Talk:Causal loop: Difference between revisions
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==Doctor Who - Before the Flood== |
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The Bootstrap Paradox was central to an episode of Doctor Who ([[Before_the_Flood_(Doctor_Who)|Before the Flood]]), which first aired on 10th October 2015. Like many [[Doctor_Who_fandom|Whovians]], I arrived here after [[Google_(verb)|Googling]] it. Following the show, this article is undergoing fairly rapid edits from anonymous users, so I'm watching it carefully to see what Gnomish clean-up activity needs doing, whilst standing by and letting the Doctor Who fans flesh out the actual content. I guess that makes me a WhoviGnome. [[User:Hopscotch23|Hopscotch23]] ([[User talk:Hopscotch23|talk]]) 23:13, 10 October 2015 (UTC) |
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==Harry Potter== |
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I notice that the casual loop featured in Prisoner of Azkaban is used, but the Prophecy from the series which lead the main antagonist to go and kill Harry was a Self Fulfilling Prophecy and is a good example of this. Should it be included? I would add it myself, but my contributions usually get ignored... --[[Special:Contributions/86.182.44.127|86.182.44.127]] ([[User talk:86.182.44.127|talk]]) 22:33, 11 October 2015 (UTC) |
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==star trek== |
==star trek== |
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This appears to be factually incorrect as, while the paradox does apply to the existence of tranparent aluminum in the future, the formula was payment for the old fashioned polymer stuff in stock. While this isn't explicitly stated in the film it is noted that Scotty noticed it in stock ( as in saw what he needed) and did not deny that the formula was the path to the process it would still take years for the guy to figure out. Further, the factory could not have retooled in two days, not would the thing even cool in that period. This needs to be fixed or cited.[[Special:Contributions/108.249.235.44|108.249.235.44]] ([[User talk:108.249.235.44|talk]]) |
This appears to be factually incorrect as, while the paradox does apply to the existence of tranparent aluminum in the future, the formula was payment for the old fashioned polymer stuff in stock. While this isn't explicitly stated in the film it is noted that Scotty noticed it in stock ( as in saw what he needed) and did not deny that the formula was the path to the process it would still take years for the guy to figure out. Further, the factory could not have retooled in two days, not would the thing even cool in that period. This needs to be fixed or cited.[[Special:Contributions/108.249.235.44|108.249.235.44]] ([[User talk:108.249.235.44|talk]]) |
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== Citation style == |
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==bender's big score== |
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the code on fry's butt is put there by bender, who teared it off fry's butt in the future |
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not sure if it's actually in bender's big score |
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<small class="autosigned">— Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/2A02:A03F:2437:8700:F1C6:8C3F:2AD2:F0F0|2A02:A03F:2437:8700:F1C6:8C3F:2AD2:F0F0]] ([[User talk:2A02:A03F:2437:8700:F1C6:8C3F:2AD2:F0F0|talk]]) 07:29, 11 October 2015 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:Unsigned IP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot--> |
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: * It is Bender's Big Score and it's 'tore' it off, not 'teared' it off. --[[Special:Contributions/86.182.44.127|86.182.44.127]] ([[User talk:86.182.44.127|talk]]) 22:31, 11 October 2015 (UTC) |
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Hi, please abide by [[Wikipedia:Citing_sources#Inline_citations]]. The article needs to use either short citations (fine by me), parenthetical referencing (ugly, but fine by me), or basic footnotes (my preferred style and the predominant style on Wikipedia). We can't mix-and-match these styles. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) |
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== Example farms == |
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== What type of casual loop? == |
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Examples must be prominent according to reliable third party sources. Citing every single example you can think of gives [[Wikipedia:UNDUE|undue weight]] to these examples, when they don't have a major influence on the topic. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 13:47, 11 October 2015 (UTC) |
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I would like to modify (or have someone else modify) the first sentence to specify what type of item the article is discussing. |
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I respectfully disagree. The examples have all been deleted by an anonymous editor. The examples are the topic. This is a page about a sci fi plot device. If for example it was a page about nuclear melt down the criticism would be valid. Undelete please. <small class="autosigned">— Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/202.173.198.199|202.173.198.199]] ([[User talk:202.173.198.199|talk]]) 09:31, 12 October 2015 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:Unsigned IP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot--> |
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:Causal loops are not exclusively a sci-fi plot device, they are an actively researched topic in physics, the same way closed timelike curves are. Even if it were a sci-fi plot device exclusively, that does not mean the page suddenly turns into TVTropes. [[Wikipedia:Example cruft|Specifically]]: |
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::''Writing an encyclopedic entry about a subject will involve generalizations. Avoid the temptation to engage in original research by finding every example of a phenomenon, or every exception to a phenomenon.'' |
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:Please do not list every occurrence of causal loops "in popular culture". The two examples given are cited as important examples, one for popularizing the term "bootstrap paradox" and the other for being a well-known example from antiquity, exemplifying the Greek notion of fate. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 18:05, 13 October 2015 (UTC) |
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Right now, the first sentence is: |
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I think this article should have more information about the subject itself, especially if it is indeed an actively researched topic in physics. I don't have a problem with the number of examples, but I would prefer it if they were put into chronological order, so that the reader can see what might have influenced later stories. [[User:Kookiethebird|Kookiethebird]] ([[User talk:Kookiethebird|talk]]) 01:16, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:"A '''causal loop''' in the context of [[time travel]] or the [[causal structure]] of [[spacetime]], is a sequence of events (actions, information, objects, people)<sup>[1][2]</sup> in which an event is among the causes of another event, which in turn is among the causes of the first-mentioned event.<sup>[3][4]</sup>." |
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I would like to insert one word or a short phrase (probably just after "...the [[causal structure]] of [[spacetime]],...") that indicates what kind of abstract construction a casual loop is, so far as the article in concerned. For examples: |
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:I've changed my mind as I've just discovered an article called [[List of films featuring time loops]], so I think all but just one or two core examples should be removed from this article and put into their own list. [[User:Kookiethebird|Kookiethebird]] ([[User talk:Kookiethebird|talk]]) 01:41, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:"A '''causal loop''' in the context of [[time travel]] or the [[causal structure]] of [[spacetime]], is a <u>proven</u> sequence of events..." [in the sense of proven by some reproducible experiment] |
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::OR |
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:"A '''causal loop''' in the context of [[time travel]] or the [[causal structure]] of [[spacetime]], is a <u>theoretical</u> sequence of events..." [in the sense of theoretical physics] |
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::OR |
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:"A '''causal loop''' in the context of [[time travel]] or the [[causal structure]] of [[spacetime]], is a <u>fictional</u> sequence of events..." |
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Without such a statement, readers can't tell whether casual loops have been discussed by physicists ever since Einstein or if they're really just playthings of science fiction. |
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It seems that a beloved science fiction character told a very large audience to look up this article. The result is that it went from [https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Causal_loop&oldid=682269176 this] to [https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Causal_loop&oldid=685731429 this]. |
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I can find nothing in the article that indicates the sequences of events that go to make up casual loops are anything other than fictional. Unless someone objects and can show me a connection between casual loops and anything higher, in a week or so, I'll insert the term fictional. If you can add a sentence that says, for example: "Casual loops were discussed by XXX [a notable theoretical physicist] in his article YYY.<sup>[z]</sup>" then we can upgrade the specification to theoretical or proven. |
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I really do appreciate the efforts of the various new users who have come here. My concern is that while a couple of examples of its use in fiction are helpful the an article on [[Causal loop]]s a section trying to list every single sci-fi occurrence of this is distracting to the subject at hand. The section is longer than the article. |
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--[[User:RoyGoldsmith|RoyGoldsmith]] ([[User talk:RoyGoldsmith|talk]]) 13:27, 22 April 2018 (UTC) |
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I think we need to significantly reduce the number of fiction examples. We should establish a consensus here so we can get past this page protection. [[User talk:HighInBC|<b style="color:Green">HighInBC</b>]] 18:37, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:The status of closed timelike curves in physics is given here: {{tq|i=y|General relativity permits some exact solutions that allow for time travel.{{sup|[24]}} Some of these exact solutions describe universes that contain closed timelike curves, or world lines that lead back to the same point in spacetime.{{sup|[25][26][27]}}}} See [[closed timelike curve]] and [[exact solutions in general relativity]] for the general relativity treatment of causal loops, [[quantum mechanics of time travel]] for the quantum treatment. Better yet, follow one of the more accessible references in the article, such as Smith (2013), Lobo (2003), Vissier (1996), or Earman (1995). The other references are either too technical or not technical enough, but you could follow up on the technical papers if you want. [[User talk:BrightR|Bright☀]] 17:33, 22 April 2018 (UTC) |
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::{{Re|BrightR}} and anyone else: Then I would be correct if I inserted the word "theoretical" in the first sentence: "A '''causal loop''' in the context of [[time travel]] or the [[causal structure]] of [[spacetime]], is a <u>theoretical</u> sequence of events...". But wouldn't it be better to separate the physics article (Novikov, Quantum computation) from everything else (say, '''Causal loops in philosophy and fiction''')? --[[User:RoyGoldsmith|RoyGoldsmith]] ([[User talk:RoyGoldsmith|talk]]) 15:38, 27 April 2018 (UTC) |
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:What do you think of my second comment from above? [[User:Kookiethebird|Kookiethebird]] ([[User talk:Kookiethebird|talk]]) 18:49, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:::Yes, causal loops are consistent with (some universes that are described by) the theory of general relativity, but they're also a philosophical issue (does causality necessarily work only from past to future?) and a hypothetical issue (since most descriptions of quantum physics are timeless, does the future influence the past?) and a topic in fiction and so on. So while I don't object to the adjective "theoretical", it's a bit reductive. It's a sequence of events [...], whether empirical, theoretical, hypothetical, philosophical, or fictional. [[User talk:BrightR|Bright☀]] 17:54, 27 April 2018 (UTC) |
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==Virtual particles== |
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::Sorry I did not see this section. I have moved our comments here, I hope you don't mind. I agree that [[List of films featuring time loops]] would be a far more on-topic place for these. [[User talk:HighInBC|<b style="color:Green">HighInBC</b>]] 19:09, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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Virtual particles are a physics example of causal loops not mentioned in the article. In short; particle pairs as particle and anti particle with opposite charge pop into existence annihilate each other and the energy of the matter anti matter explosion goes backward in time to form the pair in the first place. Quantum models of particle pair formation have spacetime simmering violently with pair formation and annihilation. Predicted evidence supporting virtual particles is found in Hawking radiation and a slight delay of arrival of short frequency light from long distant events compared to long frequency light arrival time. The cause being that the small frequency light travels farther on the simmering spacetime than a longer frequency. Like a toy car on a rough road moving up and down on the rough road travels farther than a large car on the same road moves in a more straight line. |
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[[Special:Contributions/98.164.64.58|98.164.64.58]] ([[User talk:98.164.64.58|talk]]) 16:27, 1 November 2018 (UTC) |
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:{{tq|i=y|goes backward in time}}{{cn}} [[User talk:BrightR|Bright☀]] 21:09, 6 November 2018 (UTC) |
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== ''make page'': [[Self-causality]] = self-causation == |
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:::Actually I was thinking that there could be a separate list for causal loop examples in tv and film. [[User:Kookiethebird|Kookiethebird]] ([[User talk:Kookiethebird|talk]]) 19:39, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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Self-causation due to [[entropy]] doesn't necessarily lead to a causal loop.<br> |
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Also [[cosmogony]] requires [[self-causality]] (αυταιτιότητα) as an ingredient of the [[metalogic]]al explanation of [[cosmogony]]. |
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* cosmological personocrats = cosmological personocentrists = theists: claim that at least one [[personhood]] is precosmic and self-causal (personhood is a mental/intellectual phenomenon; thus a society of others is required in order personhood is fulfilled/completed - the informational components of personhood don't seem to be related with physics/and cosmomechanics in general) |
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::::I think it would be better to rename it something that covers both. I don't think it is such a big topic that it needs two articles. [[User talk:HighInBC|<b style="color:Green">HighInBC</b>]] 21:15, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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* topologists: claim that a small part of a self-causal pretopological space decayed into the [[universe]] |
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Just remove the section as it has no references <small><span class="autosigned">— Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Rigsofrods|Rigsofrods]] ([[User talk:Rigsofrods|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Rigsofrods|contribs]]) 21:42, 14 October 2015 (UTC)</span></small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot--> |
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* nilogonists/nihilogonists: claim that nothing decays into something; particularly into a universe (in metalogic, nothing is non-entropic, non-existing, non-changing and non-decayable) <!-- Template:Unsigned IP --><small class="autosigned">— Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/2A02:587:410B:9A00:A9A2:5057:DE1:C511|2A02:587:410B:9A00:A9A2:5057:DE1:C511]] ([[User talk:2A02:587:410B:9A00:A9A2:5057:DE1:C511#top|talk]]) 16:17, 5 July 2019 (UTC)</small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot--> |
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==Casual Loop in Plant of the Apes movie series== |
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I'll point out the relevant Wikipedia policies: |
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An example of a Casual time Loop:In the first two movies astronauts go forward in time only to out that earth as evolved into planet where APes are dominent and humans have become two species: Mute primitive cavemen above ground or Mutant humans underground; their incursion starts a war between the Apes and the Mutants in which the earth is destroyed by a doomesaby bomb; in the suceeding movies several of the Apes have used the spaceship to go back into time to the 20th century; they are killed by a paranoid human world; however one survies and leads the APes against the humans nucleur war which leaves the Apes Dominent and Humans devolutioned for 1,300 years until the Astronaugts land in the future....and the process starts all over again... <!-- Template:Unsigned IP --><small class="autosigned">— Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/72.49.184.215|72.49.184.215]] ([[User talk:72.49.184.215#top|talk]]) 16:20, 3 October 2021 (UTC)</small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot--> |
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* [[Wikipedia:Verifiability|WP:V]] - all uncited information should be removed. That includes all but one paragraph in the "Bootstrap paradox in fiction" section. |
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* [[Wikipedia:No_original_research#Synthesis_of_published_material|WP:SYNTH]] - cited examples that do not contain a description of the way they're relevant to the article (meaning, the subject of causal loops) should not be "expanded" by the editor to make them fit. For example [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/714453/synopsis.html this citation] (the only citation in the "Bootstrap paradox in fiction" section) '''does not''' describe how the movie is relevant to the topic of causal loops at all. The editor who added that example made that inference themselves, which is against Wikipedia policy. |
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* [[Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view#Undue_weight|WP:UNDUE]] - filling an article with examples gives them undue weight. The article should be a summary ([[Wikipedia:Summary style|WP:SS]]) of the topic, not a list of minor or tangential examples. |
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The section in general might be considered an "example farm", a bunch of examples that have little or no significant impact on the topic. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 16:20, 15 October 2015 (UTC) |
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I'd agree that a long (inviting a longer) list of examples is counter productive. |
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The examples in themselves should be significant in their own right. In that respect I'd say the Heinlein example qualifies as providing a name for the paradox. Frankly, I think the Doctor Who reference for "Under The Lake"/ "Before The Flood" also qualifies as the paradox is specifically mentioned by the title character while breaking the 4th wall - and telling people to Google it (causing this schmozzle). |
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The rest are currently not notable enough for more than a list by title (each referenced) with no explanation - if that. |
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As for calls just to unilaterally delete unreferenced examples immediately, surely it's better to see if someone will add one in the near future - providing it is kept due to relevance. |
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[[User:WeepingAngel63|WeepingAngel63]] ([[User talk:WeepingAngel63|talk]]) 09:12, 16 October 2015 (UTC) |
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Per comments on this page I have removed the entire section on fiction. Per WeepingAngel's suggestion I have incorporated the doctor who episode in [[Draft:Causal loop]], and will wait for others to comment on whether this is appropriate or not. — Martin <small>([[User:MSGJ|MSGJ]] · [[User talk:MSGJ|talk]])</small> 13:27, 16 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:I think a single sentence mentioning all the other examples would be good. That would be a reasonable compromise for me. [[User:Kookiethebird|Kookiethebird]] ([[User talk:Kookiethebird|talk]]) 23:00, 16 October 2015 (UTC) |
