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What If You Could Do It All Over?

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Re: What If You Could Do It All Over?

#361

Post by Bakary »

missedthecue wrote: post #295
Bakary wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the risk of sounding vulgar, moving your hips at a slightly different rhythm or conceiving half a second later or any number of completely minute changes to the timeline would also have resulted in a completely different child. This reminds of the moment when Emil Cioran's mother mentioned how she should have aborted him outright. This led him to the insight that his life was largely an accident contingent on smal…

"any number of completely minute changes to the timeline would also have resulted in a completely different child." Can you prove this?

It's the inevitable logical conclusion based on how human reproduction works. The chance of getting the same spermatozoon in there, the same random genetic variations, the same developmental conditions and so forth is infinitesimally small if the same exact conditions are not met.

Even if we ignore all of that, there's still the swirling chaos of causality to contend with, forever altered by that small change...

Re: What If You Could Do It All Over?

#362

Post by Dirlewanger »

missedthecue wrote: post #295
Bakary wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the risk of sounding vulgar, moving your hips at a slightly different rhythm or conceiving half a second later or any number of completely minute changes to the timeline would also have resulted in a completely different child. This reminds of the moment when Emil Cioran's mother mentioned how she should have aborted him outright. This led him to the insight that his life was largely an accident contingent on smal…

"any number of completely minute changes to the timeline would also have resulted in a completely different child." Can you prove this?

Chaos theory

Re: What If You Could Do It All Over?

#363

Post by dorchadas »

jjklmn wrote: post #306
dorchadas wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who feels like I've wasted most of my 20s since graduating university (turning 29 in 2021) with a job(s) I don't see any future in, man this hits hard. My lack of risk taking, and an unfortunately timed death in the family in 2016, really are me sitting there watching these figs dry up. Damn.

Similar situation here. If you don't mind me asking, what did you study and what's your current job?

Studied physics with the intent to go to grad school. Realized after graduating I didn't want to do it because of the perverse incentives in academia (I'd still love to do research and get a PhD eventually if I can fund it myself and not be reliant on academia). Worked as a substitute teacher for a year, then in a mortgage bank for a year. Left that to accept a Fulbright grant, which I eventually had to decline because of the death in the family at the worst possible timing.

Since then I've been a teacher. Looking at pivoting into finance in Ireland/Europe (with a masters in Quantitative Finance) next year; was planning on doing it this year but, y'know, corona kinda destroyed finance jobs over there and I'd need a work visa (thankfully it's a high need field so it's a bit easier)...

Re: What If You Could Do It All Over?

#364

Post by jffhn »

jes wrote: post #252

I'm 61, male, and started in software back in the mid 70s. First computer that I could physically touch was a PDP-8/M with an ASR-33 teletype with paper tape reader and punch. In my mid-50s, I started listening to Alan Watts and learning about ancient Indian religions / philosophies. My world-view today is some kind of cross between Zen Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta. I'm a free will skeptic, as well. While I'm not par…

>we can't know how any decision we make is going to turn out.

Reminds me of: "The man quite often knows what he does, he never knows what does what he does." (P. Valery)

>I also don't know who "I" am.

"Only the shallow know themselves." (O. Wilde)

Re: What If You Could Do It All Over?

#365

Post by layer8 »

XorNot wrote: post #304
A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure why, but the quote triggered a memory of 8bit theater in my head: "Life is funny. You start out with limitless potential, but time is always shaving away the possibilities. Every choice you make is the choice not to do a thousand other things. What's important, when all is said and done, is that you made a difference. Your choices, and everything undone, have to mean something. Otherwise, what is the po…

Quotes like this have gotten a lot less comforting as I've aged. It all ends in darkness and black holes, and in the end not even those. The best I've got these days is that I suspect none of it means anything. But I hope I'm wrong.

