VSauce. I'm Jake and what are you doing on the ground. Let's get you cleaned up. Actually, since I have you here, have you seen the film "Interstellar" ? I watched it recently and in the movie they use a wormhole. A shortcut through space and time, to travel much more quickly - ostensibly, time travelling. And that got me thinking about a problem, a complication, with time travel. Paradoxes, like The Bootstrap Paradox, which has been used in things like "The Ocarina of Time", "Time Splitters", "Terminator", and "Back to the Future." It's when information or objects are never really created. Their existence starts by coming from the future and ends when they go in the past to become themselves. For example, in "The Ocarina of Time", Guru Guru teaches Link the "Song of Storms" in the future. Yet Guru Guru learned the song when Link travelled back in time and he heard it. Or - Wait, where did this camera come from? (distant yell) Bill! Excuse me, could you keep it down? I'm trying to film. You know what? Let's go back in time a little And do the "Predestination Paradox". (majestic-sounding, space music playing) The Predestination Paradox is when you travel to the past to try and stop or change the outcome of an event. (old phone ringing) Hello? (Caller) Jake! Bill? Jake, Jake, you're travelling through time. (Jake) Correct, yes I am. (Bill) Yeah, so you're gonna experience time dilation. What you and I think of as the speed of time being constant - I mean even when we are in a hurry, even when we lose track of time. We nominally imagine the clock that is running at a constant rate relative to the universe. But that turns out not to be true. It's not that the speed of time is constant. It's the speed at which energy can move is constant. This is to say the 'speed of light'. So...I want you to be careful of this because When you look at your watch, it will look like time is passing at normal speed, normal rate. But, in fact, the universe is moving along at its own speed and when you... try to reconnect with it you may end up changing the course of history in such a way that you never exist. and neither do I. (explosion, electricity sound) Bill? Bill. Bill! BILL! Excuse me, can you keep it down? I'm trying to film. So with the Predestination Paradox, you going back in time to try and stop an event is what causes it in the first place. Which then leads to future you going back in time to try to stop it. We should move. When we talk about going backwards in time, we tend to think of it like the Butterfly Effect. Where doing something as seemingly inconsequential as stepping on a flower or (buzzing sound) squashing a bug can cause a domino effect rippling through space and time causing drastic changes to our future. D-do I have a moustache now? And where did this knife come from? Hmmm... However, in most paradoxes the timeline is a closed loop. Isaac Brock has a great line that goes, "The universe is shaped exactly like the Earth - " If you go straight long enough, you'll just end up where you were." Why do I still have this knife? (smacking sound) Uh? Oh no.... no no no no no no no no No No NO NOO OK. I just killed myself. Literally. This..is great actually! This works perfectly! Okay! Okay! We just hit the Grandfather Paradox Now the Grandfather Paradox is fairly simple. If you were to go back in time and kill your grandfather, he wouldn't have one of your parents And they wouldn't have you...So you wouldn't exist and couldn't go kill your grandfather. But in this case, I killed myself. And if I were to go back in time to kill myself, I wouldn't be alive to go back in time to kill myself. Which means, I couldn't kill myself. So therefore I'm still alive and will continue on forward until I eventually, and accidentally, kill myself. Which means this whole video is a paradox. And as always, thanks for watc- (loud explosion noise) (ringing) (footsteps) Vsauce...I'm Jake and what are you doing on the ground? Let's get you cleaned up here. There. You are looking good as new. Actually, since I have you here, have you seen the film, "Interstellar" ? I watched it recently and in the movie, they use a wormhole, a shortcut through space and time, to travel much more quickly extensively, time travelling. And that got me thinking about a problem, a complication, with time travel. Paradoxes, like The Bootstrap Paradox. Which has been used in things like "The Ocarina of Time" "TIme Splitters" "Terminator" and "Back to The Future" is when information or objects are never really created - their existence starts by coming from the future and ends when they go in the past to become themselves. For example, in the "Ocarina of Time", Guru Guru teaches Link the "Song of Storms" in the future. Yet Guru Guru learned the song from Link when Link travelled back in time and he heard it. Or - wait. Where did this camera come from? (Other Jake) BILL! Excuse me, could you keep it down? I'm trying to film. You know what? Let's go back in time a little and do the "Predestination Paradox". (majestic-sounding, space music playing) The Predestination Paradox is when you travel to the past to try and stop, or change, the outcome of an event. (old phone ringing) Hello? (Caller) Jake! Bill? Jake, Jake, your travelling through time. (Jake) Correct, yes I am (Bill) So you're gonna experience time dilation What you and I think of as the speed of time being constant, even when we're in a hurry, even when we lose track of time. We nominally imagine the clock that is running at a constant rate, relative to the universe But that turns out not to be true. It's not that the speed of time is constant ; it is the speed at which energy can move is constant - this is to say the speed of light So...I want you to be careful with this because when you look at your watch, it will look like time is passing at normal speed, normal rate. But, in fact, the universe is moving along at its own speed and when you try to reconnect with it, you may end up changing the course of history in such a way that you never exist. and neither do I. (explosion, electrical sound) Bill? Bill. Bill! BILL! Excuse me, can you keep it down? I'm trying to film. So with the Predestination Paradox you going back in time trying to stop a event is what causes it in the first place, which leads to future you going back in time to try and stop it. We - we should move. When we talk about going backwards in time, we tend to think of it like the Butterfly Effect where doing something as seemingly inconsequential as stepping on a flower or - (insect buzzing sound) - squashing a bug can cause a domino effect ripping through space and time causing drastic changes to our future. Do - do I have a moustache now? And where did this knife come from? Hmmm... However, in most paradoxes the timeline is a closed loop. Isaac Brock has a great line that goes, "The universe is shaped exactly like the Earth - - if you go straight long enough, you'll just end up where you were." Why do I still have this knife? (smacking sound) (suspenseful sound) Oh, oh no. no no no no no no no NoNo NO Okay. I just killed myself. Literally. This...is... Great! Actually. This works perfectly! Okay. Okay! We just hit the Grandfather Paradox. Now, the Grandfather Paradox is fairly simple. If you were to go back in time and killed your grandfather, he wouldn't have one of your parents and they wouldn't have you, so you wouldn't exist and couldn't go kill your grandfather. But, in this case, I killed myself. And if I were to go back in time to kill myself, I wouldn't be alive to go back in time to kill myself. Which means, I couldn't kill myself. So, therefore I'm still alive and will continue on forward until I eventually, and accidentally, kill myself. Which means this whole video...is a paradox. And as always, thanks for watc - (loud explosion noise) (footsteps) Vsauce. I'm Jake. And what are you doing on the ground? Let's get you clean up here. There. You are looking good as new. Actually, since I have you here, have you seen the film, "Interstellar" ? I watched it recently and in the movie they use a wormhole, a shortcut through space and time, to travel much more quickly - extensively time travelling. And that got me thinking about a problem, a complication with time travel: Paradoxes, like the Bootstrap Paradox, which has been used in things like "The Ocarina of Time" "Time Splitters" "Terminator" and "Back to the Future", is when information or objects are never really created ; their existence starts by coming from the future and ends when they go into the past to become themselves. For example, in "The Ocarina of Time", Guru Guru teaches Link the "Song of Storms" in the future Yet Guru Guru learned the song from Link when Link travelled back in time and he heard it. Or - wait. Where did this camera come from? (Other Jake) BILL! Excuse me, can you keep it down? I'm trying to film. You know what? Let's go back in time a little and do the Predestination Paradox. (majestic-sounding, space music playing) The Predestination Paradox is when you travel to the past to try and stop, or change, the outcome of an event. (old phone ringing) Hello? (Caller) Jake! Bill? Jake, Jake, you're travelling through time. (Jake) Correct, yes I am. (Bill) So you're gonna experience time dilation What you and I think of as the speed of time being constant - I mean, even when we are in a hurry, even when we lose track of time. We nominally imagine the clock that is running at a constant rate relative to the universe. But that turns out not to be true. It's not that the speed of time is constant, it is the speed of at which energy can move is constant. This is to say the speed of light. So, I want you to be careful of this because when you look at your watch it will look like time is passing at a normal speed, normal rate. But, in fact, the universe is moving along at its own speed and when you try to reconnect with, you may end up changing the course of history in such a way that, that you never exist - and neither do I. (explosion, electricity noise) Bill? Bill. Bill! BILL! Excuse me, could you keep it down? I'm trying to film. So with the Predestination Paradox, you going back in time to try and to stop an event is what causes it in the first place, which then leads to future you going back in time to try and stop it. We - We should move. When we talk about going backwards in time, we tend to think of it like the Butterfly Effect, where doing something as seemingly inconsequential as stepping on a flower or - (insect buzzing sound) squashing a bug can cause a domino effect, rippling through space and time causing drastic changes our future. Wait. Do - Do I have a moustache now? And where did this knife come from? Hmmm.... However, in most paradoxes, the timeline is a closed loop. Isaac Brock has a great line that goes, "The universe is shaped exactly like the Earth - - if you go straight long enough, you'll end up where you were." Why do I still have this knife? (smacking sound) (tension music) Oh, oh no. no no no no no no no NoNo NO Okay. I just killed myself. Literally. This...is... Great! Actually, this works perfectly! Okay. Okay! We've just hit the Grandfather Paradox Now, The Grandfather Paradox is fairly simple If you were to go back in time and kill your grandfather, he wouldn't have one of your parents, and they wouldn't have you, so you wouldn't exist and couldn't to go kill your grandfather. But, in this case, I killed myself. And if I were to go back in time and kill myself, I wouldn't be alive to go back in time to kill myself. Which means, I couldn't kill myself. So therefore I am still alive and will continue on forward until I eventually, and accidentally, kill myself. Which means this whole video... ... is a paradox. And as always, thanks for watc - (explosion noise) (footsteps) VSauce. I'm Jake. And what are you doing on the ground?" Let's get you cleaned up here. There. You are looking good as new. Actually, since I have you here, have you seen the film, "Interstellar" ? I watched it recently and in the movie, they use a wormhole, a shortcut through space and time to travel much more quickly - extensively, time travel. It got me thinking about a problem, a complication, with time travel: Paradoxes, like the Bootstrap Paradox, which has been used in things like "The Ocarina of Time" "Time Splitters" "The Terminator" and "Back to The Future" is when information or objects are never really created - thier existence starts by coming from the future and ends when they go in the past to become themselves For example, in the "Ocarina of Time", Guru Guru teaches Link the "Song of Storms" in the future Yet, Guru Guru learned the song from Link when Link travelled back in time and he heard it. Or - wait. Where did this camera come from? (Other Jake) BILL! Excuse me, could you keep it down? I'm trying to film. You know what? Let's go back in time a little and do the Predestination Paradox. (majestic-sounding, space music playing) The Predestination Paradox is when you travel to the past to stop, or change, the outcome of an event (old phone ringing) Hello? (Caller) Jake! Bill? Jake, Jake, you are travelling through time. (Jake) Correct, yes I am. (Bill) So you're going to experience time dilation What you and I think of the speed of time being constant I mean, even when we are in a hurry, even when we lose track of time, We nominally imagine a clock that is running at a constant rate relative to the universe. But that turns out not to be true. It's not that the speed of time that is constant, it is the speed at which energy can move that is constant - this is to say the speed of light. So...I want you to be careful on this because when you look at your watch, it will look like time is passing at a normal speed, normal rate. But, in fact, the universe is moving along at its own speed and when you try to reconnect with it, you may end up changing the course of history in such a way that you never exist. and neither do I. (explosion, electrical noise) Bill? Bill. Bill! BILL! Excuse me, can you keep it down? I'm trying to film. So with the Predestination Paradox, you going back in time to stop an event, is what causes it in the first place. Which then leads to future you going back in time to try and stop it. We - we should move. When we think about going backwards in time, we tend to think of it like the Butterfly Effect, where doing something as seemingly inconsequential as stepping on a flower or - (insect buzzing noise) squashing a bug can cause a domino effect, rippling through space and time causing drastic changes to our future.
The song is Third Planet from The Moon and Antarctica
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsnELWjsCsA
I'm pretty sure that when Michael was asked bout his favorite music in an AMA, he said modest mouse, and linked to Custom Concern.
That lyric has bothered me for a while. I really like physics, and that's why it bothered me. What does he mean? The lyrics! What do they mean?