One of the most common hypotheticals in the realm of time
travel fiction is the Baby Hitler scenario: Travelling back in time to kill
Hitler as an infant before he grows into one of history’s most notorious
dictators. There are a lot of ethical dilemmas and potential consequences that
spring out of this idea, but one of the lesser-discussed ones is
the possibility that making the kill successfully wouldn’t solve everything. That
while the very specific threat Hitler posed may be prevented, something just as
bad, or worse, could take its place in human history. It is this idea that
forms part of the core of today’s feature, and it makes for one of the most
welcome surprises of the year.
