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From: kaufman@uiucdcs.Uiuc.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Re: Re: BACK TO THE FUTURE  (Questi
Message-ID: <10700104@uiucdcs>
Date: Wed, 17-Jul-85 12:39:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.10700104
Posted: Wed Jul 17 12:39:00 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 19-Jul-85 02:18:59 EDT
References: <850@umcp-cs.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:umcp-cs.UUCP:-85000:uiucdcs:10700104:000:2242
Nf-From: uiucdcs.Uiuc.ARPA!kaufman    Jul 17 11:39:00 1985


/* Written 11:22 pm Jul 14,1985 by mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP in uiucdcs:net.movies */
Actually, there's only one serious praradox you need to resolve to get all
the others to go away: what happens to the "second" Marty?

Marty has this picture, from future v1.0 which is disappearing because
future v1.1 will be different.  But when he gets back home, he remembers
v1.0, even though he was making himself v1.0 disappear.  Either his memory
should somehow reflect 1.1 now instead of 1.0, or he couldn't cause himself
not to exist.
/* End of text from uiucdcs:net.movies */

This isn't too hard to imagine.  First of all, pre-1955 events should be
identical in v1.0 and v1.1.  From 1955 to 1985, there is some divergence,
but one can assume that in v1.1 Marty still gets involved with Doc, who still
develops his time machine and asks Marty to join him that fateful night.
There are the same Libyans, and Marty reacts the same way under stress.
Therefore, at the entry point and moment in 1955 v1.*, both Martys are
occupying the same space.  Somehow they merge.

There are three possible resolutions:
1) Marty 1955 is Marty v1.0, with Marty v1.1 either suppressed in his mind
or simply fizzled out of existence.  Marty will behave as in the movie,
thereby creating v1.1.
2) The other way around - Marty 1955 is Marty v1.1.  Depending on how much he
knows of his parents' past, he may be able to stumble through the events of
the movie to preserve v1.1.  Otherwise, he'll blot himself out of existence,
in turn creating v1.0, which in turn generates v1.1 etc. in an unstable loop.
3) Marty 1955 holds the memories of both Martys and proceeds accordingly.
I don't want to speculate on the effects of this, but the prospects are better
than in case 2, since he'll have two data sets to assimilate.  He may be able
to figure out how to generate the desirable future.  Then again, he might
become a raving schizoid stuck in 1955.

Since the first leads to the cleanest resolution, we can shave with Occam
to suggest that this would have the best chance of occurring.  Lo and behold,
this is actually consistent with the film.

But it doesn't matter.  You see, they soon go back even further in the past
and while there ...

Ken Kaufman (uiucdcs!kaufman)