I think the fantasy of going back hides the reality that new possibilities are always stretched out ahead. I have lived many lives. New careers, new cities, new countries, new friends, new families. By my count I’ve lived 14 iterations of life and counting. New lives are always beckoning. After awhile you get good a recognizing the ones worth stepping into.
It's true that life can always evolve and change, new opportunities open, responsibilities appear, etc.
But in other ways it's not true. For example, there's no way to be 19 again and be in college, date the person who, looking back was clearly into you. Study the thing you really wanted to study (not what you thought would be best for your career), etc.
I think the fantasy of going back isn't about being unable to change, it's about "getting it right this time"
Central to the plot of Back to the Future Part II (for some reason not referenced in the New Yorker) is the sports almanac with information about future results. Any fantasy of going back and getting it right hinges on this kind of transfer of knowledge back into the earlier situation. The problem is then whether the information is subtle enough to be interesting, that is, to prevent the fantasy from devolving into a mere cheat to get rich by knowing things in advance. In practice the time traveller would at least attempt to invest early in bitcoin, learn the skills that will be in demand, befriend the awkward person who is going to be cool and successful later, and other cheaty stuff.
I suppose a better fantasy would involve going back into a similar but rearranged situation, with all the variables and trends changed to prevent predictions.
It is an interesting thought experience, what would you do differently if you have your current wisdom, but not your current knowledge. This isn't a clean distinction, because people see different boundaries on what is wisdom and what is knowledge, but I think it is an interesting thought experience all the same.
If I had my current wisdom but not my current knowledge, there are still some big differences in what I would do. Not on the level of bitcoin as that seems fully on the knowledge side, but things like getting healthy habits started earlier, waste less time on certain entertainment pursuits, and take certain opportunities much more serious even when they didn't align with my expectations.
Sometimes I wonder what I would do different today if I had the wisdom of me from 20 years in the future.
Plus the question is also whether things would actually be interesting, even if you could port over all of your knowledge and wisdom.
Of course with sports betting, investing etc. most people would decide to get rich to make sure they don't struggle materialistically. But after that?
I think a lot of things would be extremely boring because you already know it's going to work.
It's adjacent to the idea that if you could live forever, nothing would have meaning because you can live in any city for a thousand years, marry anyone for a thousand years and do any hobby, job etc. for a thousand years. And if you can choose any option and have zero opportunity cost for it, then does any option really matter?
A long quote, but one I love:
> “Let's suppose that you were able every night to dream any dream that you wanted to dream. And that you could, for example, have the power within one night to dream 75 years of time. Or any length of time you wanted to have. And you would, naturally as you began on this adventure of dreams, you would fulfill all your wishes. You would have every kind of pleasure you could conceive. And after several nights of 75 years of total pleasure each, you would say "Well, that was pretty great." But now let's have a surprise. Let's have a dream which isn't under control. Where something is gonna happen to me that I don't know what it's going to be. And you would dig that and come out of that and say "Wow, that was a close shave, wasn't it?" And then you would get more and more adventurous, and you would make further and further out gambles as to what you would dream. And finally, you would dream ... where you are now. You would dream the dream of living the life that you are actually living today.”
This is about problem situations being one's motivation, but could be (incorrectly) used to argue that it's necessary to keep one's problem situation static, since solving anything removes the challenge. Any bad thing at all could be advocated for using a similar line of argument: in a life without endless meetings, for instance, does your leisure time really matter?
In a limited way those arguments are all true: solve something and something else changes in its significance. The question of what to do next, "but after that?" can be bewildering. However, there are all kinds of obstacles that we are ready and interested to have removed. Personally I have no interest in the challenge of being routinely bored to tears, or the challenge of being doomed to die. I'm totally ready for my next thousand years of non-urgency.
Similar to the other top-level reply, without perfect foreknowledge, there is no way to know you're "getting it right this time." I dated the person into me and studied what I loved. We got divorced and I ultimately ended up with a person I didn't meet until I was 30. I had to go back to school and change careers later in life because the job prospects sucked for what I loved.
Given I ultimately ended up in a good place anyway, I don't even regret anything. The only thing you can't come back from is death. As long as none of your bad decisions kill you, I don't see much to fret about.
> I think the fantasy of going back hides the reality that new possibilities are always stretched out ahead.
It also hides the incapability of many to do what they should to succeed. Most people already know what they should do different to succeed without going back in time but still they do not have the will power to do it and they probably would still not have if they had a time machine.
Ironically, I think characterizing life as a question of success-or-not was THE major barrier in my life to finding the contentment I was actually looking for.
What do you mean by succeed? I find learning to not care so much about succeeding - at least in the usual criteria imposed by the society - is maybe the best thing I've learned since touch typing.
Having an objective and achieving it. Not an overall expectation of winning in life but saying "I want to go to the gym 5x a week for 1 year" or "I want to be able to run 10km" and achieve it.
