Does Nolan challenge free will? Random thoughts on Interstellar

Interstellar takes on many heavy concepts and ideas that may appear daunting to most of us. Relativity and space-time continuums are fully understood by only the best of minds, and yet Nolan finds a way to make things clear for us. One thing in Interstellar that he may have implied, intentionally or otherwise, is that free will is non-existent; or maybe I am wrong.

Let’s look back at Interstellar (spoiler alert for those who haven’t seen the movie yet). When Cooper first leaves his daughter for NASA and the mission that follows he is already behind the bookshelf screaming ‘STAY’ and saying the same through Morse. In fact, he was there even before, when his 10 year old daughter noticed books and things falling off the shelf without explanation and thought it was a Poltergeist. That is, Cooper was present on both sides of the bookshelf at the same time, or perhaps at all times. Cooper behind the bookshelf is not able to convince the Cooper on the other side to change his mind about the NASA mission. That is, try as he may, the Cooper behind the bookshelf is not able to change the past. Then again, the terms past, present and future make no sense in a space time continuum where any point of time is freely accessible at any given point of time.

So, Cooper behind the shelf is not able to change ‘the past’, and therefore we have to consider that he might also not be able to change the ‘future’ (because they are only different points of time in a continuum that is already laid out). So, what is ‘Cooper behind the shelf’ there to change? Is he there to change anything at all, or is he there because that is what space time has dictated for him? In other words, is he (and by extension of the definition, everything in the universe) a pawn in space time, being and doing only what space time dictates under the presumption that it is ‘free will’?

Let us consider this for example. Cooper arrives behind the bookshelf after being cast through a blackhole. At this point of time he knows that the entire mission was a sham and that the chances of getting humans off the planet are miniscule at best, or even non-existent. Yet, he ends up conveying the coordinates of NASA to Cooper through the grains of sand by means of binary code. Why would he do that when he knows that the operation itself is a sham, unless it is because of the fact that ‘free will’ does not exist? Another point of course is how Cooper behind the shelf knows the coordinates of NASA? Cooper himself arrives at NASA only because Cooper behind the shelf gave him the coordinates, who in turn knows it only because he was Cooper many years back; it is a kind of ‘chicken and egg’ situation. This means that space and time are laid out for infinity and free will does not exist.

Another question that intrigues is whether ‘Cooper behind the shelf’ is always ‘behind the shelf’? As shown in the movie, the space time continuum behind the girl’s bedroom collapses once Cooper behind the shelf has conveyed the equation through Morse. Now, through the movie, we see that time is a dimension that is laid out and that every minute past, present and future, exists at all times. So, when the space time continuum behind the bookshelf is ultimately collapsed, does it mean that ‘Cooper behind the shelf’ has ceased to exist forever? That is, with the continuum not existing, does Cooper ever get to be behind the shelf, and by means of that save the world? One can argue that the continuum has collapsed only after Cooper has done what he had come to do. But, when a continuum is collapsed, doesn’t it mean that all points of time in that continuum have also been wiped out as a result? That is, if a continuum does not exist, how can any point of time in that continuum have actually existed? This means that once the continuum has collapsed, ‘Cooper behind the shelf’ is essentially wiped out, and so are his actions. So, who is the little girl’s ghost? Just random thoughts that occurred after watching Interstellar.