who is now your son), only had female children. You are now stuck outside of time, since you never existed in this time period...only in the past. This present is no longer yours.
Stream 4 & 5: You find yourself in either Stream 2 or 3, however, you don't recall anything regarding your trip to the past, or your previous life in Stream 1...you simply mesh into this new time stream as if you were always part of it, thus making it seem as if it was Stream 1 from your point of view...not Stream 2 or 3, as it actually is.
Got all that? Good. Now for the hard part.
Let's assume you return to either Stream 2 or Stream 3. After doing so, you decided that you need to stop yourself from causing your grandfather to die. So you go back before the time of your previous visit. Somehow, you manage to avoid causing his death.
Now, would this return Time to Stream 1, normally, or would you have just created a Stream 6 by doing this? Also, if the only way to save your grandfather was to avoid having you meet him on your initial visit (and you made your initial return into Stream 1, not 2 or 3 -- the one prompting this trip), would your trip have happened, seeing as you never returned to Stream 2 or 3??
Finally, if Stream 2 or 3 never existed, and you returned to Stream 1 from Stream 6, would you be returning to Stream 1 now, or would this now be a Stream 7, since you remember making both trips...even though you prevented yourself from making the second?
What do you think?
Somehow, you come across a Time Machine (whether you invent it, or discover it is irrelevant). Once you have it, you decided to travel into the Past. Not too far, mind you. Just far enough to meet your grandparents before they had any kids.
You easily accomplish this, and find yourself having a good time with them (they're cooler than their age had led you to believe). However, due to an accident which is entirely your fault, your grandfather is killed...before he can sire your father.
So, not knowing what to do, only knowing that the family line must somehow continue, you become involved with your grandmother. However, once her son is born, you decide to travel back to your time to see how things have progressed.
Now, the accidental death of your grandfather caused a split in the normal stream of time. So, upon your return, you would find yourself in one of four possibilities (that I can easily foresee, anyway).
Stream 1: You find yourself back in your normal time stream, experiencing "the past" as nothing more than your own personal future. And now that you're back in the present, it's like it never happened.
Stream 2: You return, still a member of the family, only to find yourself in much different circumstances. The fact that your grandmother was a widow at an early age, and all the family history is now different than what you remember, being the least of the changes. Since you alone know the truth, you find yourself in the situation where your siblings are now your grandchildren, and your father is your son. Should you have any kids of your own, they would now become your own great-grandchildren.
Stream 3: You find that upon your return, you were never born at all. In fact, your "father" (who is now your son), only had female children. You are now stuck outside of time, since you never existed in this time period...only in the past. This present is no longer yours.
Stream 4 & 5: You find yourself in either Stream 2 or 3, however, you don't recall anything regarding your trip to the past, or your previous life in Stream 1...you simply mesh into this new time stream as if you were always part of it, thus making it seem as if it was Stream 1 from your point of view...not Stream 2 or 3, as it actually is.
Got all that? Good. Now for the hard part.
Let's assume you return to either Stream 2 or Stream 3. After doing so, you decided that you need to stop yourself from causing your grandfather to die. So you go back before the time of your previous visit. Somehow, you manage to avoid causing his death.
Now, would this return Time to Stream 1, normally, or would you have just created a Stream 6 by doing this? Also, if the only way to save your grandfather was to avoid having you meet him on your initial visit (and you made your initial return into Stream 1, not 2 or 3 -- the one prompting this trip), would your trip have happened, seeing as you never returned to Stream 2 or 3??
Finally, if Stream 2 or 3 never existed, and you returned to Stream 1 from Stream 6, would you be returning to Stream 1 now, or would this now be a Stream 7, since you remember making both trips...even though you prevented yourself from making the second?
What do you think?
