Q&A: Free Choice and Time Travel
Free Choice and Time Travel
Question
Hello Rabbi Michael Abraham.
This is a very hypothetical question, though I have a feeling it is directly connected to Newcomb's paradox and the implications people attach to it.
Suppose I travel forward in time to the future. There I see a certain person behaving in a certain way, and then I return to the present—before the choice. Can one now say that he will choose freely when I know what is going to happen?
And one can add: what if that person is me? If I know what I will choose in the future, how will that affect me? Thank you for dedicating your time.
Answer
Since in my view travel to the future is not conceptually well-defined, it is difficult for me to answer this. I discussed this problem in my book on the logic of time in the Talmud (volume four of the Talmudic Logic series).
Discussion on Answer
The book (like the whole series) is in Hebrew, but it can only be obtained on Amazon.
Thank you for your answer.
Can those books also be obtained in Hebrew?