Lets say that you could adjust the time machine to do either one.
You could jump time tracks or stay on the same one and go back and forth in this exact time line.

a true "Jumper"? like in the movie?

I would go back to the time and place where the time machine was invented and destroy all existence of it. Those things are dangerous. I have seen Back To The Future 1, 2 & 3 so i know what i am talking about.

But what if only you had access to it?

Which movie? I've seen many.

Jumper....


http://www.jumperthemovie.com/

Then i wouldnt go anywhere, i would just go get my hammer!

I think mankind would be much better off if it wasnt there for me to go messing with things. Even if i was careful and tried not to alter anything, i am sure that i would.

But then it could make me so rich..

I understand what you are saying. But that's totally not what I mean. I'm not looking to go back and "unring" any bells.

I'm not looking to go back and 'correct mistakes'.

I have no "regrets".

All of the things that I failed to do in this life were not "mistakes". I simply failed to do them because I was unware of the potential and opportunities that were actaully open to me.

In fact, my very own mother was a very large part of this. I don't blame her on iota. It wasn't her fault in the slightest. She was suffering from the very same thing that inflicted me. Poor mentorship!

My mother lived through the depression. She was raised in a culture and family that was very oppressed by religion in many ways. Of course, she didn't view things that way. She felt that being extremely meek and humble was the 'rigtheous' thing to do. She was taught that to seek any kind of success in life was actually a bad thing. This was not her fault.

That view of life rubbed off on me. After all, she was my mentor. My father died when I was 9. But it wouldn't have made much difference anyway because I don't think he would have been a very good mentor either.

My mother had been totally brainwashed by Christianity that her reward would be in the next life. Not in this one. The purpose in this life is to 'lay low' and don't pursue your dreams. That was how she was brought up, and so that attitude rubbed off on me. In fact, everytime I would get excited about doing anything to better myself she would say, "Just be happy with what you have".

It was crazy because I had some jobs as a teenager where my bosses were truly taking advantage of me and when I explained that to her she was like we're supposed to just suck everything up and be 'humble'. Of course I didn't. I quit.

But still, she wasn't even supportive of getting out from under oppressive situations, much less actually trying to get ahead in life.

And it wasn't just her, the whole extended family had that attitude. It was almost frowned upon if you even thought about doing anything more than just working at a mundane job and surrendering to the 'fact' that you'll never be anything more than just a 'common peasant'.

I think the fact that these people lived through the depression had a lot to do with their attitude. Plus their religious faith that they would all be rewarded in the "next life". The whole idea of this life is to "refrain from living it", other than the very simple pleasures.

So I'd kind of like to go back there with a whole different view of life and start all over again. Not to "unring" any bells, but just to see what it could actually be like to live a life where the object is to LIVE it instead of just standing around waiting to die so you can go to Disney Heaven.

I sure as hell hope that there is some kind of Heaven for my mother, and all her brothers and sisters, because if there isn't then they just wasted their entire lifes just sitting around waiting to die.

I wonder what their heaven would be like. Standing around singing hymns to some egotistical jealous God that frowns upon them doing anything other than being completely submissive and obedient to his every whim?

Seems like a pretty sad situation if you ask me.

All because of a religion that actually destroys the human spirit by teaching people that earthly 'treasures' are to be avoided.

Besides, you suggest that going back and redoing things could end up hurting other people. But what if the life I had actually lived hurt more people? I wouldn't even consider that one. Surely going back and trying be the best you can be can't hurt. If being the best you can be hurts other people then life is more screwed up than I thought.

I guess it doesn't really matter in the end. If when life is over we just die then it was all for naught anyway. And if there's an afterlife, then maybe there will be some kind of second chance to actually enjoy the experience of life.

So it truly doesn't matter either way I guess.

But still, just to answer the hypothetical question of the thread, if I could go back in time, I'd just want to live my own life over again. I have no interest in living anyone else's, nor is there any place in history that I'd necessarily want to visit. What would I do there anyway? I wouldn't even fit into the time period.

Maybe id go back and meet Jesus, and see what the fellow was really about.

If I could go back and live my life over again, retaining the memory of this life, I would never have gotten married. I would learn about computers earlier than I did, and made a fortune on the Internet.

Heck I wouldn't mind going back to shake Adams hand and give Eve a big hug.

Kinda glad they chose the long road for all of us.

Life is great.

To the Future And Beyond!!!

You may be a Cylon

As I believe we are a species with amnesia, I would use the machine to become a Observer, documenting the history of this planet, the important things that happen to bring us to the point we are now and make sure that it stays available for humanity.

Granted, that would completely change the way this planet operates, but It's a damned shame that we've lost so much memory of the road our ancestors have traveled.

That would be a great project! I would offer to help!

Unfortunately, the time machine only transports our physical body into the past -- as an Observer -- it does not let us relive our past lives. You might influence "your younger self" not to get married... But that will set off a chain of events that will prevent you from ever getting back to your present self!

As far as making a fortune, you'd be better off learning about the Stock Market:
most of the fortunes (and I'm talking about FORTUNES) have been made before the market collapse...

BTW, is this a hypothetical question, or you happen to know where the macine is stashed -- and jsut collecting a few ideas about what to do with it If it's the latter, I urge you to get in touch with me -- I have a bunch of ideas I've been saving just for such an occasion!!!

Well this time machine can do both. There is a glitch however. If you go back in time into your own life to change something, and pop into your body of the past, you may very likely loose your memory of the future you just came from because at the point you arrive, that point becomes NOW and your future becomes unwritten at the point of NOW.

You have to really hold on to one single thought about what you want to change as you make the trip and it will be there when you wake up, but then your memory will fade as NOW sets into place in your reality matrix. From there, you are on your own and you have to play it by instinct.

(I know this because I did it once......that I remember.) If I did it more than once I don't remember it. I have some vague pictures of what my other realities were like and this one, so far, is an improvement.

I'm not sure I want to try it again.

I have also thought of going back to try to convince my younger self of something but I don't think she would listen.

That sure looks like a Reincarnation!
An interesting concept -- a Reincarnation Time Machine!!!

I would also like to go to the time of Jesus.

I hated that movie!