If You Could Go Back

[Fridgemagnetman]

This brings up another interesting paradoxical issue. What if you could go back in time to fix your past? OK, so you go back in time and fix your past. There's only one problem. Now that your past is fix? You will no longer need to go back in time in the first place, and if you don't go back in time, how can you fix your past? catch 22 chicken and egg issue.

Do you think anyone who tries to solve a paradox keeps a full fridge?
Get your backside back in time,sort your life out and think about it later

 

[wight]

Time travel paradox assumes a singular time line and that time is linear. I am not certain that this is the case.

In plain language, going back and "fixing your past" may not fix anything but rather put your perceived reality on a different time line, and the "old you" is still living on your original time line.

 

[Chance]

Do you think anyone who tries to solve a paradox keeps a full fridge?
Get your backside back in time,sort your life out and think about it later

Yes Sir...
If you don't mind can you step in the phone booth with me...
I had to dig for this one... This movie is so stupid but it made me laugh when I was a kid

 

[Chance]

This brings up another interesting paradoxical issue. What if you could go back in time to fix your past? OK, so you go back in time and fix your past. There's only one problem. Now that your past is fix? You will no longer need to go back in time in the first place, and if you don't go back in time, how can you fix your past? catch 22 chicken and egg issue.

I guess at that point we are going back to fix our then "presence" thus making us the chicken that becomes the egg that becomes the chicken again... I think we need Socrates... and I found the phone booth... : )

 

[Chance]

Time travel paradox assumes a singular time line and that time is linear. I am not certain that this is the case.

In plain language, going back and "fixing your past" may not fix anything but rather put your perceived reality on a different time line, and the "old you" is still living on your original time line.

Oh so there would be 2 lost boys named Chance out here running around dazed and confused...
that sounds more like a horror story... so maybe I will just continue work on learning from my past, to make a better future... : )

 

[pjcnet]

It might not be time travel alone, but I wish I could go back and be 18 years old when I was just 13 years old in 1983 and it would have also been helpful if I'd had a brother with similar abilities to myself that I got on well with (unlike my 2 severely low functioning autistic brothers, don't get me wrong I love my brothers, but obviously they can't program computers when they literally are unable to count, I would want to keep my brothers as they are and have a 3rd able brother). From the early 1980s I was programming computer games, I sent various off to software companies, but always got back letters of rejection telling me to come back when I was older, but by then I'd missed the window of opportunity when computer games were simple enough for 1 person to potentially make a fortune by programming them. I did get a couple of games published when I was old enough at 18 years old and still in the sixth form at school, but it was small time by then and I didn't make close to a fortune from it (I did get into the local Birmingham newspaper and I even made few thousand pounds overall from a 20% commission over a couple of years payable by monthly cheques, but sadly the computer was somewhat obsolete too by the time they were first published and sales slowly died off over time).

David Darling and Richard Darling (brothers) were also from Birmingham in the UK just like myself and exactly like myself they even started programming on the Commodore Pet in the late 1970s. Unlike myself however they were old enough in the 1980s to be employed by Mastertronic which was the first software company to release budget priced home computer games and they soon made enough money to form their own company in 1986 which they called Codemasters. Yes it is the same huge game software company Codemasters as we know today (they're multimillionaires and were in fact millionaires not long after founding the company by around 1987). It was also easier for them since there was 2 of them, so obviously they could work as a team supporting each other to get twice as much done. When I reached 17 I remember seeing them on the local TV news showing off their new found fortune, driving around in high end sports cars and it really p**sed me off. I always felt I'd missed out purely because I was too young when I was doing exactly the same stuff as them and back then I was most definitely equally as capable as either one of them, but too young and not legally employable or treated seriously because of my young age (back then they also didn't recognise that young children could program better than many adults, I could program complex code at the age of 10 for instance and probably would had done so even earlier if I'd been introduced to computers at a younger age still).

