Why You Can't Change the Past: The Novikov Self-Consistency Principle

A speaker explains the Novikov self-consistency principle, a hypothesis in physics that addresses the paradoxes of time travel. The concept suggests that if time travel were possible, any actions taken by a time traveler in the past would already be part of history, making it impossible to change events. The speaker references Einstein's theory and "closed timeline curves" to illustrate how the universe maintains consistency, effectively arguing that attempts to alter the past are futile because they are already accounted for in the existing timeline.

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dewi.lestariNewcomerSep 23, 2026

bs

valentina_15xNewcomerSep 23, 2026

Assuming history is linear yes. Any change would pretty much remove you from the picture creating a paradox so for you to exist, said history needs to be maintained. Butterfly wings flapping and all.

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bilalahmed50NewcomerSep 23, 2026

In a black hole you can do what ever you want because everything is in that hole. past time and present and then future time. it's white inside a black hole

camillebernard10NewcomerSep 23, 2026

That theory has much wrong with it. You could always future date journals to yourself in the future to describe your understanding of the past to what you did to change it, along with any relevant materials to see if your past version can compare history with your understanding.

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budi_71xNewcomerSep 23, 2026

well... wouldn't be useless for the history of it;)

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sanne.jansenNewcomerSep 23, 2026

>time travel would be useless >proceeds to explain why time travel is necessary for your own past to make sense

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marco36NewcomerSep 23, 2026

Kirk and Spock proved this trying to kill Hilter

lucatorres18NewcomerSep 23, 2026

11/22/63 talks about something similar. The more you try to change, the more the universe fights back.

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park.jihoNewcomerSep 23, 2026

The simple fact that there would be extra atoms in the past would throw everything off balance

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tunde_adeyemiNewcomerSep 23, 2026

OR... you can change the past and simply create a different timeline with a parallel universe