''All You Zombies - -''
by Robert A. Heinlein · first published 2014
59% recommend41% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Short time travel story built on a recursive paradox that probes personal identity; recommended for sci-fi readers who like mind-bending loops, and as the source of the faithfully adapted film Predestination.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Alternately, try reading All You Zombies by Robert A Heinlein http://www.polvoestelar.com.mx/babilonia/Libros/Robert%20A.%...
on “One-electron universe” ↗For those unaware, "All You Zombies..." is a fantastic short story by Robert Heinlein about time travel that was adapted into the 2014 film Predestination (fairly well, too, considering the source material.)
on “All You Zombies” ↗* Robert Heinlein - All you Zombies - http://faculty.uca.edu/rnovy/Heinlein--All%20you%20zombies.h...
on “The Egg” ↗Greek-myth is what literature is all about :) Have you seen Predestination (or rather, read the Heinlein story "All You Zombies")? Stylistically, I rather like the "unable to change fate" trope, which -- like you note -- is a classic from ancient times. In the story, it is implied the ability to see the timeline all at once,…
on “‘Story Of Your Life’ Is Not A Time-Travel Story” ↗Also: All You Zombies by Robert A. Heinlein (http://faculty.uca.edu/rnovy/Heinlein--All%20you%20zombies.h...)
on “They're Made out of Meat” ↗An even better (although quite contrived) example is given in the movie "Predestination": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2397535/ Alternatively, read the short story "All you Zombies" by Robert A. Heinlein, on which most of the movie is based: http://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/Robert-A.-Hei...
on “Time Machines” ↗I'd second this, and would recommend looking up the Heinlein short story "All You Zombies," that the movie was based on. The film was a very accurate adaptation.
on “Ask HN: Great science fiction movies?” ↗- The Men Who Folded Himself is a book about a time traveler that falls in love and has sex with himself in several distinct time periods. - All You Zombies is a short story that makes use of one of the most ingenious and mind-bending time travel conundrums to reflect on the nature of personal identity. - The Door Into Summer is about the effects of suspended…
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗Reminds me of my favorite time travel short story - Robert A. Heinlein's "All You Zombies" https://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/shortstories/allyo... https://archive.org/details/1959--AllYouZombies--Eley96k00.2...
on “Time Travellers: Please Don’t Kill Hitler (2014)” ↗Have you ever read "All you zombies" by Heinlein? https://gist.github.com/defunkt/759182/ad44c6135d168ae54503a...
on “Paradox-free time travel is theoretically possible” ↗The most unbounded recursive time travel paradox story has to be All You Zombies by Robert A. Heinlein. You can find it at https://gist.github.com/defunkt/759182/ad44c6135d168ae54503a....
on “Unbounded Recursion” ↗I haven't read that, I'll look it up! <spoiler> Have you read By His Bootstraps and All You Zombies by Heinlein?
on “Paperbacks and TikTok” ↗…femininist without doubt. My favourite wrt his treatment of gender is I Will Fear No Evil. Was he sci fi writer or writer of social commentary? He was a legit sci fiction writer and one of my favourites is All You Zombies where he deals with the paradox of time travel and ideas like when you are your own grandparent was definitely different. His juvenile series (Have Space Suit, Will Travel) were all benign enough for…
on “Sci-Fi Author Robert Heinlein Was Basically MacGyver” ↗Obligatory link: Robert A. Heinlein - All You Zombies http://ieng9.ucsd.edu/~mfedder/zombies.html
on “Starting a business isn't as crazy and risky as they say” ↗…then through to Hawking. That said, the nonlinear part: picks out every now and again a pop culture echo of the current theory being discussed, like the Terminator or the Time Machine or Heinlein's "—All You Zombies—" i.e. the one where a person is their own mother, father, son and daughter. (I really wish it talked about Looper or 11/22/63 or Rick & Morty.) Discusses whether time travel is logically possible, how…
on “A Nonlinear History of Time Travel” ↗