Additionally to the above I'd go back to the early 1990s and I'd buy numerous domain names such as google.com, microsoft.com and so much more for next to nothing. I'd also go back a few years when Bitcoin first stated and I'd invest when they cost virtually nothing, now making 1000s of times my initial investment. In fact there's numerous ways I could have made a fortune online if I'd known what I know now.

 

[Chance]

I'd go back to the early 1990s and I'd buy numerous domain names such as google.com, microsoft.com and so much more for next to nothing. I'd also go back a few years when Bitcoin first stated and I'd invest when they cost virtually nothing, now making 1000s of times my initial investment.

It might not be time travel alone, but I wish I could go back and be 18 years old when I was just 13 years old in 1983 and it would have also been helpful if I had a brother with similar abilities to myself (unlike my 2 severely low functioning autistic brothers, don't get me wrong I love my brothers, but obviously they can't program computers when they literally are unable to count, I would want to keep my brothers as they are and have a 3rd able brother). From the early 1980s I was programming computer games, I sent some off to software companies, but always got back letters of rejection telling me to come back when I was older, but by then I'd missed the window of opportunity when computer games were simple enough for 1 person to potentially make a fortune by programming them. I did get a couple of games published when I was old enough at 18 and in the sixth form at school, but it was small time by then and I didn't make close to a fortune from it (I got into the local newspaper and I even made few thousand pounds overall from a 20% commission over a couple of years payable by monthly cheques, but sadly the computer was somewhat obsolete too by the time they were first published and sales slowly died off over time). David Darling and Richard Darling (brothers) however were from Birmingham in the UK just like myself and like myself they even started programming on the Commodore Pet in the late 1970s. Unlike myself however they were old enough in the 1980s to employed by Mastertronic which was the first company to release budget priced home computer games and they soon made enough money to form their own company in 1986 which they called Codemasters and yes it is the same huge game software company Codemasters as we know today (they're multimillionaires and were shortly after founding the company). It was also easier for them since there was 2 of them, so obviously they could work as a team supporting each other to get twice as much done. When I reached 17 I remember seeing them on the local news showing off their new found fortune, driving around in high end sports cars and it really p**sed me off. I always felt I'd missed out purely because I was too young when I was doing exactly the same stuff as them and back then I was most definitely equally as capable as either one of them, but too young and not legally employable or treated seriously because of my young age (back then they also didn't recognise that young children could program better than many adults, I could program complex code at the age of 10 for instance and probably would had done so even earlier if I'd been introduced to computers at a younger age still).

It sounds like to me... You don't even need to go back, you are already 10 steps ahead in the present. You know computers inside out... The jobs that could take you anywhere are the future, and you already know it from its history. Cool story, but you can make this basically real without the need to go back, just change the dynamics to those same start ups of this present time... You are obviously more than capable and that is really cool. : )

 

[pjcnet]

It sounds like to me... You don't even need to go back, you are already 10 steps ahead in the present. You know computers inside out... The jobs that could take you anywhere are the future, and you already know it from its history. Cool story, but you can make this basically real without the need to go back, just change the dynamics to those same start ups of this present time... You are obviously more than capable and that is really cool. : )

I rearranged my original post slightly, improving a few words, that's the only way I can write well for some reason.

Anyway, I'm now 48, I am still very good at computers, but I haven't got the same concentration or passion as I used to have when I was much younger, I also have medical illnesses that knock me about making it more difficult. What's more imagine making a blockbuster movie using a single home video camera and barely any money? That's what it would be like trying to make a blockbuster game on your own these days, major releases are made by large teams of people and the credits can often be compared to a Hollywood movie with huge budgets too, also the code for most games has actually been developed and improved over many years using existing libraries. That said the last few years has been the best time for smaller developers since the early to mid 1980s when many games were made by 1 person or a very small team, this is partly because of Steam supporting Indie developers, but also because for some reason a lot of people have started appreciating much simpler games with retro graphics that are more playable. There is also the Unity 3D engine which is free, games made with Unity are in my opinion noticeably inferior and the engine is also poorly optimised, but many games developed using it have still become very popular. I'm still pretty useless at designing graphics however (I'm not artistic) which wasn't so much of an issue when graphics were really simple, I'm also no musician.