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::Shoving all the examples together without a reference (or even with a reference for each) is against Wikipedia policy [[WP:SYNTH]]. You should put them in [[list of time travel science fiction]]. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 13:38, 17 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:::How would it be [[WP:SYNTH]] if there was a reference for each one? [[User:Kookiethebird|Kookiethebird]] ([[User talk:Kookiethebird|talk]]) 00:18, 18 October 2015 (UTC) |
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::::They would have to each be significant. Having a conglomerate of examples does not make each of them significant, and deducing that they're significant together because of their sheer number is synthesis. The Heinlein example is significant for popularizing the name "bootstrap paradox", the Oedipus example is slightly less significant but still significant as a prominent example from antiquity. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 17:45, 18 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:::::Why do they each have to be significant? What's wrong with have a single sentence at the end of a rather short article giving some more examples? Let's face it, this is mainly a concept that is found in sci-fi. If there is much about it in science, there certainly isn't in the article. [[User:Kookiethebird|Kookiethebird]] ([[User talk:Kookiethebird|talk]]) 01:34, 19 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:This feels like [[Wikipedia:Recentism]]. Even assuming the example is significant, the cited source is of very low quality: "essentially the theory goes that there must have been an original sequence of events in which Beethoven [...] wrote the Fifth Symphony." This is false and entirely misses the concept of a causal loop. See [[Novikov self-consistency principle|the billiard ball example]] in which the ball travels through a closed timelike curve and strikes itself. There is no "original sequence of events", there is only one sequence of events where the ball strikes its former self. Similarly see the section "time loop logic" where a computer supplies input to its former self, forcing the output to be a either fixed point or undetermined or a superposition of states. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 13:38, 17 October 2015 (UTC) |
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::I have to say, I think you're a bit overly bothered about the guidelines. I would reckon that this is the kind of thing that puts off new people from becoming editors. And that actually is of relevance to the last guideline you mentioned. From the [[Wikipedia:Recentism]] page: ''What might seem at the time to be an excessive amount of information on recent topics actually serves the purpose of drawing in new readers—and among them, potential new Wikipedians.'' I know that sometimes people rush to edit Wikipedia after something happens, but that Doctor Who episode did directly mention this topic, and so I really don't see why it's a big deal to mention the episode. [[User:Kookiethebird|Kookiethebird]] ([[User talk:Kookiethebird|talk]]) 00:18, 18 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:::I'm bothered by non-significant examples in articles. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 17:45, 18 October 2015 (UTC) |
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I agree with Martin's (MSGJ) draft. I think it says what needs to be said in the long term. |
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Now, whether we then want a separate list of notable examples... |
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[[User:WeepingAngel63|WeepingAngel63]] ([[User talk:WeepingAngel63|talk]]) 06:04, 18 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:The standard should be "'''Does this content add to the understanding of the topic of the article'''", simply being a notable example of the subject does not meet this standard by itself. I think that further fictional references add '''zero''' to the article's topic. The current references to use in a few fictional works is plenty. We should not bias towards the recent, in the long run yet another Doctor Who episode is not that significant in the universe of fiction. [[User talk:HighInBC|<b style="color:Green">HighInBC</b>]] 02:35, 19 October 2015 (UTC) |
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== Protected edit request on 14 October 2015 == |
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{{edit fully-protected|Causal loop|answered=y}} |
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Request deleting "questioning the paradox" from the end of the Doctor Who paragraph. No one is "questioning" the paradox. The Doctor explains the paradox and episode narrative provides an example of it. |
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<!-- End request --> |
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[[Special:Contributions/98.211.54.119|98.211.54.119]] ([[User talk:98.211.54.119|talk]]) 04:00, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:[[File:Red information icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=]] '''Not done:''' please establish a [[Wikipedia:Consensus|consensus]] for this alteration before using the {{tlx|edit protected}} template.<!-- Template:EP --> — Martin <small>([[User:MSGJ|MSGJ]] · [[User talk:MSGJ|talk]])</small> 10:44, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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== Protected edit request on 14 October 2015 == |
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{{edit fully-protected|Causal loop|answered=y}} |
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please remove the Bootstrap paradox in fiction" section |
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[[User:Rigsofrods|Rigsofrods]] ([[User talk:Rigsofrods|talk]]) 09:21, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:The [[Wikipedia:BOLD, revert, discuss cycle]] policy requires that this change be removed as it was a bold edit made with little to no references and against Wikipedia policies, [[Talk:Causal_loop#Example_farms|discussed above]]. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 09:55, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:[[File:Red information icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=]] '''Not done:'''<!-- Template:EP --> This section has been removed and restored by multiple editors. You'll need to discuss it and get consensus for its removal. — Martin <small>([[User:MSGJ|MSGJ]] · [[User talk:MSGJ|talk]])</small> 10:44, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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=== Another protected edit request on 14 October 2015 === |
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{{edit fully-protected|Causal loop|answered=y}} |
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<!-- Begin request --> |
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Again please remove the Bootstrap paradox in fiction" section because it has no references |
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<!-- End request --> |
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[[User:Rigsofrods|Rigsofrods]] ([[User talk:Rigsofrods|talk]]) 21:34, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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:{{ping|Rigsofrods}} Please join the discussion above: [[#Example_farms]]. Once we establish a consensus we can change the page. [[User talk:HighInBC|<b style="color:Green">HighInBC</b>]] 21:40, 14 October 2015 (UTC) |
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== Information paradox, jinn, and boostrap paradox should all be a single section == |
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All of these are terms related to the selfsame ''concept'' of a causal loop in which one has objects or information with no apparent origin, whose history exists in a loop. Keep in mind the [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not a dictionary]] policy--wikipedia entries that wish to explain terms should incorporate the explanations into a substantive discussion of the subject, not be written like a glossary of terms. So if terms are either synonymous or describe different aspects of the same idea (like a term for this type of paradox vs. a term for the objects involved in this type of paradox), they should be mentioned in a single section about that idea, not given a bunch of separate sections. |
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The term "bootstrap paradox" may be a slightly ambiguous case since it is sometimes used ''both'' to refer to the above notion of objects/information that exist in a loop, ''and'' to refer more generally to events being their own cause (i.e. any type of causal loop whatsoever). However, the first usage seems to have historical precedence, given that the earliest reference we have for it is the 1996 book ''Lorentzian Wormholes'' by physicist Matt Visser. I would argue that the references we have also suggests this usage is more common, given that the references by Visser, Allen/Roman, Klosterman, and arguably Kelley (although Kelley doesn't use the full phrase 'bootstrap paradox', just brings up Heinlein's story 'By His Bootstraps' in relations to objects/information without origin) all support this usage, while the only support we have for the idea of "bootstrap paradox" being used for any type of causal loop is a glossary entry in Toomey, and even that is slightly ambiguous because it does bring up the idea of jinns: "'''bootstrap paradoxes''' Any of a variety of conditions that, by way of futureward and pastward time travel, in effect become their own cause and may produce a jinn." So I think there's a pretty strong case for putting "bootstrap paradox" in the section on objects and information with no origin, while also mentioning as an aside that the term is sometimes assigned a broader meaning. |
