fandomhigh | Quantum Physics 225: Wednesday, Fifth Period

The Doctor looks slightly more comfortable in his skin, and also a lot more ginger. This is a good thing, and he's slurping on another can of Coke. There's an empty one on his desk, and a 6 pack near the door for everyone else's taking.

"Feel free to have a Coke, guys.

"Kay. So. Your people. You'll maybe vaguely remember that in 123, we talked about paradoxes, and the two major kinds: predestination and grandfather. If you don't remember them at all--predestination is when one travels back in time and ends up causing an event he or she meant to stop. Grandfather is when one causes one's own existence to be forfeit because of travelling back in time. Okay? Cool.

"To that end, I asked you to consider two events in the lives of each of your selected historical figures. If yours is really hard to find information on, one is fine. Here in class, we're going to talk about and discuss what would happen if the predestination paradox was applied to one event, and the grandfather one to another. This last might be difficult--how could you end your own existence (because all of you were born after the dates of your events) by changing said event? I don't care how wild it is, just go for it, but it should make sense and reflect how human history works.

"For Monday, I want you to look at this book...to find out what actually happened. Then we're going to talk about how this differs from what you've decided today."

((General information about the 1970s is available here.))

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Dude.

I wanna good one today, guys. Kay? Kay.

Rant at me for giving you too much work here.

Jack signs in. He's still not used to seeing a twelve-year-old Doctor.

*is falling behind, oh woes!*

John signs in.

"Um, Walter Ulbricht was the First Secretary for Socialist Unit party and held a central role in the early development and establishment of East Germany. Using the predestination clause, if someone had gone back in time to try and prevent him from becoming First Secretary by means of negative propaganda and/or other means, they might've ended up making him a martyr and increasing the public's interest in him therefore giving him the office any how.

Using the grandfather clause on Ulbricht being one of the catalysts for the building of the Berlin Wall, if I went back in time and attempted to stop the construction, I might've ended up being killed due to being thought of as a sympathizer if I attempted to get across the wall and/or if I'd tried to sway the opinions of those building the wall, I might've been tried and executed for treason against the country."

The Doctor looks really pleased. "Excellent, Mr Crichton, though your thoughts on the grandfather clause are a bit off. Think of it more in the sense that you wouldn't be born at all because...say, the prevention of the wall's construction would have lead to actual hostilities in the Cold War, and your ancestor would have been drafted for service...and killed."

Jack opens his mouth. And shuts his mouth. He's trying to figure how something that happened in a decade more than three thousand years before he was born could involve him in a paradox. Until he figures it out, he'll be over here doing his guppy impression.

No worries. Just lemme know if you need more time and Ten'll ease off IC.

"Ah, okay. Sorry." He starts again. "Okay. So, if someone had gone back in time to prevent the wall from being constructed and there had been actual war. The US sends troops into the warzone and say, my father's drafted. Instead of going out on his first date with my mother, he ends up overseas, fighting, and I am never born."

"Good work and quick thinking. Woot." He pauses and cocks his head, wondering where that came from. "You can have another Coke, if you want."

Sam signed in.

Just kick my ass for signing up to be history teacher. *facepalm* I can only hope it'll be easier when I'm solidly into the time period (in both classes) I'm comfortable with.

Sam thought about this. "Okay. Robert F. Kennedy, as a Senator, was in favor of pulling our troops out of Vietnam. Using the grandfather clause, if someone had gone back in time and assassinated him earlier, my father might have been an active pilot during that time, in which case he wouldn't have been in college with my mother and wouldn't have bought coffee in the diner near the college when her boyfriend dumped her. So they wouldn't have started dating and I wouldn't have been born."

"However, if someone were to go back in time to try and stop President Kennedy's assassination, on both JFK's behalf and on the assumption that Senator Kennedy, then not a senator, would never have been elected to the Senate or been on the Presidential campaign trail that led to him being assassinated, could have set events into motion that led to both of those events still happening, but in a different time or place, and possibly with a larger loss of life or worse repercussions on the government."

Quantum Physics 225: Wednesday, Fifth Period

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