[quote]
On 2002-07-29 16:50, informant wrote:
Quote:
nebularian wrote:
Of course, if Biff did come back to the alternate time, there would be no time machine (because the changes he made ensured Doc never got the chance to make it). So, that would have left an irreconcilable paradox.
|
I think the movie actually addresses these paradox questions. In BTTF2, after Marty and Doc wind up in the alternate 1985 (1985A), we find that (alternate) Doc has been committed. (Regular) Doc then explains that somewhere in the past, something has disturbed the timeline (the almanac) and they are in an alternate timeline (which Doc draws as a branch from the normal timeline). They then travel back in time to stop the event which restores the normal timeline.
Given the model of BTTF2, the paradox would be avoided because you can't affect your actual past. Rather, you only create additional alternate pasts.
But then again, the model in BTTF1 is different: Marty would not have disappeared unless he were altering his own past.
Hmmm... well... it was indeed a good movie even if it is a bit confusing.
Regarding the question I posed earlier:
When Old Biff returns to the future (2015?) in BTTF2, he seems to be having a heart attack. One of my friends offers that he might actually be "fading" out of existence. (Marty has similar symptoms in BTTF1 when his existence is threatened.)
Above, Grapes proposed that it might take some time for changes to propogate through the timeline. Perhaps Old Biff was fading away, and Marty and Doc made it out of the future before they faded as well.