If you had a time machine...

[jpervin]

...would you go back at some point in your life and change certain things (knowing what you know now), or would you not go back in time to change anything (IE: life has been good up to and including now)?

And, if you could go back in time, what would be the #1 thing you would change?

[Redlined]

Who wouldn't... I'll go with Microsoft Stock for the early retirement win

[semi-hollowbody]

it would be a toss up...either I go back to when I was in 6th grade and NOT get fat...depression kicked my ass that year

or more likely, I go back to whan i was 10-12 and ask for a guitar for xmas, instead of waiting until im 34 to learn

now in this scenario, do I get to re-live my life after these changes, or do I jump back to now??? :)

[Travst]

I'd sit down and have a long talk with myself about making better choices.

[cvansickle]

I definitely would find a way to prevent 9/11.

[enocaster]

I'd go back to age 22 and have crazy college sex again. No joke.

[esoteric pete]

I'd go back to age 22 and have crazy college sex again. No joke.

nice. only took 6 posts!


i would go back to 1964 or so and buy a bunch of bursts and d'angelico's and then go see grant green play somewhere...and probably gift him one of the archtops in trade for a sit-in.

among a million other things!

[travisvwright]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/2009_called.png

[HugalosPizza]

I would go back and make sure old Biff didn't give the sports almanac to younger Biff.

[Blue Light]

Set the controls for 1920. After I kill Hitler, I hang around Weimar Berlin and search for some good times.

http://www.moderntimes.com/palace/30_image/angel.jpg

[chrisr777]

I would go back to a day in 1978. I was supposed to hitchhike to the beach with a friend of mine, but I overslept and he went without me. His body washed up on the beach several days later. The perp was never found.

[Fuzzles]

Stop Fox from cancelling Firefly.

[TNJ]

I would probably go back to my freshman year in high school and gone on from there.
If I had my fund of knowledge now, I could have made an incredible impact on alot of family members lives.
But I would have probably gone a different direction after high school.

:huh

But the microsoft stock thing sounds pretty good too...

S.
j

[Scott Peterson]

I would indeed change a lot of things if I could. For the better.

Personally, I'd have a lot to tell myself about how to make better choices, pay attention to different matters and not make mistakes or waste time on things I did.

And buy stock. Lots of stock in Microsoft and Google and such. ;) :D

[coreybox]

* There's at least one "mistake" I wish I could take back.

* Making some nice financial investments would be nice too.

* Starting music earlier, and taking it more seriously, would also be a wish of mine.

[dewey decibel]

I never regret things I've done, because even if the outcome was negative it lead me somewhere I wouldn't haven't gotten to otherwise.

Only regrets are things I haven't done.

[Grimace]

Id worry that it would change something up that I cherish now, friends, experiences, my wife, my daughter, who knows. Not worth it

[mill1341]

I don't think I'd change anything. Sure, I could be rich or famous, but there's too much in my life now that I'm not willing to give up.

[rajsmooth]

now in this scenario, do I get to re-live my life after these changes, or do I jump back to now??? :)

this is my question too. the answer to this has a huge impact on what i change, or whether or not i change anything at all.

[PedalFreak]

Yes, I'd go back. Make a lot of changes.

[Yez]

I never regret things I've done, because even if the outcome was negative it lead me somewhere I wouldn't haven't gotten to otherwise.

Only regrets are things I haven't done.

Id worry that it would change something up that I cherish now, friends, experiences, my wife, my daughter, who knows. Not worth it
These. And the OP doesn't say whether we could come right back to the present, but even if we could, I wouldn't want to be in the past at all with the knowledge of when and how certain people would die.

[japanmoran]

So no one would go back and buy a bunch of guitars? Well, i guess you'd need the money so the stock thing would be nice. As well as a sport almanac.

[bluesjuke]

I'd take it into the future and get the new model.

[blackfly]

I'd sit down and have a long talk with myself about making better choices. +1 that might have changed everything.

