Time travel - what would you do?

[jammies]

If you stole the Chronovisor from the Vatican and used it to build a time machine, what would you do with it? Assume the machine could go forwards or backward in time with equal facility, and that it was self-powered so you couldn't strand yourself somewhen with no way to return - you are a free agent in time, no longer bound by causality, physics, or the need to wear binding, confining pants!

For me, I'd go back 20 years and give my younger self portable wealth (like gold coins or Michael Jackson commemorative dinner plates) and a printout of the best-performing stocks of 1989-2009. Then I'd give him a list of all the friends I've had that have made terrible life decisions - like suicide, addiction and getting married to high society hosebags - and tell that "earlier me" to do whatever he can to stop the madness.

[CaptainCrunch]

I'd go back in time and mug your younger self Jammies. Then I'd go back and warn my younger self not to date certain woman.

Then I'd go back even further and take a tumble in the hay with Hitler's girlfriend and then brag to all of his general friends that I totally hit that.

"Jerks with time machines"

[TurnedTheCorner]

Create so many crappy alternate futures and pasts that a counsel of Kangs would keep trying to wipe me out.

[starseed]

I would obviously not use it. Temporal prime directive.

[TheyCallMeBruce]

I'd go back to the jurassic period and shoot dinosaurs, step on plants, and kill bugs. Then return to the horrific future.

[Ice]

I'd go back 12 months before my dad was diagnosed with cancer. I would make him go to the doctor so it was detected sooner and he'd still be alive.

[dissentowner]

love the tags. I would go back to when I met my ex wife and tell her I was not interested.

[Wookie]

Whoa...

Tough question. I'm not sure there's much I'd do. Right now things aren't so bad. I'd be more worried that I'd make things worse than better. Things can be a lot worse than I can see them being a lot better. I think the odds for damage could be a lot worse. I guess that's thinking into the past.

Into the future? I'd go and see myself 10/20/30 years. Try to determine if there were situations/decision I could be better prepared for. Then probably print off some charts of stocks, obviously if all else fails money could buy me pretend happiness!

[CaptainCrunch]

I'd go back to the day that the primordial goop fluked into the first life form and pee in the water.

[The Fonz]

I'd go back to when I was 18 and give myself lotto numbers.

[Superflyer]

Go back and pick up Napoleon, Billy the Kid, Socrates, Freud, Genghis Khan, Joan of Arc, Lincoln and Beethoven so I could present a most excellent history report and my best bud will not have to go to a heinous military academy.

[Dion]

[4X4]

I've always wanted to travel back in time with a cigarette lighter and trip out cavemen.

If I had enough plutonium after doing that, I'd go buy the almanac and pretty much do what Biff did.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

I'd go back to when I was 18 and give myself lotto numbers.

I think the effects of time travel would change lotto numbers, which is why I went with stocks. Pseudo-random events like lottery numbers picks would be extremely sensitive to "noise" introduced by disturbances in the time flow. Can you imagine how annoyed your past self would be if he bought $1000 worth of tickets and lost?

Originally Posted by dissentowner

love the tags. I would go back to when I met my ex wife and tell her I was not interested.

I wonder how effective telling yourself *not* to do things would be, though? If it were me - and granted, you might be a lot less pigheaded than I am - I would rationalize in the vein of "well, now that I know she's a total psycho, I have the upper hand as she doesn't know that I know she's a psycho."

[T@T]

1st thing I'd do is snipe Hitler before 1939...then I'd get rich as hell

[peter12]

I'd probably learn ancient Greek, go back to the agora and try to find Socrates.

[Redliner]

What if you went back to the moment of your conception and disturbed your parents, thus preventing them from finishing " the deed". Could you theoretically prevent yourself from being born?

[BuzzardsWife]

id go back to high school with bill gates and seduce him and get him to marry me

[sclitheroe]

The chronovisor only lets you see stuff, not interact with it. And its only black and white, so you have to keep these two facts in mind

So it's more a question of, if you could watch any event, what would it be. Keep in mind that the chronovisor can also go forwards, not just backwards, which is what everyone seems intent on so far in the thread.

[4X4]

Just in case anyone wanted to know what Space Moose would do: