Chapter 11: Living in the Future in 1980

"Everyone, please wait a moment!"

Facing the camera, Jiang Zhe explained a few things.

"Previously, we said that the Grandfather Paradox does not involve parallel worlds."

"So, I used the Quantum Delayed Choice Experiment to tell everyone—in the microscopic world, cause and effect are reversed."

"Now, let's have a grandson take a time machine back to his grandfather's era in the 1980s."

After explaining, he picked up a whiteboard and a marker from the desk and began drawing.

He first drew a straight line with annotations.

2024 (Grandson) — Take Time Machine — 1980 (Grandfather) — Kill Grandfather — [What will the outcome be?]

After writing, he held up the whiteboard to the camera for the audience to see.

Jiang Zhe adjusted his headset and asked the caller, "There aren't any issues with this diagram, right?"

"Yes, assuming we don't consider the total energy and mass of the world, there are no issues with it."

Jiang Zhe nodded slightly and continued explaining:

"The outcome you previously believed was that both 1980 and 2024 would collapse because of the grandson's time travel."

"But in reality, the universe is not an isolated system."

"This is because you are looking at the universe based on thermodynamics—saying the universe is an isolated system is fine in that context."

"An isolated system refers to a system that does not exchange matter or energy with the outside world, not a system of matter or energy."

"As for what you said about the grandson from 2024 traveling back to 1980, it's actually exchanging that bit of energy and matter from 2024 into 1980, which directly proves the universe is not an isolated system."

"Therefore, from your answer, I can conclude that the universe is not an isolated system."

Having reached this point, Jiang Zhe asked a rhetorical question:

"Furthermore, dear viewer, you've framed the Grandfather Paradox on the premise that a time machine can be built in the real macroscopic world."

"If a time machine existed, what you said would be the answer to the Grandfather Paradox."

"Or if a time machine existed, the Grandfather Paradox would no longer be a paradox."

What Jiang Zhe was saying was—

The caller's answer could serve as an answer to the Grandfather Paradox.

But there's a prerequisite: a time machine must truly exist in reality!

In reality, time machines do not exist!

Seeing this, the audience was completely bewildered.

They felt like Jiang Zhe had said something, but also like he hadn't.

Hearing this, the Junior student from Magic City was stunned for a moment.

He quickly realized, "Holy crap... I fell into a self-verification trap. I treated the Grandfather Paradox as a scientific experiment that could be performed in reality, which is why I used the first question."

"Essentially, time machines don't exist in reality, so my answer cannot be confirmed."

Hearing this, Jiang Zhe smiled slightly, his tone full of praise. "A teachable student indeed. Exactly. We are discussing the Grandfather Paradox, and since we don't have time machines in reality, your answer doesn't fit the Grandfather Paradox."

After watching the whole exchange, the audience was dumbfounded.

"Holy shit, Jiang Zhe even confused the caller."

"I get it now. The caller's answer simply didn't fit the current context."

"Exactly. Jiang Zhe was talking about the Grandfather Paradox, while that pedantic college student treated it as a time-traveling act that could be done right now."

"Hahaha, I almost didn't catch on. If there really were a time machine, I'd travel back and kill someone just to show you."

"..."

In the office of Kyoto University of Science.

Professor Feng also looked embarrassed.

He had just been wondering how Jiang Zhe would solve this difficult problem, even imagining Jiang Zhe ending the broadcast in disgrace.

Who would have thought Jiang Zhe would directly point out the caller's fundamental logical error?

After all, Professor Feng had been thinking the same thing as the student caller.

"Hiss... I was wrong. I fell into the same trap; this is a thought experiment!"

...

In the Leadership meeting room.

Everyone there was secretly relieved.

It really almost turned into a broadcasting disaster!

Fortunately, Jiang Zhe's level was high enough to make professionals willingly concede defeat.

Station Manager Zhao sighed with emotion, "That scared me to death!"

Meanwhile, on the screen.

Jiang Zhe's voice continued to come through.

"Continuing from the previous Quantum Delayed Choice Experiment, we can find an answer—"

"In the microscopic world, the effect determines the cause. It's the opposite of causality in the macroscopic world; the present determines the past, and the future determines the present."

"Now, everyone, please keep this concept in mind and look at this whiteboard again."

