The Ball Will Drop. Should You Catch It?

If we know something is going to happen, it is the future. But if we change the future, how can it still be the future? Is this not a fundamental paradox? The film Minority Report addresses this question.

A memorable scene from Minority Report plays out in the following way:

John Anderton: “Why’d you catch that?”

Danny Witwer: “Because it was going to fall.”

John Anderton: “You’re certain?”

Danny Witwer: “Yeah.”

John Anderton: “But it didn’t fall. You caught it. The fact that you prevented it

from happening doesn’t change the fact that is was going to happen.”

Danny Witwer knew what was going to happen, and stopped it from happening. But, that does not mean that it was not going to happen. That is the essential argument purported by Pre-Crime. Because of the pre-cogs they know the details of future murders, and so they have the task of stopping these future murders. Just because the murder does not occur does not mean that it was not going to. According to them, the person would have proceeded with the murder if Pre-Crime had not prevented him or her from doing so.

In my personal opinion, knowing the future does not mean that you can change it. If a future path is laid out for you, you have no choice but to conform. I think the flaw with the predictions of the pre-cogs is that they are not necessarily the true future. Maybe seeing those predictions helps determine the true future. In the case of Howard Marks, the true future was that he would not kill his wife and her lover because he would be stopped. John Anderton still kills Leo Crow after seeing the pre-cogs’ predictions, though not in the same fashion as predicted. This is why knowing the details of your future could be a curse; because then you would have to conform to it or at least change your behavior to reflect this new future. Though John Anderton does not even know who Leo Crow is, he does not walk away from Crow’s hotel room. He specifically pursues that path of action based on his belief that he will kill Leo Crow in the future and there is no other path for him, no “minority report”.

I am reminded of the scene in The Matrix where upon visiting the Oracle, Neo is told to not worry about the vase. At that point, he turns to look for the vase and accidentally knocks it over. The Oracle says, “Ohh, what's really going to bake your noodle later on is, would you still have broken it if I hadn't said anything?” Here we have the case of a future prediction, and knowing the future Neo conforms to it. His behavior changes to reflect his predicted future behavior. Knowing the future and changing future events do not represent a paradox because what you believe to be the future could be different from the true or actual future.