what if

What if you went back and time and killed yourself would it be suicide or murder? Just wondering.

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Permalink Reply by Erin L. T. on February 20, 2015 at 2:52am

It would be a paradox: if you went back in time and killed your past self, you would cease to exist, meaning that it would have been impossible for you to go back in time and kill yourself since you were already dead. Of course, this all depends on which theory of time travel you believe in. Those supportive of the continuous theory (things that you change altering the time stream) then you would have a paradox, while those supporting the alternate universe theory (the things you change creating an alternate universe separate from your own) would say that you would just prevent your future existence in a single universe, while you remained safe in your own universe. Then, altogether separately, there are those who believe that the actions you take to change the past change nothing because they would have always happened, but that is so complex and difficult I cannot come up with at this time.

Also, murder. Suicide is when you choose to end your own life. Your past self, though biologically you, lacks some of the experience that you have gone through and are a different person mentally, no matter how minute the difference.