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As for "ontological paradox", its usage seems to be ambiguous--the only reference we have for it in the article at the moment is the [http://cs.nyu.edu/web/Research/TechReports/TR2013-950/TR2013-950.pdf Morgenstern paper], but she does not actually define what she means by "ontological paradox" in this paper, just says that some of the "best known" time travel paradoxes are "the grandfather/autoinfanticide paradox (Barjavel 1943; Horwich 1987), the predestination paradox (Novikov 1998), and related closed loop and ontological paradoxes." (she does later define what she means by 'predestination paradox' though, so it's useful as a reference for that section) I found another reference to the ontological paradox on [http://books.google.com/books?id=PrapBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PT720 this page of ''The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Time''], which says "The related ''ontological paradox'' can be exemplified by the story of the unpainted painting" and proceeds to describe a painting whose existence is a loop (a 'Jinnee'), but it doesn't actually give a general example so it's unclear whether the author intends "ontological paradox" to refer solely to ''objects'' with no origin or whether he would include information as well. Still, this reference might justify mentioning the term in the same section. [[User:Hypnosifl|Hypnosifl]] ([[User talk:Hypnosifl|talk]]) 19:11, 17 November 2015 (UTC) |
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:Why would you spread out one reference over six different ref tags (and another over four)? Why take several distinct topics and put them all together in random arrangement when they were ordered into subsections (subsections are not against [[WP:NOTDIC]])? Why put the bold back despite agreeing it's against MOS? Overall it seems like a poorly-thought-out revert. The article was more organized and more compliant with Wikipedia policies before you reverted my edits. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 21:15, 17 November 2015 (UTC) |
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::I explained the reason for wanting the references to be separate in my edit note--because the references are to different page numbers, and when a given page was available to read on google books, I wanted each reference to include a link to the appropriate google books page so people could easily check what the reference said. In cases where no google books preview was available for the pages being cited (the Toomey book), I did consolidate the references. Anyway, I'm open to debate on this point, this wasn't my main reason for the revert. As for bolding, I did change terms like "bootstrap paradox" and "information paradox" to italics rather than bold, as per your link to the MOS--I see now that I forgot to do the same for "predestination paradox" when I did the edits on the revert, but I've gone ahead and fixed that now. |
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::As for consolidating the subsections into one, I explained my reasoning above--I never said subsections were automatically against [[WP:NOTDIC]], but my point is that I think respecting the spirit of [[WP:NOTDIC]] should mean using subsections only for conceptually different topics, not merely for different terms associated with a single concep, in this case the concept that causal loops can involve objects and information with no origin. Do you disagree, and thing it's OK to have subsections ''merely'' for different terms for the same concept? [[User:Hypnosifl|Hypnosifl]] ([[User talk:Hypnosifl|talk]]) 21:40, 17 November 2015 (UTC) |
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:::The spirit of NOTDIC is not to create articles. The subsections give the article structure, as opposed to being a conglomerate of references. If you don't want "bootstrap paradox" to be the first section, that's fine, it just seemed to me that it's the prominent name for causal loops in fiction. If it isn't, a different header can be used. Singling out "predestination paradox" but not all the other terms seems contradictory. And please use [[Wikipedia:Citing_sources#Citing_multiple_pages_of_the_same_source|shortened citations]] if you insist on linking to Google Books. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 21:57, 17 November 2015 (UTC) |
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::::It seems like you're still not understanding my point, I have no problem with subsections for different ''concepts'' related to the article, I only object to subjections whose sole purpose is to describe different ''terms'', even if the terms deal with exactly the same concept. A paradox involving objects or information without origin is conceptually different than a paradox involving a time traveler whose actions in the past are the cause of them going back in time in the first place, that's why I wanted to have one section for the first concept, which would deal with terms associated with this concept (bootstrap paradox, information paradox, Jinn, and possibly the ontological paradox) and another section for the second concept (which is usually called the predestination paradox). If you just want to change the ''title'' of the first section to "bootstrap paradox" since that may be the most commonly-used term, I would have no problem with that (though it would require reorganizing the section a bit so that it's the term that is mentioned first, rather than last). But if you think "bootstrap paradox" and "information paradox" should be separate subsections ''despite being synonymous terms'', I think that is running afoul of the spirit of NOTDIC (and if you think they are ''not'' really synonymous, please explain the conceptual difference). |
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::::As for shortened citations, that's a good idea--I'll work on changing it to that format. [[User:Hypnosifl|Hypnosifl]] ([[User talk:Hypnosifl|talk]]) 22:10, 17 November 2015 (UTC) |
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::::Update: I shortened the citations as you suggested, and also changed the order of some things in the section on items with no origin, so that bootstrap paradox is the first term mentioned. Then I changed the title to "bootstrap paradox". Hopefully this removes most of your objections, but let me know if you still think that section should be broken up into multiple sections. [[User:Hypnosifl|Hypnosifl]] ([[User talk:Hypnosifl|talk]]) 01:09, 18 November 2015 (UTC) |
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:::::I see you merged the predestination paradox into the others, saying you think there is no conceptual difference. But I would say there is--if I go back in time to 1666 because I have learned about the [[Great Fire of London]], but then during the course of my adventures in 1666 I inadvertently start the fire, this would fit the definition of the predestination paradox, but I don't see any obvious sense in which it's a bootstrap paradox. What item of information has no origin in this case? And even if one makes a case that all predestination paradoxes involve information with no origin, this would seem to be original research unless some published source makes this case, whereas the published sources do connect the various terms in the bootstrap paradox section to one another. [[User:Hypnosifl|Hypnosifl]] ([[User talk:Hypnosifl|talk]]) 16:29, 18 November 2015 (UTC) |
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{{outdent|5}} |
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"What item of information has no origin in this case?" The Great Fire of London. If you follow Novikov's reasoning, there is no difference between information, event, and object. They can all be represented the same way physically. You created the Great Fire of London (shame on you) because of the Great Fire of London, which you created... This is not original research, this is cited in the article. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 18:00, 18 November 2015 (UTC) |
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I'll use a chart to illustrate how they're all the same. |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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!term!!example!!indeterminate origin of |
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|- |
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|"event"/"bootstrap"||billiard ball||the ball's trajectory (for the trajectory to exist, the trajectory had to exist ''always'') |
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|- |
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|"information"||mathematical proof||the proof (for the proof to exist, the proof had to exist ''always'') |
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|- |
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|"ontological"/"object"||watch||the watch (for the watch to exist, the watch had to exist ''always'') |
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|- |
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|"predestination"||Great Fire of London||the Great Fire of London (for the fire to exist, the fire had to exist ''always'') |
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|} |
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In all of these examples, a [[Physical quantity|physical quantity]] has an indeterminate origin, it doesn't matter what shape it takes. An "event" is a change in some physical quantity, "information" is a physical quantity, objects are physical quantities, and the Great Fire of London is made up of many physical quantities. The way the angle of the ball's trajectory has an indeterminate object is equivalent to the way the mathematical proof, the watch, and the Great Fire of London have an indeterminate origin. They all exist because of themselves... that's why it's called a causal loop. I believe you added the citation for this yourself. |
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The only different concept is infallible knowledge. Infallible knowledge does not create a causal loop in and of itself, but it does raise the possibility, among its other logical problems. This is cited in Craig, which I admit is not the most lucid explanation, but it should be clear that infallible knowledge is a different concept and that it can lead to causal loops, while all the "kinds" of causal loops are the same kind - a physical quantity that has an indeterminate origin, not because we don't know its origin, but because we know the origin is indeterminate because it is its own cause. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 18:45, 18 November 2015 (UTC) |
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[http://thelifeofpsi.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Lossev-Novikov-1992.pdf Found the paper online]. Page 2312, the "Jinnee" describes a physical system whose world line loops through the same point in spacetime. That physical system can be an object, an event, information, or any other name for a physical quantity. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 18:52, 18 November 2015 (UTC) |
