You're sixteen again...

sphenisc said:
But how do you do it? You're sixteen you've got school tomorrow.
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Only true if he was sixteen at the time of Columbine. If he was sixteen several years before, then he has those several years to make any necessary plans.

Or is your question what if we woke up on the eve of some majour event we would wish to prevent, but were 16 years old, with all that entails?
 
Excruciatingly, I would have to do my best to live the same, exact life I had then until my second child was conceived. So....four years, including marrying the same abusive prick. Then, since I'm going to change things and my "memories" would go away, I'd write myself a letter about how and where to find my current husband, and how to "get" him. (Yes, he'd be "gettable" then, and I know how.) By that point, I'd also be able to "ground-floor" myself a nice package of Microsoft stock. :)

And then I would do just that, and follow it up with college.
 
Marquis de Carabas said:
Only true if he was sixteen at the time of Columbine. If he was sixteen several years before, then he has those several years to make any necessary plans.

Or is your question what if we woke up on the eve of some majour event we would wish to prevent, but were 16 years old, with all that entails?
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No, you have all that time, if you were sixteen several years beforehand.

What I'd like is for you to imagine your sixteen again. You know that some [real] bad event (e.g. 9/11, tsunami, Columbine) is going to happen in n years time. Pick your event and work out the time, then describe what you're going to do in the time you've got, to stop it happening.
 
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Okay, seriously, in re: Columbine?

I was an adult when it happened, so if I went back to 16, I'd make plans to be in Colorado (where I do live, and did during Columbine) and be those boys' mentor. I might even arrange to teach at that school.

Something in me wonders if those deaths served any sort of purpose which I simply cannot see, and so to change them might make things worse, somehow, for someone else. But if I were one of those parents, that thought would never have occured to me.
 
For Columbine, I would have helped some of the students smuggle in their own guns, because I believe in fairness.
 
Meadmaker said:
I suppose I might go to Columbine High School and say, "Stop them, they have guns."
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Or maybe a better idea is to talk to everyone who was terrorizing those kids and convince them that it is in their interest to be civil and respectful when dealing with people that are capable of fighting back.
 
First thing I'd probably do is actually do my damn homework, that way I could actually have a good GPA and get into a decent college. Would also work out so as not to have the gut I have now.
I'd still have to find and marry my wife so I can have my 3 beautiful children and I would make sure the doctors watched Enan more carefully when he was in the hospital so that he may not die this time around. Tell the docs to watch his medications so that his heart wouldn't be overwhelmed and stop. Would love to prevent that pain. Plus win that 300million dollar lotto they had... that would totally rock.
 
Well, I would know which girls in high school actually liked me. Looking back, the clues from some were obvious. I'd know how to "play the game," and could probably have dated some rather beautiful girls (the ones I'm thinking of were also quite intelligent, but they chose to hide that). I'd be more aware of what things I did that were pompous, and tone those down. I'd try to take the physics PhD qualifying exam a year earlier, or a year later so I wouldn't get in the two years when they failed 80% of the people taking it.

But I'd make damn sure that I'd still get to meet my current wife, cause I wouldn't trade her for anything.
 
First I would fix a few personal events:

1) Ask her out, she would have said yes (as I found out years later).

2) Dad please mortgage the house and sell every tangible asset and buy Apple stock. Don't worry, I'll let you know when to sell and then buy this other company called Microsoft.

3) Don't jump off that wall and screw up my back forever.

4) Go to the school I wanted to not the one dad wanted.

Now on to bigger things:

1) Mr. Carter, I think it would be a great idea to evacuate the embassy in Teheran. Trust me.

2) It really is too cold to fly the shuttle today. Plus you really ought to look into those o-rings. And one more thing, the tank insulation has a tendency to come off in chunks, better look into that as well.

3) Maybe you guys ought to test the testing device before you measure the mirror for the Hubble?

4) Mr. Bin Laden, have a drink, plus you really need to get laid.

5) Let's get rid of these butterfly ballots and use something easy to understand and fill out.

6) John-John, it's not a good idea to fly in this weather, let's drive.

7) I think we should shut down the Chernobyl reactor for repairs, maintenance and review of safety procedures.

8) Mr. Gates, Microsoft Bob? Don't bother.

9) Mark David Chapman, put down that weapon!

10) Mr. Clinton, just admit you got a hummer and move on. BTW, the most powerful man in the world should do better than that.
 
Ryokan said:
This time around, you could slap the guy silly.
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I would, but if I did so before he did anything wrong, I'd be reinforcing the stereotype of women who treat men like crap for imagined emotional damage.

Unless...Hey, all you guys who wonder why women you date seem to inexplicably turn cold when you've done nothing wrong -- The truth is, they're from a future where you've already screwed up. ;)
 
Forty-Two said:
Unless...Hey, all you guys who wonder why women you date seem to inexplicably turn cold when you've done nothing wrong -- The truth is, they're from a future where you've already screwed up. ;)
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That... explains far too much about my life. :eek:
 
sphenisc said:
Scenario:
You wake up tomorrow morning and discover that you've travelled back in time to when you were sixteen. You're in your sixteen-year old body, but you have all your current knowledge and memories, i.e. can 'remember' things that will happen in the future. Your family and friends etc. see you as a teenager and treat you accordingly.
Okay, you feel it's your duty to try and prevent some of the events that you know are otherwise going to take place over the next umpteen years. Which events? What's your best course of action? How do you convince people?

Okay, it's all yours...

[To forestall derails, this not about time travel paradoxes, or about whether you have a duty. You have the ability to change the course of events, and you feel the need to do so.]
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I would be happy to be 16 again and just not be quite as completely stupid as I was then.
 
I think the best way to approach it would be to establish your accuracy by predicting some more mundane events, so that people would listen to you when you start making calls on things like 9/11, Columbine, etc.

Of course, then people would take you for a psychic, which could prove interesting...


BTW, before you send me back in time, can you give me a few days to memorize my sports almanac? I just want to make a few calls to my bookie when I get back there or, since I'll be sixteen, maybe I'll get my dad to call.
 
You could always attend the time traveler's convention.
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I attend it anually, its in a different year every time.


Hmm... well... crap... Wish I had spent more time paying attention to current events this time so I could do something about it next time.

I'd probably go for my certs earlier, never go to Texas Tech (which means never knowing the greatness of One Guy from Italy's Pizza, but thats a sacrifice I'm willing to make), Figure out a way to profit from it, then get to work.

I would do my darned tootinest to warn the .gov about 9/11 but they already were warned, I'm not sure some crackpot phone call is going to spur them to action about it. I'd probabaly also call in an annonymous bomb threat some time around 6 AM into the world trade center in the hopes that they evacuate in time to avoid a firey death.

Considering I don't remember the names or faces involved in columbine I doubt I could do anything to avoid that tragedy. Thats a shame too.

And as a lot of others have said, I'd ask 'her' out knowing now that she was interested and I was stupid.

Not to mention being a much better role player... Though I would be seriously hankering for some of the really good video games to come out again.
 
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