Do-over

[Citizen Bleys]

Well, I can't call Iceglow stupid, he/she/it is the only respondent who actually took the question seriously/put any real thought into it.

Before I go into my responses, I'd like to take a moment to address a recurring answer: winning the lottery. This is a thought experiment--the laws of physics do not change, and you cannot use time travel to win the lottery any more than you can go back in time and become a wizard instead of a sales clerk. The fundamental principle of quantum physics is Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. It originated with the famed two-slit experiment, where wave-particle duality was discovered. When left alone and only the interference patterns were recoreded, the electron stream fired at the two slits acted like a wave, but when an attempt was made to observe its progress, it acted like a stream of particles. In short, the entire science of quantum physics is predicated on the fact that by observing something, you influence it. If you go back in time with the winning lottery numbers for the next draw memorized, initially you do nothing, but as soon as you act upon it, you alter the future, essentially re-randomizing the lottery numbers. You can go back in time to stop Señor Douchebag from winning the lottery, but you cannot control who wins. I can't really explain it well, it has some dreck to do with waveform collapse and that makes about as much sense to me as Buddhist gangsta rap.

Wait in your scenario can I bring information back in time?

So what I would do is go back in time to when I was say, 12 or 13 and just live my life differently - study things, be very smart in school, work out during my teen years instead of my adult years, and tap every missed tail and avoid all complicated stupidity

And you don't think that would have deleterious effects on your life? Lack of leisure time is linked to crippling mental illness. Sure you could study harder at the beginning, but that would just land you a more high-pressure, stress-filled job. Also, you may find that it's harder to get into a romantic relationship if the people around you see you as nothing more than a workaholic, soulless automaton. I grew up in Alberta, where jobs are plentiful and salaries are excellent. What I've observed of Albertans is that they are tightly-wound, stressed-out d-bags who don't enjoy a minute of their life. The further East I went, the more laid-back--and happy--the people have been. By going back in time, you've destroyed your happiness.

I would go back and not fail at things I've failed at. Probably back to kindergarten, eating those crayons was what started my downward spiral.

You can go back in time and avoid the mistakes you've made in the past, but that's no guarantee you won't just make different ones. Remember, even with hindsight, you are still the same person, just more experienced and hopefully wiser. Even mistakes, though, guide your course in life. If you make different mistakes, everything can turn out differently. There's a good chance you never meet those who are your closest friends in a natural environment, and if you go up to somebody and say, "Hi, my name's Tom, we were close buddies in an alternate reality," you wind up in the sanitarium. By going back in time, you've just exchanged your present home for a wonderful place where they have rubber on the walls.

Things I'd be tempted to do over? My interview at Oxford University which I remember thinking at the time I hadn't done as good as I could've.

Same argument I used against G13

I reckon Bleys doesn't want to travel back in time because he's had some mishaps with time travel in the past (or future!)

Sorry about Hitler

I'd go back to my birth and invent the playstation. And be the smartest baby ever, eat that baby geniuses.

Baby geniuses live their entire lives under a crippling amount of pressure, causing them to have a higher suicide rate. Rest in peace.

Probably just go back to like, 8th grade and actually try to be semi-productive from then on in life. Also, stocks would be bought in certain companies, and of course lotto numbers/big sports game scores like Azn said. Also would definitely punch at least two people I never did.

Trying to be more productive robs you of life experience and leads to a high stress lifestyle. Punching people lands you in prison. Are you sure you want to know how many cigarettes your ass is worth?

I would order the soup instead of the salad.

Whoops, enjoy your botulism.

I would stop me from being shot.

Han shot first.

I would go back and not get married.... Worst mistake ever

Methinks the lady doth protest too much

(snip "win the lotto/sports events" answers I've already addressed

As long as I can take the information I have now with me I would've stopped a few things from happening.

You're going to have to be more specific than that if you want to know why it'd be a bad idea. For example, if you want to leverage Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle to stop the 9/11 attacks, all you have to do is start telling people that they're going to happen. Then, when they don't, you get thrown in an institution for the mentally ill. Small price to pay? Perhaps. But what if instead of preventing them, you just make them turn out differently? Worse, even?

Would I still age normally while time travelling? If so then there's really no smurfing point in going back to not fail where I've failed. It'd just be a waste of time that wouldn't change the present anyway. I don't wanna do all that bull again.

Assume it can change the present. You go back in time to your own body at the time--so if you go back to when you're 12, you're a(n) [insert your age here]-year-old (wo)man in a 12-year-old child's body, with all of your memories intact.

I would take the blue pill.

That was cyanide. Well done

I'd be a goddamn genius baby and leverage my brains to get a full scholarship to Harvard or something by the age of 12.

I fantasize about being able to do this on a daily basis, being able to move my consciousness freely throughout time. And then I can switch between any timeline I have generated through my exploits.

See: Reply to Hypoallergenic

I would go back and invest a huge load of money in a race or football match that I remembered the result of and I'd become a billionaire.
I know for a fact all I would ever need is money, aside from things like my family and friends dying I'd give up anything to become filthy stinking rich.

If you really, honestly think all you ever need is money, they I wish I could send you back in time with some sort of defense against Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.

I think I only have one major regret that's been sticking with me that was the result of a bunch of bad decisions a few months back, so I'd probably go back and tell myself not to do that! Otherwise, idk. I always used to imagine my future self going back in time and giving young me advice. Like, 30 year old Stu telling 7 year old Stu about how to live life. I pictured myself being a lot fatter than I am now but I guess I still have a few years to go before I have to worry about time traveling.

7 year old Stu would likely not believe 30 year old Stu and call the police. Other than that, I can't comment without specifics.

What brought this on was an "I wish I could go back" moment of my own when I realized how much money I'd be making if I'd joined the military when I was 20. Now that I'm 31, if I want to earn a full pension, I have to join fulltime within the next 4 years, which means taking a pay cut. (It would take 3-5 years for my military pay to achieve parity with what I'm making now, after which it would skyrocket). Then I remembered what I was like at 20. I lacked the drive and focus necessary to get through BMQ, let alone a career. I'd have washed out, and not be eligible for re-entry when I'm ready on that score. So, because I spent my 20s playing instead of working, I still have that option available to me. I've also met a lot of friends and had a lot of good experiences that being serious and joining the Forces at 20 would have denied me. If I were to go back in time to when I was 20 and sign up, I'd likely return to the present to find myself in the exact same place I am now, but with fewer prospects and a higher blood pressure. No thanks.