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:It still seems like original research to cite Lossev/Novikov in favor of this claim--Lossev/Novikov just says there's no clear distinction between physical jinn and informational jinn, but I don't see that this comment clearly implies that the fire would be ''any'' type of jinnee in this case, given that I started it completely accidentally (say, because I tripped and knocked over an oil lamp), not for any reason directly connected to the information about the great fire that exists in my head. You could say there is some weak causal connection because I wouldn't have been present in 1666 at all if not for knowledge of the Great Fire, but it's not clear that's enough. Take Everett's example of the mathematical proof: what if instead of actually giving the mathematician the proof, I just go back because I want to meet him, and in conversation I happen to let slip that I am interested in some mathematical problem, and that inspires him to think about the problem which in turn is one of the sources of inspiration for the proof? Is the proof a jinnee in this case? He still had to work hard to think it up, it doesn't seem to have no origin in the same sense as the original example where I just gave the full proof to him. You can construct an argument to say that all cases like this involve jinn (as you did above--and I should add that I actually find your argument pretty plausible myself), but this seems like a sufficiently non-trivial deduction that in order to avoid violating the "no original research" policy, I think you need a source saying explicitly that ''all'' causal loops involve jinn or bootstrap paradoxes (or saying that all cases where time travelers are inspired to go back in time because of X and also have some slight causal influence on X constitute jinn/bootstrap paradoxes). |
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:In any case, even if all predestination paradoxes are bootstrap paradoxes, it seems like the reverse is not true--one can come up with bootstrap paradoxes where my original motive to travel to a particular date had nothing to do with the event I would later cause. So even if a predestination paradox is a particular sub-type of bootstrap paradoxes, I still don't think it would violate the spirit of NOTDIC to have them in separate sub-sections since there's nothing wrong with putting a more general type in a different section from a particular sub-type. [[User:Hypnosifl|Hypnosifl]] ([[User talk:Hypnosifl|talk]]) 19:01, 18 November 2015 (UTC) |
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:Also worth noting: in the 1992 Lossev/Novikov paper introducing the idea of Jinn, the abstract says "a '''new type''' of self-consistent evolution in the spacetime with a time machine is discussed"--i.e. they apparently considered this a distinct "type" from the older type that had already been discovered, which included the scenario with a billiard ball hitting its younger self which is illustrated in the current introduction of the causal loop wiki page. This earlier type of self-consistent solution had been published in an [http://authors.library.caltech.edu/6469/ earlier 1991 paper] which shows up as reference 11 in the Lossev/Novikov paper. And in section 1.4 on page 2311, after just having gotten through discussing earlier self-consistent solutions like the one in the 1991 paper, Lossev/Novikov say "The purpose of this paper is to propose a '''qualitatively new idea''' for constructing self-consistent solutions" to time machine problems. You could make a reasonable case that this is just because they failed to think through the implications of their comments about self-reproducing information (since even in the older type, the angle, velocity and time that the billiard ball exits the wormhole can be thought of as a type of information that gives rise to itself), but I think this shows that the Lossev/Novikov paper is not in itself a good reference for the claim that all causal loops involve Jinn. [[User:Hypnosifl|Hypnosifl]] ([[User talk:Hypnosifl|talk]]) 20:54, 18 November 2015 (UTC) |
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::I'm sorry, it just seems you don't understand what's a causal connection. |
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:::"given that I started it completely accidentally" - you mean you caused it? |
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:::"I happen to let slip that I am interested in some mathematical problem, and that inspires him" - you mean you caused him to think about it? |
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:::"non-trivial deduction" - it's literally spelled out in the paper I linked. |
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:::"I think you need a source saying explicitly that all causal loops involve jinn or bootstrap paradoxes" - you are phrasing it backwards. All "jinn" are causal loops. All bootstrap paradoxes are causal loops. |
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::All causal loops involve a loop in causation. All loops in causation have an indeterminate origin. The first two references in this article explicitly stated that until you swapped them out, but the references are still in the article. Sometimes causal loops have objects with indeterminate origin. Sometimes events. Sometimes information. The Novikov reference clearly states that there is no physical difference between these "types". [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 12:03, 19 November 2015 (UTC) |
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::'''Lobo''': "The paradoxes associated with causal loops are related to self-existing information or objects, trapped in spacetime." - this was the first reference in the article, and it's probably the best reference because it's peer-reviewed, concise, and cited by many other papers. "Jinn", "predestination paradox", "bootstrap paradox", and "ontological paradox" are different names for objects, events, and information with an indeterminate, self-existing existence in spacetime. |
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::'''Smith''': "Backwards time travel would apparently allow for the possibility of causal loops, in which things come from nowhere. The things in question might be objects—[...], information—[...], actions" - this was the second reference in the article, and it's probably the second-best, since it's peer-reviewed and was published by the reliable Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. |
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::Unfortunately these two very good references were pushed down and replaced with mediocre references, and now we're having this multi-thousand-word discussion about the very core of the article, that was very easily avoidable if these references had remained prominent in the article. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 12:18, 19 November 2015 (UTC) |
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:::For the sake of this discussion it doesn't matter whether "I", a particular human organism, caused the mathematician to think about an issue that led him to working on the proof, all that matters is whether ''the information contained in the proof'' can be said to have self-replicated (Lossev/Novikov use the phrase 'self-reproducing system' for Jinnee of the second kind) from my brain into his, and this isn't obviously the case since he had to come up with most of the details of the proof independently. |
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:::Yes, I agree all bootstrap paradoxes are causal loops, but the issue is whether all causal loops are bootstrap paradoxes, if a bootstrap paradox is a particular sub-type of causal loop (so not all causal loops are bootstrap paradoxes), and a predestination paradox is either a different sub-type (so there would be some non-overlapping region with 'bootstrap paradox' on a [[Venn diagram]]) or itself a sub-type of bootstrap paradoxes (so on a Venn diagram 'predestination paradox' would be a smaller circle within the larger 'bootstrap paradox' circle), then I think this justifies giving boostrap paradox and predestination paradox distinct sub-sections within the article. |
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:::Are you citing Lobo and Smith to justify the idea that causal loops are ''synonymous'' with bootstrap paradoxes, i.e. it's not possible to have any type of causal loop that is ''not'' a bootstrap paradox? If so it seems to me that neither clearly says that. The Lobo quote saying that "The paradoxes associated with causal loops are related to self-existing information or objects" doesn't actually say that ''all'' causal loops involve these types of paradoxes, it could be interpreted as saying that when there is a paradox associated with a causal loop, this is related to self-existing information or objects. And with the Smith quote "allow for causal loops, in which things come from nowhere" it isn't totally clear whether it's saying time travel would "allow" for a particular ''type'' of causal loop "in which things come from nowhere" or if it's saying all causal loops involve things coming from nowhere. The placement of the comma would certainly suggest the latter, but this doesn't seem clear-cut enough to qualify as a solid reference for the key issue we are debating, whether all causal loops involve physical/informational Jinn. Also, in that quote Smith says "things come from nowhere" rather than objects or information, and later when Smith says "The things in question might be objects—[...], information—[...], actions" it's not clearly saying that "actions" coming from nowhere would necessarily imply information or objects coming from nowhere (I think it should given a reasonably broad definition of 'information', but the reference doesn't say how it's defining information). All the references we have for terms like "bootstrap paradox" and "Jinn" specifically talk about information or objects with no origin, none of them say that you would automatically have a bootstrap paradox/Jinn if there were "actions" without origin. |
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:::One last point is that since the usage of "paradox" in this case seems not to refer to a clear-cut logical paradox, but rather to the first definition [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/paradox here] of "a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth", it isn't clear that the presence of a "bootstrap paradox" must be a black and white matter. Even though I ''agree'' with your basic point that all causal loops would involve some degree of information without origin (though I disagree that the Smith and Lobo articles are satisfactory references for such a claim), cases where some complex structured information (like a full mathematical proof) has no origin outside the loop seem far more "absurd" than situations involving much simpler or more random-seeming bits of information that can be said to have no origin (like the angle of a billiard ball coming out of a wormhole). Likewise, a single electron whose history forms a loop seems a lot less absurd, and therefore less paradoxical in the sense above, then the watch example from ''Somewhere in Time''. So conceptually, part of the point of terms like "bootstrap paradox" and "Jinn" may be to highlight the more absurd types of cases involving complex structured information or objects, even if it's technically true that all causal loops involve some type of information Jinnee. Again I would point to the Lossev/Novikov paper--why do ''you'' think they referred to their Jinn solutions as a "qualitatively new idea for constructing self-consistent solutions" (p. 2311), after they had just got through discussing preexisting self-consistent solutions of exactly the kind seen in the image from the opening section of the wiki article? Can you give your own interpretation of what "qualitatively new" might mean in this context, if you think it's obvious and trivial that all causal loops involve bootstrap paradoxes/Jinn? [[User:Hypnosifl|Hypnosifl]] ([[User talk:Hypnosifl|talk]]) 15:24, 19 November 2015 (UTC) |
