The ending was meant to open up the possibility of parallel, divergent timelines, like the Masterverse vs. the STOverse or any other author's universe.
Every time Byrne and friends jump back in time, they don't overwrite their own timeline, they just create another. Grandfather tried explaining this to Rusty in part 4 (I don't think he quite got it) - the timeline or quantum reality in which Jesu was killed and Rusty subsequently disappeared is still there, it's just no longer the timeline we're following. (That timeline is going to have horrible things happen to it sometime soon.)
"Our" timeline / quantum reality / the Masterverse is now two steps removed from the course it would have followed without the interference of the Paradox crew.
Of course, can we call it "interference" if things were supposed to happen that way? Is there such a thing as free will when every choice we make will inevitably create a quantum reality with a given outcome? This is why quantum physicists aren't allowed in the philosophy department.
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
(...) Grandfather tried explaining this to Rusty in part 4 (I don't think he quite got it) (...)
(...) Of course, can we call it "interference" if things were supposed to happen that way? Is there such a thing as free will when every choice we make will inevitably create a quantum reality with a given outcome? This is why quantum physicists aren't allowed in the philosophy department.
I don't think I quite got it either. Not that I haven't been thinking about the exact same thing.
Well, I just handle it by deciding that the best thing to do is act as if you would act if you didn't know you had no free will. I mean, since you don't know the 'given outcome', you have the illusion of free will, and you making the most of that illusion should be part of that outcome. :P
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
The ending was meant to open up the possibility of parallel, divergent timelines, like the Masterverse vs. the STOverse or any other author's universe.
Every time Byrne and friends jump back in time, they don't overwrite their own timeline, they just create another. Grandfather tried explaining this to Rusty in part 4 (I don't think he quite got it) - the timeline or quantum reality in which Jesu was killed and Rusty subsequently disappeared is still there, it's just no longer the timeline we're following. (That timeline is going to have horrible things happen to it sometime soon.)
"Our" timeline / quantum reality / the Masterverse is now two steps removed from the course it would have followed without the interference of the Paradox crew.
Of course, can we call it "interference" if things were supposed to happen that way? Is there such a thing as free will when every choice we make will inevitably create a quantum reality with a given outcome? This is why quantum physicists aren't allowed in the philosophy department.
So...Stargate style?
Sort of like Teal'c's "ours is the only reality of consequence" statement?
Huh. I generally write temporal stuff as "If you go back, then by default you have already been back, so all changes are already being felt".
But this way DOES make for more entertaining stories.
Sort of like Teal'c's "ours is the only reality of consequence" statement?
Huh. I generally write temporal stuff as "If you go back, then by default you have already been back, so all changes are already being felt".
But this way DOES make for more entertaining stories.
As much as I like the line, that mindset (of Teal'c's) is terribly arrogant and narrow-minded. All realities are of consequence. I see scenarios like this, as like having Track A, Track B, Track C etc, and the observer's perspective simply undergoing a 'track change', or more accurately, making a track change so they shift from one path to another, and the separate tracks simply carrying on in their own way, albeit with a different point of focus :cool:
As much as I like the line, that mindset (of Teal'c's) is terribly arrogant and narrow-minded. All realities are of consequence. I see scenarios like this, as like having Track A, Track B, Track C etc, and the observer's perspective simply undergoing a 'track change', or more accurately, making a track change so they shift from one path to another, and the separate tracks simply carrying on in their own way, albeit with a different point of focus :cool:
Well, in Teal'c's case it's understandable, given the situation SG-1 is in and his single-mindedness. But yeah, I always wonder why people leave darker realities instead of trying to fix them internally.
Honestly, it'd be really convenient to have Nine or Ten, maybe Four, definitely not Eleven around for situations like this. The Doctor's good at clearing up superfluous time threads.
Well, in Teal'c's case it's understandable, given the situation SG-1 is in and his single-mindedness.
It's understandable, but that doesn't necessarily make it 'right', especially in contexts like this, where alternate solutions are being created, and the repercussions vary so much... I think that requires as much consideration as one's own reality :cool:
Honestly, it'd be really convenient to have Nine or Ten, maybe Four, definitely not Eleven around for situations like this. The Doctor's good at clearing up superfluous time threads.
The only problem, is that the Doctor invariably decides who/what he feels is important, and then makes that happen
It's understandable, but that doesn't necessarily make it 'right', especially in contexts like this, where alternate solutions are being created, and the repercussions vary so much... I think that requires as much consideration as one's own reality :cool:
The only problem, is that the Doctor invariably decides who/what he feels is important, and then makes that happen
Very true. Which is why the Glorious Regime of Supreme System Lord Ba'al not only has Ten on speed dial, but also tries very, very hard to stay in his good graces.
