Pythagore paradox

category: fiction

The last year PhD students, like many promorions before them, were mesmarized. After a few minutes of silence, one of them eventually mustered the courage to ask.

• But, professor, if time travel is theoretically possible why have we not built a machine yet?

The professor smiled. The same question was formulated almost exaclty the same way everytime. He posed for dramatic effect, this was the best time of the spring classes and he did not want to waste it.

He waved at the audience with a pre-programmed gesture which replaced on the students display, the complex post-string theory equations with an old 2D rendering of a marble statue... after a few seconds a text capture appeared below the picture Pythagoras paradox.

He cleared his throat and then broke out the most commonly accepted theory amongst theoretical physics researchers.

• It is usally believed that should a machine be invented, math-haters would eventually get access to it and travel back to kill Pythagoras. This creates a time paradox which gest resolved by having the time machine being theoretically possible but practically possible.