This post is in relation to the movie, 12 Monkeys, which Amanda, Rachel, and I will explain tomorrow. The movie made me think about what causal determinism, predestination, and indeterminism meant in regards to time travel. Causal determinists would state that if I went back to say the day Hitler’s parents meant and prevented them from meeting, the world would be a much different place than it is today -- no Holocaust, possibly no WWII, no atomic bomb... However, the people that think predestination is correct would say that someone else probably would have taken Hitler's place, say Bob. The Holocaust, WWII, and the atomic bomb would still be written in our history books but in reference to the wretched man, Bob. Indeterminists would be more ambiguous with if's, and's, and but's, saying if Hitler's dad really wanted to meet his mom, then that's what would happen. Essentially, they'd say you couldn't predict what would happen.

We'll talk more about this tomorrow, but depending on your view, what does all this say about souls? For example, say you are a determinist and we stop Hitler and the Holocaust, then all those souls that were born because of WWII (soldiers meeting their wives abroad . . .) wouldn't have ever existed. Predestination still lets those souls still exist. Ah, time travel is a tricky thing, but it's interesting to think about all the questions if produces... Any thoughts?