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From: john@moncol.UUCP (John Ruschmeyer)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Re: Somewhere in Time
Message-ID: <161@moncol.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 18-Jan-85 10:15:29 EST
Article-I.D.: moncol.161
Posted: Fri Jan 18 10:15:29 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 19-Jan-85 01:43:14 EST
References: <714@cbosgd.UUCP>
Organization: Monmouth College, West Long Branch, NJ 07764
Lines: 36

>From: djb@cbosgd.UUCP (David J. Bryant)
>Message-ID: <714@cbosgd.UUCP>
>
>I was curious about the watch too.  Where did it come from?  As far as I
>can tell this is either an error, or a puzzler thrown in for us to think
>about.  Based solely on information presented in the movie, this watch
>is never bought, it simply changes hands between Collier (Reeve's character)
>in 1972 and Elise in 1912.  
>

What you have just done is stated one of the basic paradoxes of time
travel. This problem occurs in many stories about time travel.

For instance, look at the "Planet of the Apes" series. In the first movie,
the astronauts go forward in time and discover the civilization that
results from the apes taking their capsule back in time in the third movie.


If you are a believer in destiny, then you can say that all of history
exists at the same time, like a book, and that while you can travel back
and forth in time, you will never change or make history, only be part of
it. (Is there anyone out there who does not believe in destiny, but can
shed some light on the paradox?)

Related to this paradox is something called the "Grandfather Paradox". As I
recall it deals with whether or not you could travel back in time and kill
your grandfather (before he met your grandfather), thereby preventing your
being born. Most authors avoid this problem by reducing it to a version
of the former.
-- 
	John Ruschmeyer		...!vax135!petsd!moncol!john
	Monmouth College
	W. Long Branch, NJ 07764

Kirk:   You ought to sell a manual of instructions with these things.
Cyrano: If I did, Captain... what would happen to the search for knowledge?