Ted Chiang’s take on time

“Past and future are the same. We cannot change either, only know them more fully.” ― Ted Chiang, The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate.

I love stories about time, and Ted Chiang has a unique way to tackle this theme. It is present in two of my favorites of his tales. Let’s talk about the Nebula-winning stories: Stories of Your Life (1997) and The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate (2007).

SPOILERS AHEAD of these two stories.

This is the Science of Fiction (well, more like the philosophy of fiction, but you get the gist).

Is the future written in stone? Is it as unchangeable as the past?

The structure of our society depends on the existence of free will. The idea that we are responsible for our future drives our everyday choices and gives meaning to many lives. It is also encoded in our penal system. How could we blame a person for acting deranged if their committed crime was unavoidable?

On the opposite side of the spectrum there’s faith. Paradoxically, having faith that we are destined to (be or do) something is also a driving force in our lives. And, although it is a concept diametrically opposed to free will, the two can coexist in a blend of independence and hope. We should work to reach our destiny, but the path ahead is not unique. Temptations might astray us from our fate.

Faith and temptations are often associated with a religious context, but these concepts have more philosophical reach than that. The pursuit of happiness is trying to find the meaning of life, a goal to achieve, a clear target ahead. And mistakes and misguidance are proof that we have the power to not fulfill our destiny, obstacles on the road in front of us.

In Stories of Your Life and The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate, Ted Chiang played with a concept opposed to the idea of free will: determinism. And it’s fascinating!

What if every minute, every action of ours, is already determined? The future, as is the past, is unchangeable. Would you accept it? Would you try to escape it? While Stories of Your Life is about acceptance, The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate is an attempt to escape it.

Stories of Your Life is perhaps Ted Chiang’s most famous story. It was nominated for a Hugo; it also won a Nebula for best novella and a Theodore Sturgeon Award. Its adaptation is the highly acclaimed movie Arrival, directed by Dennis Villeneuve and starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner.

This is a first-contact story, but the central theme is about the idea that learning a new language rewires one’s brain. Upon interaction with the alien species, the linguist Louise Banks learns how to communicate in their language. As a result, she starts to see the future. The aliens (nicknamed Heptapods) are a clairvoyant species (and if you want to understand more about the science behind their future-seeing, I wrote a blog post about it!). When Louise learns their language, she gains a new understanding about reality and becomes clairvoyant herself.

Louise can see the future but cannot change it. The movie Arrival differs from the original story on this point. In the movie, Louise could use her newfound ability to prevent war. Despite changing the course of things for humankind, she still chooses to trace the same tragic path that would result in the premature death of her daughter, because of the moments of bright happiness it gives her.

In the novella, Louise has no such choice. She can only live and enjoy each minute to its fullest, forever trapped in her destined journey.

“Now that I know the future, I would never act contrary to that future, including telling others what I know: those who know the future don't talk about it. Those who've read the Book of Ages never admit to it.”

One analogy she uses in the novella when explaining how it would work stuck with me. It would be like being an actor in a play: You know the lines, you know the ending, but a good actor recites everything with passion, trying their best to convey the feelings and meanings of each scene.

Could you do it?

On the other hand, The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate is a learning experience. After finding out an alchemist created a gate that allows time travel to the past and future, a merchant goes back in time to save the love of his life, who died in an accident. He does it despite the alchemist’s warnings that the past and future cannot be changed.

This is the classic time-loop, self-fulfilling trope. One could never change any events in the past because they already happened. Their future selves have been back and tried to prevent it, forcing things to take effect the way they did. What could be gained from the time-travel experience is a new perception of past events.

It is exactly what happened to the merchant. He could not stop the death of his wife, but he learned valuable information that helped him move on with his grief and be thankful for their time together.

“Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough.”

This is, in my opinion, the most beautifully written story by Ted Chiang. He often opts for simpler proses characteristic of sci-fi writers. Not with this one. The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate is a delight to read.

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That’s it for today, folks.

Have you read these stories? Which is your favorite? Let me know in the comments!

See you next post,

Ra.

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Carla Ra is a scientist by day, sci-fi writer by night.

You can check out her anthology ARTIFICIAL REBELLION here.