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{{outdent|3}} |
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I think we're getting sidetracked, and I guess we'll have to go over the entire article sentence by sentence. |
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:"A causal loop, [...] people)" - entirely supported by the references |
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:"in which an event [...] first-mentioned event" - entirely supported by the references |
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:"Such causally-looped events [...] altered its path" - entirely supported by the references, uses "time machine" instead of the more complex (and accurate) general relativity terms such as wormhole, closed timelike curve, etc., but these terms are called a "time machine" in the reference too |
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:"A causal loop [...] form a closed loop" - entirely supported by the references |
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:"Several authors [...] and predestination paradox" - entirely supported by the references, doesn't make any claims about the use of these terms except that they ''are'' used. |
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:"The use of [...] ''By His Bootstraps''" - entirely supported, no claims about how the term is used, only that it refers to that particular story. |
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:"A 1992 paper [...] system of looped objects" - entirely supported, every word is from the references. |
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:"in the case of continuous [...] its atoms every year" - haven't read the references and I think they miss the point, almost entirely |
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:"The term predestination paradox [...] outcomes were predetermined" - haven't read the citations and it just seems like Star Trek fluff (like the 12 Monkeys fluff I added, so it's not necessarily bad, just not very on topic except for "hey here's an example from fiction") |
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:"Smeenk and Morgenstern [...] cause that same event" - entirely supported by the reference |
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:'''Examples''' section - entirely supported by the references |
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:'''Self-fulfilling prophecy''' section - almost entirely supported by references, the link to Newcomb's paradox is uncited in that particular instance but several sources mention Newcom's paradox in this regard and this can be easily cited. |
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:'''Novikov self-consistency principle''' section - almost entirely supported by references except for the last sentence, which I feel explains what the fudge the self-consistency principle has to do with causal loops (everything). |
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So if the above is fine, the rest of the discussion is useless. |
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Now, some comments about your reply: |
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:"self-replicated" - this is wrong, you misunderstand the term "self-reproducing". No replication is taking place. |
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:"the issue is whether all causal loops are bootstrap paradoxes" - why is this an issue? It's not an issue anywhere in the article as it currently stands. The answer is "bootstrap paradox is a term in '''fiction''', not a scientific term, and this has no concrete meaning." Either way this is in no way expressed or implied in the article. |
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:"causal loops are synonymous with bootstrap paradoxes" - the article as it currently stands doesn't say this, so there's no issue. [edit - but if it were to say that, it could use Visser as s reference. 19:58, 19 November 2015 (UTC)] |
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:"a particular type of causal loop" - there are no particular types; the distinctions are purely in fiction. All the physics references treat causal loops as one concept. The Jinn are physical systems who return to the same point in spacetime; the Jinnee "of the first kind" and "of the second kind" are equivalent according to the reference, they only make the distinction to show that it's null. |
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:"it isn't totally clear whether it's saying [...] all causal loops involve things coming from nowhere" - this is literally what it means when something is its own cause. When something is its own cause, it is "coming from nowhere". |
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:"none of them say that you would automatically have a bootstrap paradox/Jinn if there were 'actions' without origin" - the billiard ball is an example of an action without origin, from the very article in which Novikov discusses Jinns. How did the billiard ball's trajectory come about? From the glancing blow. How did the glancing blow come about? From the angle in which the billiard ball moves. We have an action (the change in direction, the glancing blow) which is its own cause. There is yet another (relatively bad) example in Smith's paper, but frankly if that's not good enough for you than the entire article is worthless, because all the other papers, articles, and books rely on Novikov to a very large extent. |
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:"the usage of paradox" - the article makes no claim about the usage of the word paradox. Another non-issue. |
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:"I disagree that the Smith and Lobo articles are satisfactory references" - they are by far the two best references in the article outside of the work of Novikov et al. Lobo's articles are peer-reviewed and cited by many other works, which is the golden standard on Wikipedia for a quality source. Smith's is published in the highly regarded Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. So if you don't think they're good enough, well... |
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:"what 'qualitatively new' might mean in this context" - Why not read the paper? "The purpose of this paper is to propose a qualitively new idea for constructing self-consistent solutions of equations of motion that can arise in presence of TM. These new solutions are based on the hypothesis of the existence of motion of subsystems (below we will call them the Jinn of the TM, or simply Jinn) along closed world lines." The Jinn are not the new ideas. The way to construct self-consistent solutions for the equations of motion are the new ideas. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 18:53, 19 November 2015 (UTC) |
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::''this is wrong, you misunderstand the term "self-reproducing". No replication is taking place.'' -- Sure it is, any time information is copied from one physical substrate to another--whether an organism having offspring that contain much of the same genetic information, or copying a computer file from one hard drive to another--it is standard to say a "replication" of the information has taken place. And that is clearly the case in the original Everett/Roman example with the mathematician, since initially the information about the proof existed in my brain but not his, then after I showed him the proof, the information existed in his brain as well. On the other hand, in the example where I just make an offhand remark that sparks a thought process that leads him to derive the proof, the information wasn't just copied from my mind to his in the same direct sense, so it's not as clear this is an example of the information just being "replicated". |
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::''"causal loops are synonymous with bootstrap paradoxes" - the article as it currently stands doesn't say this, so there's no issue.'' -- You have edited it to say "Several authors refers to causal loops by the term bootstrap paradox", which clearly implies that these authors, at least, consider the terms to be synonymous. The previous version was "A causal loop could potentially involve items of information or even physical objects that have no specific origin because their histories form a closed loop. This is often referred to by the term bootstrap paradox"--the point of having "potentially" there was to remain agnostic on the question of whether ''all'' causal loops involve objects or information with no origin, since although the references do clearly say a "bootstrap paradox" is defined to be a causal loop involving objects or information with no origin, they don't clearly say one way or another whether the authors think ''all'' causal loops fit this description. |
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::''"a particular type of causal loop" - there are no particular types; the distinctions are purely in fiction.'' -- As I already mentioned, the Lossev/Novikov paper refers to a "qualitatively new idea for constructing self-consistent solutions", immediately after a discussion of older self-consistent solutions like the one in the image in the introduction to the wiki article; do you think it would be wrong to paraphrase this as a "qualitatively new ''type'' of self-consistent solution"? |
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::''"none of them say that you would automatically have a bootstrap paradox/Jinn if there were 'actions' without origin" - the billiard ball is an example of an action without origin, from the very article in which Novikov discusses Jinn.'' -- The billiard ball example from the image in the introduction is indeed discussed in the Lossev/Novikov article, but they discuss it in section 1.2 and 1.3 ''before'' their discussion of Jinn, and then at the beginning of section 1.4 is where we find the line "The purpose of this paper is propose a qualitatively new idea for constructing self-consistent solutions"--i.e. new compared to the previous type of self-consistent solution they discussed earlier, like the billiard ball hitting its earlier self. |
