If you were to hypothetically go back in time and meet yourself, it would create a scenario that is commonly referred to as a "time travel paradox." There are several theoretical possibilities that arise from such encounters:
Causal Loop: One possibility is that the meeting with your past self could create a causal loop. In this scenario, the events that unfold during your meeting with your past self are the same events that ultimately lead to your decision to travel back in time in the first place. Essentially, the past and the future become interconnected, forming a self-consistent loop with no clear origin.
Altered Timeline: Another possibility is that the encounter with your past self could lead to changes in the timeline. This concept is often depicted in fiction as the "butterfly effect." Even minor interactions or information exchanged between you and your past self could have unintended consequences that alter the course of events, potentially creating a different future or branching timelines.
Paradox Resolution: The meeting with your past self might create a paradox that challenges the logical consistency of time travel. One such example is the Grandfather Paradox, where you go back in time and accidentally cause harm to your own grandfather, preventing your own existence. This paradox highlights the logical inconsistencies that arise when considering the potential for changing the past.
It's important to note that these scenarios are speculative and based on fictional concepts surrounding time travel. In reality, our current understanding of time and causality doesn't provide a definitive answer as to what would happen if you were to meet your past self. The topic remains a subject of scientific and philosophical exploration, and there is no scientific consensus on the nature of time travel or the potential outcomes of such encounters.