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In the 70's, there was this older hot neighbor girl who I had a crush on. I never made any kind of move on her because I thought I had no chance. Found out years she liked me and was waiting for me to make a move. Screw politics, if I could go back and change anything, I WOULD MAKE A MOVE ON THAT GIRL!!!
I need some help in thinking about socio-political, scientific, and technological developments over the past few decades. If you could somehow go back to the 1970s with the knowledge you have now, what would you do? Keep in mind that the changes you make would probably have unpredictable consequences (per chaos/complexity theories) – even very small, unintentional differences in your life could end up causing major changes in the world, so you don't really have the option of not changing anything at all. The only question is your conscious role in the inevitably unfolding changes.
A few examples: You would realize the potentials for personal computers, the internet, cell phones, and hundreds of other major kinds of technology a couple of decades before other people, so you could supposedly put yourself in a position to invent these things, or at least invest in them in some way. What, if anything, would you do with this kind of knowledge? Similarly, you would have insight into potential developments in the realms of art, music, entertainment. Suppose, for example, that certain songs that were huge hits in the 70s, 80s, or 90s were never written (due to the unpredictable effects of your influence upon the world). Would you try to create them yourself?
Another example: There is evidence that a variety of chronic diseases (lupus, fibromyalgia, Hashimoto's, etc.) are actually rooted in problems related to diet, and that the standard medical/pharmaceutical industries contribute to the problem rather than fixing it. (I happen to know this because my wife is "living proof" of this phenomenon.) Anyway, my point is that if something like this is true, and you knew about it, you could help millions of people avoid decades of chronic pain and suffering…or could you?
I've given a couple of examples, but I'm really interested in getting perspectives on this that I have not yet thought of.
Me too. Although i would've been such a manwh*ore that i would've caught every conceivable venereal disease known to man back then.
Hmmm for me, I guess it would depend if I had my wife or not as to whether I would have been a manwh**e! When I started DJing in the 90s I was like "oh hell yeah let the party begin" and then my wife and I started dating shortly thereafter so my days of playing the field were over. She was the one for me, so I can honestly say that I've never strayed! Make no mistake, there were plenty of opportunities, but I'm a better man then that. But as for the atmosphere, and creating the party, I would to have loved to have been a part of it back in the day!
In the 70's, there was this older hot neighbor girl who I had a crush on. I never made any kind of move on her because I thought I had no chance. Found out years she liked me and was waiting for me to make a move. Screw politics, if I could go back and change anything, I WOULD MAKE A MOVE ON THAT GIRL!!!
One more thing: The Cleveland Browns would have won at least five Super Bowls.
Interesting that you say this. An underlying reason for my original question was that I'm writing a sci-fi novel that involves a "parallel world" that is identical to ours up until around 1958 when a certain sci-fi twist (not exactly time travel, but sorta like that) leads to the main character (age 40 in 1998) being "reborn" in 1958 (with memories of our world - sorta like "past life" memories, but not really "past" life...), thus causing changes in the evolution of history after 1958. Anyway, the character lives in Minnesota and ends up playing QB for the Vikings after Fran Tarkenton retires. For various reasons, the Vikings actually win a superbowl in Tarkenton's final year (1978), and go on to win a few more in the following years.
I guess, since I live in Ohio now, I could go ahead and let the Browns win a couple as well. In fact, thanks to you, I've just decided to have the Browns play the Viking in a Suiper Bowl. Of course the Browns will have to lose that one - sorry - but, hey, at least they're in the big dance ;-)
I've thought about this in some detail and would not want to do it. You'd probably go insane once you began understanding all of the ramifications and potential results of your changing history. One of the benefits of a boring job, you can spend time pondering things.
You'd blame yourself for any unforseen negative result of changing things. You save your father from a heart attack but then say your kid brother gets murdered. Or you save somebody from an accident but then they accidentally have a car wreck that kills somebody else. You change things and help some but end up hurting other people. You become rich but suddenly realize that younger relatives you loved don't get born. You'd become a basket case or so hardened you'd be almost sociopathic.
Honestly you start trying to change things and get in the position to influence things and you've got powerful people suddenly noticing you and probably not appreciating your efforts. Maybe spend a year documenting dirt on prominent people and duplicating the evidence as a safety measure, along with sharing it with people you trust and then maybe you'd be safe. The safest thing to do might be to just publicly spill your guts and have everybody know that you do indeed know some incredible information and it would be in everybodys best interests not to mess with you. You'd have a tough life dealing with being kept out of the public but probably wouldn't have to worry about being grabbed by the government or assassinated. Probably.
Interesting that you say this. An underlying reason for my original question was that I'm writing a sci-fi novel that involves a "parallel world" that is identical to ours up until around 1958 when a certain sci-fi twist (not exactly time travel, but sorta like that) leads to the main character (age 40 in 1998) being "reborn" in 1958 (with memories of our world - sorta like "past life" memories, but not really "past" life...), thus causing changes in the evolution of history after 1958. Anyway, the character lives in Minnesota and ends up playing QB for the Vikings after Fran Tarkenton retires. For various reasons, the Vikings actually win a superbowl in Tarkenton's final year (1978), and go on to win a few more in the following years.
I guess, since I live in Ohio now, I could go ahead and let the Browns win a couple as well. In fact, thanks to you, I've just decided to have the Browns play the Viking in a Suiper Bowl. Of course the Browns will have to lose that one - sorry - but, hey, at least they're in the big dance ;-)
I'd love a copy of that book.
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