bootstrap paradox
Effect precedes cause
A bootstrap paradox is a time-travel scenario in which an object or piece of information exists without ever being created—it loops endlessly through time with no point of origin.
A traveler goes back in time and gives Shakespeare his own plays, which Shakespeare then publishes, which the traveler later brings back.
The plays exist, but no one wrote them.
The name comes from the impossible act of pulling oneself up by one's own bootstraps.
Common in science fiction as both plot device and philosophical puzzle.
Time-traveling alien series
- TerminatorKiller android series
- Bill and TedBodacious time travelers
- PredestinationGod's eternal decree beforehand
- InterstellarBetween stellar bodies
Dark · Back to the Future · H.G. Wells · time traveler · science fiction · plot device · storytelling
Repeating segment of time
- time machineDevice enabling temporal journeys
- wormholeHypothetical spacetime tunnel
- timelineOrdered display of events
- temporal anomalyDisruption in chronological order
time slip · flux · continuum · anachronism · alternate timeline · multiverse · divergent timeline · fixed point
Study of existence's nature
- existenceState of being real
- originStarting point or source
- self-existenceBeing that requires nothing else
- creationMaking something exist
infinite regress · logical contradiction · impossibility · conundrum · thought experiment · puzzle · free will · determinism
Curve closing on itself
- predestinationDivinely predetermined fate
- cause and effectHow events produce results
- causal loopSelf-causing temporal cycle
- chicken-and-eggMutual causation puzzle
self-consistent · determinism · fatalism · causal chain · first cause · self-referential
Doctor Who
Time-traveling alien series
- TerminatorKiller android series
- Bill and TedBodacious time travelers
- PredestinationGod's eternal decree beforehand
Interstellar · Dark · Back to the Future · H.G. Wells · time traveler · science fiction · plot device · storytelling
temporal loop
Repeating segment of time
- time machineDevice enabling temporal journeys
- wormholeHypothetical spacetime tunnel
- timelineOrdered display of events
temporal anomaly · time slip · flux · continuum · anachronism · alternate timeline · multiverse · divergent timeline · fixed point · closed loop
ontology
Study of existence's nature
- existenceState of being real
- originStarting point or source
- self-existenceBeing that requires nothing else
creation · infinite regress · logical contradiction · impossibility · conundrum · thought experiment · puzzle · free will · determinism · metaphysics
loop
Curve closing on itself
- predestinationDivinely predetermined fate
- cause and effectHow events produce results
- causal loopSelf-causing temporal cycle
chicken-and-egg · self-consistent · determinism · fatalism · causal chain · first cause · self-referential
bootstrap paradoxcause and effect
How events produce results
causal chain · domino effect · first cause · prime mover · butterfly effect
bootstrap paradoxcosmogony
Study of universal origins
abiogenesis · Big Bang · first mover · ultimate cause · genesis
bootstrap, paradox, boot, strap, boots, straps, booted, strapped, bootstraps