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::''"the usage of paradox" - the article makes no claim about the usage of the word paradox. Another non-issue.'' -- Again, your edits make it sound like people use "bootstrap paradox" as a synonym for "causal loop". Also, your justification in [https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Causal_loop&type=revision&diff=691243271&oldid=691239568 this edit] for merging "predestination paradox" with the discussion of bootstrap paradox/Jinn was that "There is no conceptual distinction between the Star Trek term and the other terms", and when I pointed to an example of scenario that would fit the predestination paradox but wouldn't involve an obvious bootstrap paradox (the Great Fire of London example), you replied "If you follow Novikov's reasoning, there is no difference between information, event, and object". As I have said, I accept the point that all causal loops must involve ''some'' degree of information in a loop (and I just noticed that Lossev/Novikov do say something like this in section 3.4, though they distinguish between 'small' Jinn and 'significant' Jinn, and their focus seems to be on the novelty of significant Jinn). But my point about the use of the word "paradox" is that it's not really clear whether authors who use the term "bootstrap paradox" would say that ''any'' amount of looped information constitutes a bootstrap paradox, or only certain particularly complex and ordered items of information which have no origin outside the loop, which seem more inexplicable and therefore paradoxical (it's also not clear that the authors who use the term 'bootstrap paradox' have actually considered the argument that all causal loops involve at least minor information loops, or whether they agree with that argument if they have considered it). |
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::''"I disagree that the Smith and Lobo articles are satisfactory references" - they are by far the two best references in the article outside of the work of Novikov et al. Lobo's articles are peer-reviewed and cited by many other works, which is the golden standard on Wikipedia for a quality source. Smith's is published in the highly regarded Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. So if you don't think they're good enough, well...'' -- You are failing to distinguish between the statement "this is not a good reference" and "this is not a good reference ''for a particular claim''" (for example, neither Lobo or Smith would make a good reference for the claim 'cats are mammals', since they don't even address that subject). I agree that Lobo and Smith are good references in themselves, just not for the particular claims you are making, since it is not entirely clear that either reference is actually ''making'' the same claims that you are. And I explained my argument by parsing what they wrote, you didn't address any of that. |
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::''The Jinn are not the new ideas. The way to construct self-consistent solutions for the equations of motion are the new ideas.'' -- What "way to construct self-consistent solutions" are you talking about, if not "self-consistent solutions involving Jinn"? The paper doesn't describe any new mathematical approaches or new physics equations, the ''only'' difference between their self-consistent solutions and the previous self-consistent solutions is that their solutions involve "significant" Jinn. If you disagree, please provide a quote discussing a ''specific'' new "way" that could be seen to differ from the old "way" even if we define both old and new solutions to involve significant Jinn. |
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::Also note that Toomey's book seems to share the idea that what made the Lossev/Novikov paper new and interesting was the presence of Jinn. After a discussion of the self-consistent billiard ball scenarios which had bee published prior to the Lossev/Novikov paper, Toomey writes on p. 196 that "Even as Novikov was shoring up the principle of self-consistency, he and a physicist named Andrei Lossev were pushing it into new territory ... Lossev and Novikov had borrowed the word [Jinn] and adopted it to describe something that, most would probably agree, merited its own name. It was an entity that could be produced, quite literally, from nothing." The discussion then details the idea of Jinn and the bootstrap paradox, without suggesting any other aspect of the Lossev/Novikov paper that might make it "new territory". [[User:Hypnosifl|Hypnosifl]] ([[User talk:Hypnosifl|talk]]) 21:06, 19 November 2015 (UTC) |
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:::1) The scenario you gave (an unsourced, original research scenario, but let's ignore that) involves a causal loop. If the past is the cause of the future, and the future is the cause of the past, then you have a causal loop. If something is its own cause, it literally exists out of nothing. It doesn't matter if that something is information, an object, or an event/action. This is sourced at least two times in the article. If you don't understand this you don't understand the basics of causality. |
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:::2) |
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|What "way to construct self-consistent solutions" are you talking about, if not "self-consistent solutions involving Jinn"? The paper doesn't describe any new mathematical approaches or new physics equations, the only difference between their self-consistent solutions and the previous self-consistent solutions is that their solutions involve "significant" Jinn. If you disagree, please provide a quote discussing a specific new "way" that could be seen to differ from the old "way" even if we define both old and new solutions to involve significant Jinn. |
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:::Don't look just at your own quote snippet and draw conclusions. I gave you an online link, I quoted the relevant part, I explained to you that the Jinn are not solutions, they are physical systems whose world line loops through the same point in spacetime. It's like saying "here's one solution involving a pendulum, and here's a new solution involving a pendulum". The pendulum is not the new solution, it's the system being studied. The Jinnee/pendulum is a system. The Jinee/pendulum is being studied. There is a novel approach to creating self-consistent solutions involving a Jinee/pendulum. |
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|The purpose of this paper is to propose a qualitively new idea for constructing self- consistent solutions of equations of motion that can arise in presence of TM. These new solutions are based on the hypothesis of the existence of motion of subsystems (below we will call them the Jinn of the TM, or simply Jinn) along closed world lines. |
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:::The Jinee is a physical system (like a pendulum). The physical system is moving through a TM - a time machine. The physical system is moving along a closed world line (it returns to the same point in spacetime). The paper proposes a "new idea for construction self-consistent solutions of equations of motion that can arise in presence of TM". The proposed idea to construct self-consistent solutions is new, the system is not new. In fact the paper explores the very same system that it explored before, the very same Jinnee. |
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|please provide a quote |
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::::The entire paper is about solutions to Jinnee systems, one system in particular, the billiard ball striking itself through a time machine. There are no other systems. There are no qualitively new idea of Jinnee here. The idea of the Jinnee is not qualitively new either. The qualitively new ideas are the method of constructing the solution. The previous paper explored this system, and now this paper explores it again with a new method. The introduction says so. The conclusion says so. |
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:::The two key ideas I'm trying to communicate: 1) Any causal loop is inherently something out of nothing. If "a" is the cause of "a", then a has an indeterminate origin and it exists by itself. 2) The Jinn are not the new concept. The way to construct self-consistent solutions for Jinn are the the new concepts. This is written plainly in the quote above. If you doubt this, please ask for expert assistance from the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Physics/Taskforces/Relativity|WikiProject Physics Relativity task force]]. |
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:::And finally, please understand that the paper makes the distinction to show that it is null: "We would like to emphasize that even formally there is no strict boundary between Jinn of the first and the second kind." [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) 12:03, 21 November 2015 (UTC) |
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== Citation style == |
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Hi, please abide by [[Wikipedia:Citing_sources#Inline_citations]]. The article needs to use either short citations (fine by me), parenthetical referencing (ugly, but fine by me), or basic footnotes (my preferred style and the predominant style on Wikipedia). We can't mix-and-match these styles. [[User:BrightRoundCircle|BrightRoundCircle]] ([[User talk:BrightRoundCircle|talk]]) |
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The contents of the Bootstrap paradox page were merged into Causal loop on 9 July 2015. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected page, please see its history; for the discussion at that location, see its talk page. |
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star trek
[edit]This appears to be factually incorrect as, while the paradox does apply to the existence of tranparent aluminum in the future, the formula was payment for the old fashioned polymer stuff in stock. While this isn't explicitly stated in the film it is noted that Scotty noticed it in stock ( as in saw what he needed) and did not deny that the formula was the path to the process it would still take years for the guy to figure out. Further, the factory could not have retooled in two days, not would the thing even cool in that period. This needs to be fixed or cited.108.249.235.44 (talk)
Citation style
[edit]Hi, please abide by Wikipedia:Citing_sources#Inline_citations. The article needs to use either short citations (fine by me), parenthetical referencing (ugly, but fine by me), or basic footnotes (my preferred style and the predominant style on Wikipedia). We can't mix-and-match these styles. BrightRoundCircle (talk)
What type of casual loop?