 

[Chance]

I rearranged my original post slightly, improving a few words, that's the only way I can write well for some reason.

Anyway, I'm now 48, I am still very good at computers, but I haven't got the same concentration or passion as I used to have when I was much younger, I also have medical illnesses that knock me about making it more difficult. What's more imagine making a blockbuster movie using a single video camera and barely any money? That's what it would be like trying to make a blockbuster game on your own these days, major releases are made by large teams of people and the credits can often be compared to a Hollywood movie with huge budgets too, also the code for most games has actually been developed and improved over many years using existing libraries. That said the last few years has been the best time for smaller developers since the early to mid 1980s when many games were made by 1 person or a very small team, this is partly because of Steam supporting Indie developers, but also because for some reason a lot of people have started appreciating much simpler games with retro graphics that are more playable. There is also the Unity 3D engine which is free, games made with Unity are in my opinion noticeably inferior and the engine is also poorly optimised, but many games developed using it have still become very popular. I'm still pretty useless at making graphics however (I'm not artistic) which wasn't so much of an issue when graphics were really simple.

I know what you mean... We are getting a little older and we do burn out a little and we see missed times and yes it sucks...
Its everywhere. Hindsight is 20/20, but I am determined to get past that and maybe its stupid and naive to be that way, but I cant live in yesterday, or 1992... I know today is just as rich if not richer in every way than yesterday once we push the junk out of our way...

I also see maybe this turn by a mass of people who do want to go back to the simpler style lives as well...
I notice the mass people who are looking for the ways around big business, and many big business are failing because they suck... People are looking for better service, a better product, shorter lines, organic home grown foods and products...and there are people everywhere who are saying they will pay more to get back to a lifestyle that is missing in their lives... Lots of us who are longing for that simpler life may have more opportunities at hand than we are noticing... Things are changing fast, but in many directions... I'm looking for the one that slows my life down, to enjoy more of it, in a simple style. : )

 

[InPrincipio]

I would go back in time and invent Google, Facebook, Pokemon Go, and the ipod!

Except that that is not inventing. It's copying.
Just create something better based on the knowledge you have of those other inventions!

 

[Panthro]

Except that that is not inventing. It's copying.
Just create something better based on the knowledge you have of those other inventions!

Its not copying if no one else at that time did it. Besides, I would rather play it safe and not mess up a successful formula! I would also like to go back in time and stop Donald Trumps parents from ever meeting, but if I can only travel within my life time then I wouldn't be old enough.

 

[pjcnet]

Its not copying if no one else at that time did it. Besides, I would rather play it safe and not mess up a successful formula! I would also like to go back in time and stop Donald Trumps parents from ever meeting, but if I can only travel within my life time then I wouldn't be old enough.

It's always questionable changing things in the past to try and improve the present and many classic sci-fi movies such as The Butterfly Effect plus both sequels and also TV series such as 11.22.63
have shown that sometimes tiny changes can make a massive difference and also when something is changed in an attempt to improve the future it can actually make matters much worse. For instance you might succeed in stopping Donald Trump from ever being born, but then what effect would him not being around have on the present? Also his parents could meet different people and their children could have a serious impact. Who knows who would be president if Donald Trump didn't exist or what would happen, but it won't necessarily be better and it could be much worse.

The same could be true from anyone going back in time to change something that they believe is for the better, even if I'd had gone back and made myself rich by buying bitcoin when it cost next to nothing and/or buying domain names like microsoft.com in the early 1990s, then who knows I could have died in a private jet crash that I wouldn't have otherwise afforded and that could have also even injured or killed others on the ground causing a huge ripple effect. I am such a jolly guy, lol! Another good movie is Sliding Doors, even though it's not directly time travel, it shows how just one woman could have a totally different life just because someone got in her way compared to if she missed them saving just 1 second, in the movie 1 version of the woman just missed a tube train due to the slight hold up while another version of her just caught the train (the movie is named "sliding doors" after the doors on the tube train which closed on 1 version of the woman as she just missed the train), then it showed how massively differently her life progressed from both versions by regularly switching between them, as well as all the people around her, it's a very clever movie and if you've never watched it I recommend it. If you travelled back in time and simply got in someones way in the street or in the case of the movie at a station when you didn't before the impact on the present could be enormous.

