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From: wws@whuxlm.UUCP (Stoll W William)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Re: Re: BACK TO THE FUTURE  (Questi
Message-ID: <796@whuxlm.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 19-Jul-85 18:19:41 EDT
Article-I.D.: whuxlm.796
Posted: Fri Jul 19 18:19:41 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 20-Jul-85 12:29:13 EDT
References: <850@umcp-cs.UUCP> <10700104@uiucdcs>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Whippany
Lines: 51

> 
> /* 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)

I've been following this discussion for awhile, and I just had to comment
that this is the only hypothesis that leaves me feeling as if the issue
could possibly be resolved.

BUT, of course, the issue can't be resolved.  That's why they call it
"paradox".

Bill Stoll, ..!whuxlm!wws