[edit]I would like to modify (or have someone else modify) the first sentence to specify what type of item the article is discussing.
Right now, the first sentence is:
- "A causal loop in the context of time travel or the causal structure of spacetime, is a sequence of events (actions, information, objects, people)[1][2] in which an event is among the causes of another event, which in turn is among the causes of the first-mentioned event.[3][4]."
I would like to insert one word or a short phrase (probably just after "...the causal structure of spacetime,...") that indicates what kind of abstract construction a casual loop is, so far as the article in concerned. For examples:
- "A causal loop in the context of time travel or the causal structure of spacetime, is a proven sequence of events..." [in the sense of proven by some reproducible experiment]
- OR
- "A causal loop in the context of time travel or the causal structure of spacetime, is a theoretical sequence of events..." [in the sense of theoretical physics]
- OR
- "A causal loop in the context of time travel or the causal structure of spacetime, is a fictional sequence of events..."
Without such a statement, readers can't tell whether casual loops have been discussed by physicists ever since Einstein or if they're really just playthings of science fiction.
I can find nothing in the article that indicates the sequences of events that go to make up casual loops are anything other than fictional. Unless someone objects and can show me a connection between casual loops and anything higher, in a week or so, I'll insert the term fictional. If you can add a sentence that says, for example: "Casual loops were discussed by XXX [a notable theoretical physicist] in his article YYY.[z]" then we can upgrade the specification to theoretical or proven.
--RoyGoldsmith (talk) 13:27, 22 April 2018 (UTC)
- The status of closed timelike curves in physics is given here:
General relativity permits some exact solutions that allow for time travel.[24] Some of these exact solutions describe universes that contain closed timelike curves, or world lines that lead back to the same point in spacetime.[25][26][27]
See closed timelike curve and exact solutions in general relativity for the general relativity treatment of causal loops, quantum mechanics of time travel for the quantum treatment. Better yet, follow one of the more accessible references in the article, such as Smith (2013), Lobo (2003), Vissier (1996), or Earman (1995). The other references are either too technical or not technical enough, but you could follow up on the technical papers if you want. Bright☀ 17:33, 22 April 2018 (UTC)
- @BrightR: and anyone else: Then I would be correct if I inserted the word "theoretical" in the first sentence: "A causal loop in the context of time travel or the causal structure of spacetime, is a theoretical sequence of events...". But wouldn't it be better to separate the physics article (Novikov, Quantum computation) from everything else (say, Causal loops in philosophy and fiction)? --RoyGoldsmith (talk) 15:38, 27 April 2018 (UTC)
- Yes, causal loops are consistent with (some universes that are described by) the theory of general relativity, but they're also a philosophical issue (does causality necessarily work only from past to future?) and a hypothetical issue (since most descriptions of quantum physics are timeless, does the future influence the past?) and a topic in fiction and so on. So while I don't object to the adjective "theoretical", it's a bit reductive. It's a sequence of events [...], whether empirical, theoretical, hypothetical, philosophical, or fictional. Bright☀ 17:54, 27 April 2018 (UTC)
- @BrightR: and anyone else: Then I would be correct if I inserted the word "theoretical" in the first sentence: "A causal loop in the context of time travel or the causal structure of spacetime, is a theoretical sequence of events...". But wouldn't it be better to separate the physics article (Novikov, Quantum computation) from everything else (say, Causal loops in philosophy and fiction)? --RoyGoldsmith (talk) 15:38, 27 April 2018 (UTC)
Virtual particles
[edit]Virtual particles are a physics example of causal loops not mentioned in the article. In short; particle pairs as particle and anti particle with opposite charge pop into existence annihilate each other and the energy of the matter anti matter explosion goes backward in time to form the pair in the first place. Quantum models of particle pair formation have spacetime simmering violently with pair formation and annihilation. Predicted evidence supporting virtual particles is found in Hawking radiation and a slight delay of arrival of short frequency light from long distant events compared to long frequency light arrival time. The cause being that the small frequency light travels farther on the simmering spacetime than a longer frequency. Like a toy car on a rough road moving up and down on the rough road travels farther than a large car on the same road moves in a more straight line. 98.164.64.58 (talk) 16:27, 1 November 2018 (UTC)
goes backward in time
[citation needed] Bright☀ 21:09, 6 November 2018 (UTC)
make page: Self-causality = self-causation
[edit]Self-causation due to entropy doesn't necessarily lead to a causal loop.
Also cosmogony requires self-causality (αυταιτιότητα) as an ingredient of the metalogical explanation of cosmogony.
- cosmological personocrats = cosmological personocentrists = theists: claim that at least one personhood is precosmic and self-causal (personhood is a mental/intellectual phenomenon; thus a society of others is required in order personhood is fulfilled/completed - the informational components of personhood don't seem to be related with physics/and cosmomechanics in general)
- topologists: claim that a small part of a self-causal pretopological space decayed into the universe
- nilogonists/nihilogonists: claim that nothing decays into something; particularly into a universe (in metalogic, nothing is non-entropic, non-existing, non-changing and non-decayable) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:587:410B:9A00:A9A2:5057:DE1:C511 (talk) 16:17, 5 July 2019 (UTC)
Casual Loop in Plant of the Apes movie series
[edit]An example of a Casual time Loop:In the first two movies astronauts go forward in time only to out that earth as evolved into planet where APes are dominent and humans have become two species: Mute primitive cavemen above ground or Mutant humans underground; their incursion starts a war between the Apes and the Mutants in which the earth is destroyed by a doomesaby bomb; in the suceeding movies several of the Apes have used the spaceship to go back into time to the 20th century; they are killed by a paranoid human world; however one survies and leads the APes against the humans nucleur war which leaves the Apes Dominent and Humans devolutioned for 1,300 years until the Astronaugts land in the future....and the process starts all over again... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.49.184.215 (talk) 16:20, 3 October 2021 (UTC)