If you had the chance.....

[Calaber]

Thought it was time for a new thread on something different. My last one gained a bit of a following so let's see how this goes.

If it was possible for time travel backwards and you were given the opportunity to go back to an earlier point in your life for a year BUT it meant you had to forfeit one year at the end of your life, would you accept the offer? You would go back in time but retain your present age.

I'll go first. Absolutely. I was born in the early 50's but have no recollection of much prior to 1958. I'd love to experience where i spent my earliest days as they were back then from an adult perspective. Not worried about shortening my life expectancy by a year because it would only be spent as a grumpy old bastard who was enjoying old age less by the day and probably suffering from a multitude of age-related illnesses.

What about you?

 

[Tatiana]

Interesting question. I would like to go back 20 years and change some things but go back to the age I was then, not now.

 

[Sheldon Cooper]

Absolute no brainer. I would go back to the day after my 18th birthday and buy thousands of acres of land that back then was dirt cheap farm land and today is "the suburbs". I'd leave the lotto results of one of the big jackpots in my wallet in my own hand writing. Then I'd come back and retire.

 

[c2105026]

Going back in time to change some past event raises a few issues.

For instance I could go back to myself from 2003 and gotten the help I needed for my mental health issues (by then I was showing enough symptoms to warrant a diagnosis). This in theory would have alleviated the issues I faced and right now I'd be a successful civil engineer on big $$$.

But I probably would never have gotten around to doing the still awesome things I have done as a result of my current unorthodox life course. Restore cars, run marathons, run for public office, and the life experience of working as a teacher an social worker.

Worse still my fantasy life course may have the unintended consequences for the death, permanent disability or incarceration of myself or loved ones.

Careful what you wish for, you just might get it!

 

[edals]

At this present point, I wouldn't go back. Currently very happy and believe the paths you take get you to where you want to be. Sure money is great and everything, but to loose a year of your life, watching your kids grow up etc you want to see as much as possible to make sure they will be fine when you're gone. Especially when your life expectancy is 15/20 years less than the average anyway. Everything you change could come back to haunt you, especially if you gain alot of wealth, you possibly lost all your family due to never meeting your present partner.

 

[uniacidz]

Theoretically impossible to go back in time.

 

[Calaber]

My original idea was simply to be able to re-visit a time in your life you consider to be worthy of re-experiencing but with the knowledge and experience you now possess. It wasn't to put yourself in a position of being able to change the future. I selected the 1950's because I lived through most of them but remember virtually nothing. They were years of prosperity and bright expectations in Australia and the lifestyles we led back then seem to have been so different and so much simpler than life today. A thread like this is probably more value the older you are and the further away your preferred time zone is from the present. Regarding losing a year of your life - I did say that I would expect that final year to be one of diminishing health and reduced physical capability. As for watching kids grow up - well, they'd probably be in their fifties or sixties and the grandkids would be married in their thirties. I reckon they would have pretty much completed "growing up".

If I was given the option where I COULD change the future, then I'd probably select 1970 as that was the year I commenced working. From that point on, I can see the downside of a number of poor decisions I made and certainly would change. Selecting another job would be at the top of the list. There's another one, too, but we've dealt with that.

 

[Calaber]

Theoretically impossible to go back in time.

Well, thanks for that. Doesn't add a single worthwhile element to the discussion though, does it?

 

[dgp]

Theoretically impossible to go back in time.

I would suggest theoretically possible but physically impossible.

I would like to go back to my early teens and spend some quality time with my dad before he died.

 

[Immortality]

As much as I would like to go back and change many a thing it would almost definitely mean that I wouldn't have my Partner and kids and TBH as much as they are a pain in the ass some times I kinda like having em around.