[morlll]

I have a Time machine.

It's a Rolex. 6:12.

It works just fine thank you.

[Baloney]

Id go back and NOT go into the house when my neighbor said I could see naked women on playing cards and then proceeded to molest me. Yea Id definetly go back!!!!!!!!!!

[jpervin]

These. And the OP doesn't say whether we could come right back to the present, but even if we could, I wouldn't want to be in the past at all with the knowledge of when and how certain people would die.

I'm the OP, and this was on the presumption that you could come back to your present life, if you chose to do so.

[Johns7022]

If I could back in a time machine....

You'd probably see a 6 year old kid walk into his parents bedroom with some hose attached to the running car outside...

[djdrdave]

For a great true story where people do exactly this, be sure to watch Hot Tub Time Machine! This movie is much more realistic than the other true story called Philadelphia experiment or the true tv series Quantum Leap!

[oldschoolguy]

I would have taken my instructor's suggestion that i move to Yale with him--my world all changed in less than 10 seconds when I said no and that i wanted to do grad school right where I was. Alls well that ends well but things would (necessarily) have been different. That would actually be time travel priority #2 or #3.

[uitar99]

1. Know to buy microsoft
2. kick in $2,000 and buy a share in that hippy commune that is still going strong
3. start going out with my future wife when I first met her, that would make it 43 years

[critter74]

When I moved to Seattle in '96 I had 2 opportunities that I now regret:

1. I had a chance to work at Amazon, long before it is what it is now. Dot-com boom was still going, Amazon only dealt books and there was nothing to indicate what it would be. I had a chance to get a job at about $11 an hour in the warehouse. But I would have gotten significant stock options (as was par for course with most dot-com's at the time). I had a high school friend who worked there as a manger and she offered me the job. I passed for a job making $17/hr. Long story short, she retired by 30 a millionaire. Me? I just was sweating whether or not I was going to be able to keep my job for another year (well paying job that is, but not millionaire like).

2. I passed on playing guitar and synth for a band that is now fairly popular and revered in the indie rock crowd. It wasn't what I was into doing musically at that time, plus I was focused intently on a self production album at the time. There really was no indication at the time they would end up being successful. It still pains me a little when I see reviews or news about said band.

Other than that though, there is a million things I would do different if I could. But I can't. And I'm happy with who I am and where I'm at and the people I'm with. Not millionaire or rock start living, but good living all the same. So I guess I can't bitch too much.

[duckbunny]

It's certainly tempting, but no.

Superimposing linearity an inherently chaotic system, and relying on an expected outcome is an inherently dangerous proposition. Unlimited possibilities for other outcomes (timelines) - some not so great.

For example: Going back to the 1920s and assassinating Hitler. There is no WWII; therefore there is no Manhattan project; therefore it's possible that Stalin beats everyone to atomic weapons...get the idea?

Can't fully describe open sets with closed one's...can't be done. Time jumping, even if possible, (which I don't believe is, BTW) would eventually lead to disaster. It's so probable, it's almost certain.


-db

[el profe]

I think it'd be fun just to go back and watch myself being a total ass for most of my 20s. :D I wouldn't change a thing- just go back and observe. The embarrassment alone would be enough to affect what the future looks like for me.

[KRosser]

No way - off to the future for me, as far ahead as possible.

[Kmaz]

I would like to go back and suggest to the Watchman at the Dakota to call the police on this suspicious looking character who had been milling about for hours.

The police might have found him to be armed and John not murdered on that December evening.

[The Golden Boy]

I never regret things I've done, because even if the outcome was negative it lead me somewhere I wouldn't haven't gotten to otherwise.



Nah, I've done some pretty stupid shit over the years. I would love to undo some of that stupid shit.

[davecan]

It'd be nice, but not happening, so I often tell myself "make a decision today that you will be happy about 5-10 years from now".

[The Golden Boy]

I would also go back in time and stop Donald the falcon from getting shot.