What Is a Paradox?
5. The Bootstrap Paradox
Time travel is a fascinating concept. The thought of being able to see the future, or maybe go back to change the present, is something that has intrigued sci-fi writers for generations. Another fascinating aspect of time travel is the paradoxes it throws up.
Go to any good book store and you are likely to find something by Shakespeare. Let’s say you can buy a copy of Romeo and Juliet, and you can go back in time to give it to Shakespeare before he writes it. Shakespeare then copies it and publishes it as his own, meaning again you can buy it, and again take it back to Shakespeare. This cycle can continue forever leading to the question: Who wrote it?