Jiang Zhe held up the whiteboard on the desk as he spoke.

"In 2024, there is a grandson who discovers he can travel through time, so he goes back to the past and kills his grandfather out of boredom."

"Without any surprises, the grandfather died."

Then Jiang Zhe looked up and asked the camera solemnly, "Applying the theory of effect-cause I mentioned earlier, after the grandfather dies, does the grandson still exist?"

These words immediately caused a massive number of viewers to frown in deep thought.

"He's gone, he must be gone!"

"Right, right, he's definitely gone. It feels like he hasn't explained anything."

"No, I feel like something is off."

"..."

In the Leadership meeting room.

Everyone looked at each other, their faces filled with confusion.

They could sense that Jiang Zhe had deciphered something, but they didn't seem to understand it.

Only one person, Wang Lin.

He said with a look of astonishment, "The grandson exists!"

Station Manager Zhao asked in confusion, "How could the grandson exist? Isn't the grandfather dead?"

Wang Guosheng also frowned. "Is it because of the Effect-cause theory?"

Before Wang Lin could explain further, the surprised voice of the caller came from the large screen.

"Holy crap..."

"Host Jiang Zhe, I know what you're telling me now."

"The grandson—he definitely exists and won't disappear!"

Jiang Zhe's eyes lit up, and he showed an interested expression. "Oh? You've caught up with my rhythm. Why don't you elaborate?"

The caller quickly responded with excitement:

"He exists! The grandson definitely exists!"

"Because if the timeline is a single line..."

"...then the grandfather fathering the father, and the father fathering the son, isn't actually causality."

"It's not at all a case of 'first there's a grandfather, then a father, then a grandson'."

"That's just the causality of the birth order of grandfather, father, and grandson; it has nothing to do with time travel."

"What we are discussing is the causality of how the grandfather died."

"Regarding the timeline of the grandfather's death—"

"[Cause]: The grandson in 2024 gains the ability to travel through time and develops the thought of killing his grandfather."

"[Development]: The grandson in 2024 makes the decision to go back to 1980 to kill his grandfather."

"[Effect]: The grandson arrives in 1980 and successfully kills his grandfather at the edge of the village."

"[Outcome 1] must be: the grandson will not be erased by time, but will live peacefully in 1980."

These answers were indeed becoming increasingly confusing for the audience.

Doesn't it eventually circle back to the starting problem: if the grandfather is dead, where did the grandson come from?

At this point, the caller began to hesitate.

Even the caller was getting dizzy from being looped around by this problem.

Suddenly, Jiang Zhe spoke with a smile: "That's a good explanation, but you've misunderstood [Outcome 1]."

The caller looked surprised. "I was wrong?"

If the caller had been a bit arrogant before, even looking down on Jiang Zhe...

...after Jiang Zhe corrected his problem, he became humble and eager to learn, realizing that Jiang Zhe really knew his stuff!

Jiang Zhe responded, "Yes, you were indeed wrong."

"If the grandson gains an ability or a time machine, goes back to the past, and kills his grandfather, what will happen to the grandson?"

"Look at the whiteboard here."

"The grandfather's timeline sequence is: born in 1960, then lives until 1980 when he is killed by his future grandson. Thus, the grandfather's life is over; his timeline has ended, and it has absolutely no connection to the grandson anymore."

"Furthermore, 1980 is the [future] for the grandson from 2024, not the [past] as everyone assumes!"

At this point, Jiang Zhe asked a question with a serious expression:

"Did the grandson really use his travel ability to return to what everyone considers the [past]?"

"No, the grandson did not return to the past. The '1980 of the past' has always been the [future] for the grandson himself—it has always been his own [future]!"

"After the grandfather is killed by the grandson from the future, will the grandson die in 1980 along with the grandfather?"

"No, he won't!"

"Because the grandfather's timeline has collapsed. His life is over. The moment the grandson kills the grandfather, the grandfather's timeline ceases to exist."

"In the Grandfather Paradox..."

"...under the premise of a single timeline, the outcome for the grandson from 2024 will definitely be—"

"[The grandson lived in the 1980 of the future], not [the grandson lived in the 1980 of the past]!"

Following this series of detailed explanations, the entire audience in front of their screens fell into a dead silence.