The ‘grandfather paradox’ of time travel has been puzzling philosophers, quantum physicists and novelists for years. Now there’s an answer as Cathal O’Connell reports.
The breakthrough involves the grandfather paradox – that favourite plaything of philosophers where somebody travels into the past and kills their own grandfather, preventing the existence of one of their parents, and therefore their own.
.. The computer’s second solution is more interesting. The snag is it only works if the father also has the ability to travel in time.
The story goes like this.
In 1954 Marty’s father George travels forward in time one year to 1955, when he impregnates Marty’s mother Lorraine before immediately returning back to 1954 – just as his future son, Marty, arrives and kills him.
Because George’s quick foray into the future allowed him to already conceive his son, the paradox disappears.