“Meaning” is just a construct in your head. What we perceive as “meaningful” is shaped by our biological and cultural evolution, a byproduct if you will. “Meaningfulness” is not something that exists out there, outside of our minds. When we see meaning, that’s a perspective we project on things, or a relation we have with things. It’s not a property of the things by themselves. We do crave meaning, and thus we have to come up with meaning for ourselves. Maybe it helps to realize that meaning is just something we create in our minds.

Re: What If You Could Do It All Over?

#366

Post by cushychicken »

One of the wisest things my dad has ever said to me:

"Don't worry so much about whether you made the right decision. Instead, focus your energy on making the decision you made, right."

It's fruitless to think about making a different choice in hindsight.

It's really empowering to assign yourself the agency to make the best choices you can from the options ahead of you.

Re: What If You Could Do It All Over?

#367

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

learnstats2 wrote: post #324
JustARandomGuy wrote: post #73

I used to think like this, but then I saw the Star Trek TNG episode Tapestry [1] where the premise is much like this question. Picard accepts Q's offer to relive his life, and it turns out that even the negative things in Picard's life help to shape the good qualities he has. I consider my life to be much the similar: even the negative things or the things I wish would change have helped shape qualities that I would…

Whilst I enjoyed that episode, it was fictional. Did Picard really need to be stabbed in the heart, just to learn his lesson? (And, his 'unremarkable career' seemed to be a bigger criticism of Starfleet/the Federation than we normally see - what's wrong with an ordinary life?) I would be happy to remove the trauma that I experienced in my past. I'd take the risk of being a different person - with different good quali…

This is Q we're talking about. He's not the kind of character who would sit down with Picard over a cup of tea and talk him through why changing his past would change who he is. Humbling Picard by showing him the folly of his wish to change the past, while he lay on his deathbed, by making him choose to get stabbed through the heart is definitely more his style.

Also, I don't believe they portrayed Picard's "unremarkable" career negatively, except in Picard's own view (and Q's I guess).

Re: What If You Could Do It All Over?

#368

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

tailspin2019 wrote: post #323
darren_ wrote: post #241

“Did you ever wonder what life would have been like if you’d said yes?” said Ridcully. “No.” “I suppose we’d have settled down, had children, grandchildren, that sort of thing…” “What about the fire?” she said. “What fire?” “Swept through our house just after we were married. Killed us both.” “What fire? I don’t know anything about any fire!” Granny turned around. “Of course not! It didn’t happen. But the point is, i…

Had to look this up. Looks like it's from Terry Pratchett's "Lords and Ladies"?

Having read every Discworld novel and without looking it up, that sounds right. As I recall Mistress Weatherwax had been seeing alternate timelines as part of a side effect of the Elve's world intersecting the reality of the Disc, and she's married to Ridcully in some of them, as they apparently were involved in their youth. She does later note to Ridcully that, from what she saw, their alternate selves that had married appeared happy.

In my personal opinion it is one of the worst Discworld books, which still makes it pretty good mind you.

Re: What If You Could Do It All Over?

#369

Post by [deleted] »

selestify wrote: post #296
shortandsweet wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you assume it's not your fault?

Depends on your perspective, obviously. But personally I'd say we're much more a victim of circumstance than the other way around, and all success or failure is only very partially dependent on the choices we made.

[deleted]

Re: What If You Could Do It All Over?

#370

Post by nullc »

I don't often experience anxiety.

One day I came across a silly writing prompt thread on Reddit along the lines "What would your mind was transported back to you as a 14-year old?"... Presumably anticipating lots of comments about buying Apple shares and Bitcoin.

I was struck by the sheer impossibility of retracing my footsteps to get back all the things I've liked about my life, the loss of loved ones who only exist as they are as a result of interactions with me I could never reproduce.

It's just a silly hypothetical, but I find it crushing to even describe it in a comment. The anxiety it produces is physical, distracting, disorienting, and reliably predictable. It made the article even difficulty to skim. Like the author writes, I find it easier to imagine different lives for other people.

I like what I've lived very much and the people in my life.

What If You Could Do It All Over? -- I say: Thanks but no thanks. ... and please don't mention the idea again!

:)

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