Very true. Which is why the Glorious Regime of Supreme System Lord Ba'al not only has Ten on speed dial, but also tries very, very hard to stay in his good graces.
Always wise where the Doctor is concerned... :cool:
Sort of like Teal'c's "ours is the only reality of consequence" statement?
Well, in a currently unreleased book of mine, that sort of statement was used in a somewhat different way. Basically, the characters decided that their reality was the only one whose existence was of any consequence, justifying a trip back into the past to save what they would therefore perceive as their own reality, despite knowing that they're actually just forming a different reality where the bad guys didn't win.
Edit: And because they (like the Paradox crew) wanted to minimize their... 'collateral damage' in the newly created reality, the mission was a suicide mission.
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
This is why the only "time travel" I really work with in my stories involves shifts on the order of .004 seconds. Because this interval is so much smaller than humanoid or Devidian reaction time, it is still treated for all intents and purposes as equivalent to real time.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
I do have free will. All of me, in each reality, have free will. Some of me will use that poorly, and make poor choices - heaven knows this me has - but each of me must live with the consequences of those actions, for good or ill.
I like to think that the majority of me are at least trying to be good guys...
The ending reminded me a bit of Fritz Lieber's Change War stories, in which two secret time-traveling organizations (the Snakes and the Spiders, as they have dubbed themselves) fight a behind-the-scenes transtemporal conflict, each with the aim of making the other one cease to ever have existed. For the most part, all they can do is affect the probability of one side or the other winning a particular battle.
Comments
Every time Byrne and friends jump back in time, they don't overwrite their own timeline, they just create another. Grandfather tried explaining this to Rusty in part 4 (I don't think he quite got it) - the timeline or quantum reality in which Jesu was killed and Rusty subsequently disappeared is still there, it's just no longer the timeline we're following. (That timeline is going to have horrible things happen to it sometime soon.)
"Our" timeline / quantum reality / the Masterverse is now two steps removed from the course it would have followed without the interference of the Paradox crew.
Of course, can we call it "interference" if things were supposed to happen that way? Is there such a thing as free will when every choice we make will inevitably create a quantum reality with a given outcome? This is why quantum physicists aren't allowed in the philosophy department.
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
I don't think I quite got it either. Not that I haven't been thinking about the exact same thing.
Well, I just handle it by deciding that the best thing to do is act as if you would act if you didn't know you had no free will. I mean, since you don't know the 'given outcome', you have the illusion of free will, and you making the most of that illusion should be part of that outcome. :P
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
So...Stargate style?
Sort of like Teal'c's "ours is the only reality of consequence" statement?
Huh. I generally write temporal stuff as "If you go back, then by default you have already been back, so all changes are already being felt".
But this way DOES make for more entertaining stories.
As much as I like the line, that mindset (of Teal'c's) is terribly arrogant and narrow-minded. All realities are of consequence. I see scenarios like this, as like having Track A, Track B, Track C etc, and the observer's perspective simply undergoing a 'track change', or more accurately, making a track change so they shift from one path to another, and the separate tracks simply carrying on in their own way, albeit with a different point of focus :cool:
Well, in Teal'c's case it's understandable, given the situation SG-1 is in and his single-mindedness. But yeah, I always wonder why people leave darker realities instead of trying to fix them internally.
Honestly, it'd be really convenient to have Nine or Ten, maybe Four, definitely not Eleven around for situations like this. The Doctor's good at clearing up superfluous time threads.
Lack of Moral Fibre...
The only problem, is that the Doctor invariably decides who/what he feels is important, and then makes that happen
Always wise where the Doctor is concerned... :cool:
<Teal'c deadpan voice>
Indeed.
</Teal'c voice>
Well, in a currently unreleased book of mine, that sort of statement was used in a somewhat different way. Basically, the characters decided that their reality was the only one whose existence was of any consequence, justifying a trip back into the past to save what they would therefore perceive as their own reality, despite knowing that they're actually just forming a different reality where the bad guys didn't win.
Edit: And because they (like the Paradox crew) wanted to minimize their... 'collateral damage' in the newly created reality, the mission was a suicide mission.
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
I like to think that the majority of me are at least trying to be good guys...
The ending reminded me a bit of Fritz Lieber's Change War stories, in which two secret time-traveling organizations (the Snakes and the Spiders, as they have dubbed themselves) fight a behind-the-scenes transtemporal conflict, each with the aim of making the other one cease to ever have existed. For the most part, all they can do is affect the probability of one side or the other winning a particular battle.