time travelling lovers

[TheOtherTeacher]

Ever since turning 18, you (male) have had a remarkable life. Though you're a nobody, doing an unimportant job, you often get asked for your photo. Or for your autograph. And you routinely meet girls far out of your range. Solid 10/10s where you are a 6 on a good day. Always back to your place (or a hotel). Never with protection.

Eventually one of your lovers confesses everything. She's from the future! She's touring history, fucking famous politicians before they became successful.

She took Lincoln's virginity. Spent a dirty weekend with a young Winston Churchill. She had a quickie with Nelson Mandela. And now she's wanting to add you to her collection.

What's your next move?

 

[TheLobster]

What's your next move?

Ask her to bring you a history book/tablet/VR goggles/neural implant/etc. from her time.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Or it is discovered in the future that your genetic disposition is perfect. No aberrations, anomalies, or genetic dispositions toward any disease or disorder. Handsome and intelligent even if a little socially inept. Women are coming back to be bred from your pure source.

 

[TheOtherTeacher]

Or it is discovered in the future that your genetic disposition is perfect. No aberrations, anomalies, or genetic dispositions toward any disease or disorder. Handsome and intelligent even if a little socially inept. Women are coming back to be bred from your pure source.

Thought of that. But thought it might be fun to have a reverse Bill and Ted moment.

 

[anthrodisiac]

You ask her for the winning lottery numbers for the next billion dollar jackpot, which she gives you. And it turns out that because she gave you that and you won, you used that money to successfully start one of the biggest medtech companies of all time, which made huge breakthroughs in curing cancer and other maladies. Because of that, she absolutely wants to go back to have sex with you, which is when you get the lotto numbers from her...

Bootstrap paradox

 

[TheWritingGroup]

The protagonist rails the time traveler, she leaves, and as she winks out, a man appears who is also there to fuck the future politico. And behind him, another woman. The two start to argue, when a hand yanks him into a passing car. It's a fourth time traveler ....

 

[Husky_Embrace]

You ask her for the winning lottery numbers for the next billion dollar jackpot, which she gives you. And it turns out that because she gave you that and you won, you used that money to successfully start one of the biggest medtech companies of all time, which made huge breakthroughs in curing cancer and other maladies. Because of that, she absolutely wants to go back to have sex with you, which is when you get the lotto numbers from her...

Bootstrap paradox

It doesn't need to be a paradox. It could be a loop after one go. A person goes back in time, using all data available to select a few likely candidates. Give the numbers,cand survivors bias does the rest. One person is successful. A woman travels back to this one person, while the original person isn't motivated to change history as their better world is already there.

 

[anthrodisiac]

It doesn't need to be a paradox. It could be a loop after one go. A person goes back in time, using all data available to select a few likely candidates. Give the numbers,cand survivors bias does the rest. One person is successful. A woman travels back to this one person, while the original person isn't motivated to change history as their better world is already there.

But I like bootstrap paradoxes...

So in yours, she tries multiple times to see what happens? Gives winning numbers to one dude, he blows it all on boats and wives. Gives it to another woman, she gets struck by lightning before she can do anything with the money. Gives it to another woman, who founds a gigantic medical company that betters the world. Except, in doing so, it's so radically altered that the person doing the time traveling back isn't born. Reverse grandfather paradox!

 

[Husky_Embrace]

But I like bootstrap paradoxes...

So in yours, she tries multiple times to see what happens? Gives winning numbers to one dude, he blows it all on boats and wives. Gives it to another woman, she gets struck by lightning before she can do anything with the money. Gives it to another woman, who founds a gigantic medical company that betters the world. Except, in doing so, it's so radically altered that the person doing the time traveling back isn't born. Reverse grandfather paradox!

I'll make a compromise. From an observer's perspective within the timeline it's a bootstrap paradox. They have no way in knowing how something became the cause of itself.

For the reader the cause is clear. Whether by coincidence or careful planning, the timeline moved to become this loop.

So the original timeline, let's call it A, is altered. Someone has travelled back in time to change it. Next comes the change phase. In 1 or multiple rounds the timeline keeps changing. These are the "betterment" timelines B¹ through Bn. So someone keeps going back to give one or more people winning lottery tickets, hoping they'll better the resulting timeline.

Of course this seems self eradicating. If they change the timeline to their desire, so they have no reason to go back in time to meddle, which would cancel out their action, resulting in the original timeline A.

But this is not necessarily true. The changed timeline can cause someone to still go back in time. Lets say someone else goes back in time to make sure no one else changes this part of the timeline. They attach themselves to the successful person, giving lottery tickets and assistance where needed. This results in the conclusion timeline(s) C¹ through Cx. They might change by bits, but will be robust enough not to truly change any more.

The shortest bootstrap I can imagine is this:

A¹: I live my life. After much effort and due diligence, I create a time machine! Smart person that I am, I go back in time and
B¹: I give the time machine plans to myself, eliminating the need to invent it, so I'll not waste my best years inventing it in the first place. Knowing full well that if I don't go back in time to give myself the plans the timeline will "reset" to A¹, I build the time machine to
C¹: give myself the time machine. Knowing full well that if I don't go back in time to give myself the plans the timeline will "reset" to A¹, I build the time machine to
Cx: give myself the time machine plans.

The B¹ and C¹ are already nearly identical in the example, but don't forget that one of them has an old person coming back, where the other a young one. From that point on it's basically identical every time, as too little variation will happen in the timeline. Each version of myself should come to the same conclusion they should give themselves the plans.

Thus a Bootstrap Paradox can be created, and only from the perspective of the C¹ timeline it's a paradox, as none know for certain how it started.

...unless I tell myself.