 

[InPrincipio]

Its not copying if no one else at that time did it. Besides, I would rather play it safe and not mess up a successful formula! I would also like to go back in time and stop Donald Trumps parents from ever meeting, but if I can only travel within my life time then I wouldn't be old enough.

Oh, but it IS still copying. And you would always know it, otherwise you would forever be deceiving yourself. And besides, all of us other people who go back with full knowledge of such things would know as well. Muahahaha

 

[Cinnamon115]

If I went back in time and knew what having Aspergers meant, I wouldn't have beat myself up so much on why I couldn't understand the social things everyone else automatically knew. I would also be relieved to know that there are other people like me out there.

 

[Full Steam]

If I could do it all again but with knowledge of my true nature I would change so many fundamental things that it would certainly destroy my life as it is now.

It's kind of like treatise cure thing. Yes there are huge swathes of stuff I don't like, but to change it would make me a different person with a different life.

If I could get to the end of this life, then pop back in time with full knowledge, life would be very interesting.

Start my first business at 15.
Avoid drugs and excessive alcohol because I don't need to try to exert control over the unknown chaos of being me.
Move to the Yorkshire country side asap, regardless of the lack of jobs, and just make it work.
Only attempt to form relationships with autistic trait people.
Not bother going to India to get I'll.
Invent Facebook before Zuckerberg, and do a better job of UI design. Nice clean interface, with drill down power, not a hideous cluttered monstrosity.

 

[the_tortoise]

If you could go back to age ten, knowing you are Apsie/Aut and how that would mean.....what would you change?

10 year old tortoise would get very angry at any hint of a suggestion that there was anything wrong with him and would probably refuse to consider the idea that he had some kind of diagnosable neurological condition regardless of how it was presented (already had lots of emotional scars around being treated badly because of there being "something wrong with [me]", had already learned to fear people trying to fix me and force "help" upon me that was the opposite of helpful).....

It's very difficult to imagine mysef at 10 years old, understanding what it meant to be autistic.....I'm not sure I could have, even if I hadn't had such intense emotional issues around such things (I actually think being unable to see what other people saw, unable to understand why people were always trying to "help"/fix me, is part of what made it so traumatic -- and it's not even that it was never explained to me) .....

So 10 year old me would change nothing. And I'm pretty sure that my life decisions from then until now would have been exactly the same.

As for what other people might have done differenty had they known....that could have made life better or could have made it worse.

 

[Pariah Dog]

Like many have already said I'm not too sure knowing about it would do much of anything to change the course of my life. The best that might have come out of it would be that my parents would be more understanding and not just assume I think and feel things based on nothing more than my age. Maybe I would have made a lot more sense of my world around me and why I don't fit into it. Maybe that would have brought on a level of comfort and some increase in confidence.

Come to think of it, perhaps that actually would make a big difference. I think even a small increase in confidence at every stage of my life could have had a drastic positive effect. Maybe that would have even put something close to regular dating within reach. hmmm....

 

[Voxsh]

I would have been kinder to myself instead of spending my entire life hating the way I am....er that's it.

 

[Mr Allen]

I would go back to last Thursday evening and change the group based interview at Grainger Games to a 1 to 1 with the Manager, I would still probably get told there were "more suitable" candidates, but I hate group based activities in general except Pub quiz teams.

Even further back, I'd take what I know now back to around June 1991 when I was doing my exams at school and actually pass at least Maths if not any other subject, because 5 years later I resat English at College and passed.

And finally, I'd go back to Valentine's Day 1991, where my ex kind of "proposed" to me, well she basically said "Are we getting married then?" which I kind of shrugged off and said "Ooh I don't know", I half wish I'd said yes, although if we'd got hitched I'd probably be doing time by now for beating up her annoying Brother.