If you had a machine that created a window through which you could see the future, and in the future you wrote down the winning lottery numbers and relayed that information to your present self before that lottery number was drawn.

However, in your present selfs excitement, you turn off the machine before your future self wrote the winning lottery numbers into it for your past self.

What would happen?

  • CallMeButtLove@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    11 hours ago

    I’ve read your message and the OPs like 5 times and I still have no idea what is being described… I might be stupid.

    His future self showed his past self the lottery numbers through the open window

    Got it. We’re good so far.

    but he closes the window, so his future self can’t show them to his past self.

    This is what I’m stuck on. So he didn’t actually? I get the irony of saying a paradox doesn’t make sense but I’m not even following the thought experiment. His future self opens a window and says “Hey, get some paper and a pen, I’ve got some winning lottery numbers for you!” and his past self goes “Oh boy!” and then immediately CLICK (closes the portal) before ever being shown the numbers.

    Could it be restated to say he gets the numbers from his future self but then 30 years later just forgets to do the same thing for his past self?

    • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
      1·
      10 hours ago

      His future self opens a window and says “Hey, get some paper and a pen, I’ve got some winning lottery numbers for you!” and his past self goes “Oh boy!” and then immediately CLICK (closes the portal) before ever being shown the numbers.

      Here’s your issue - it’s not the future self opening the window, it’s his past self. The future self can only speak through the window, but he can’t open it. So since the “current” self closes the window, the future self won’t be able to speak through it.