If you could go back in time once...

[generalmeow]

Anybody seen that movie Primer?

I thought it was really cool, but they kind of lost me towards the end where they're listening to recordings of themselves in headphones.

If I could go back in time, I don't think I'd do anything that would change my life right now. I wouldn't want to change anything that would cause me to lose my kids, or my wife, or have a different relationship with them. I think I'd try to do something where I could set up some sort of financial windfall - that would happen tomorrow.

[jhirsh5280]

Well, let's see......invest in Microsoft, buy gold and silver by the truckloads, buy certain lottery tickets, stop Stevie Ray Vaughan from getting on that helicopter, stop Lynyrd Skynyrd from getting on that airplane, get Frank Zappa to get a prostate exam, those would be good starters.

I don't know about Skynard or Zappa or Vaughn but the first part. I'd go back and invest in IBM, Microsoft, Starbucks, Apple etc...

if investing we're off the table I'd go back to Nazi Germany, pre WWII and kill Hitler.

[Ronin13]

if investing we're off the table I'd go back to Nazi Germany, pre WWII and kill Hitler.

On the investment note- I'd have a message somehow sent to me one week after I go back that reveals I have a fortune in gold and other various successful investments... that way future me finds it and my investments don't cause a ripple effect.

I don't get why everyone is talking about preventing WWII if they could travel through time... bear with me here, but there was some good that came out of it, we had vast innovations emerge (atomic age begun, advancements in transportation and weaponry), it pulled us out of the depression, and most importantly (IMHO) it taught us some very valuable lessons, such as how isolationism doesn't work, never utilize appeasement to avoid conflict, and weather will always mess with your airborne operations. Okay that last one was a paratrooper joke.

[soldier-of-the-apocalypse]

Nice. Lol.

The real question I have, is the old standby whenever a time travel discussion comes up. If you were to go back in time and stop the inventor from creatimg a time machine, what would happen? I've got at least a very basic, layman's grasp of quantum theory, but this one is a stumper.

I think it's interesting that Hawking believes time has physical properties that can be manipulated by gravity. He postulates that different people could genuinely experience time at different speeds, in the right set of circumstances. Gives a whole new take on Einstein's "minute with a pretty girl vs minute on a hot stove" bit. :-)

What if it not a "machine" what if its caused by natural forces?

[asmo]

If you were to go back in time and stop the inventor from creatimg a time machine, what would happen? I've got at least a very basic, layman's grasp of quantum theory, but this one is a stumper.

Just a variation on the "grandfather paradox" with the same outcomes. Answer depends on if you believe in parallel timelines or not.

Go read some Heinlein.

[wes56]

So many options. I could go the greedy route and say invest in Microsoft, or Google.....or kill Hitler. Those all sound promising!!! But I think I would go back to the Garden of Eden and chop that freaking apple tree down and kill that snake.... so none of this crap would have happened.

[Squeeze]

I would go back in time and prevent a few "bad" children from coming into this world.

[GilpinGuy]

stop Stevie Ray Vaughan from getting on that helicopter

Oh man, you just brought back some memories man. I still remember where I was when I heard he passed away. He was my freaking guitar idol (I was a blues guitar player in my youth).

[jhirsh5280]

On the investment note- I'd have a message somehow sent to me one week after I go back that reveals I have a fortune in gold and other various successful investments... that way future me finds it and my investments don't cause a ripple effect.

I don't get why everyone is talking about preventing WWII if they could travel through time... bear with me here, but there was some good that came out of it, we had vast innovations emerge (atomic age begun, advancements in transportation and weaponry), it pulled us out of the depression, and most importantly (IMHO) it taught us some very valuable lessons, such as how isolationism doesn't work, never utilize appeasement to avoid conflict, and weather will always mess with your airborne operations. Okay that last one was a paratrooper joke.

I thought about this after I posted. Granted a lot of great innovation came about during the war, however 6 million of my grandfathers fellow tribesmen would probably have liked to live out the rest of their lives in relative peace. Not to mention all of our fellow countrymen who paid the ultimate sacrifice. There was so much good and so much bad that happened in the span of the war.

[GilpinGuy]

Maybe go back and remove any and all ambiguity from the 2A so it cannot possibly be misread or misunderstood.