The Five-Second Time Machine

You can travel back in time, but you are only allowed to stay in the past for five seconds. Where would you go and what would you do?

Put your answer to this week’s weird question in the comments below. Hit the like button for other comments that you enjoy. At the end of March, the commenter with the most likes wins a book!

Click here for more details on how this whole thing works.

AFAQ (Anticipated Frequently Asked Questions):

Can I change the past? Like kill Hitler or cause my parents not to meet, etc? Yes. But you only have five seconds, so good luck with that! Oh, and read this article before you decide to kill Hitler.

Can I bring something from the past back to the future with me?Â No, sorry. You can only take back what you brought with you.

Can I leave something from the present in the past? Nope. Whatever you bring with you to the past goes back with you to the present.

Read PT’s answer below, or go straight to the comments to enter your own.

The PT Answer	Show
Okay, so the way I see it, you have three choices here. 1) Do something for your own personal gain. The big problem here is that you only have five seconds. 2) Do something that benefits the world. The big problem here is knowing what will really benefit the world. See the link above to article about killing Hitler. 3) Try to see something awesome. The big problem here is that you have such a narrow margin for error. You are only there for five seconds, so you’d have to get there in exactly the correct five seconds. It would really suck to narrowly miss the signing of the Declaration of Independence or something. I think I have to go with number one. On the surface, it seems selfish. But Iâ€™ve read enough sci-fi to know I will mess up the world if I try for number two. And I feel like I could easily miss any event I was trying to see if I went for number three. Number one it is. Now, the big questionâ€¦ what can I do in five seconds? Based on the rules above, I canâ€™t go back twenty years and give myself a book of sports results Biff Tannen style. I also donâ€™t have enough time to go back and tell my past self to do something complicated like befriending Mark Zuckerberg and co-founding Facebook with him or something. So hereâ€™s what I do. First I research the single stock price that has risen the most in the past five years. Then I travel back in time to letâ€™s say February 26^th, 2009. I do this late a night when my loner self is sure to be home. I take with me a newpaper from February 28^th, 2009. I appear in front of myself, instantly say, â€œShut up and listen,â€, and I hold up the newspaper. Two seconds have passed already. Then I say, â€œBuy as much stock in company X as you possibly can, and you will be rich in five years.â€ At that point, my time is up and I disappear. My past self may be confused and skeptical at first. But two days later, he will see the same newspaper I showed him. He will invest. Thatâ€™s the best I can do. How about you? Leave your answer in the comments below, and hit the like button on the comments you enjoy.

The PT Answer

Show

Okay, so the way I see it, you have three choices here.

1) Do something for your own personal gain. The big problem here is that you only have five seconds.

2) Do something that benefits the world. The big problem here is knowing what will really benefit the world. See the link above to article about killing Hitler.

3) Try to see something awesome. The big problem here is that you have such a narrow margin for error. You are only there for five seconds, so you’d have to get there in exactly the correct five seconds. It would really suck to narrowly miss the signing of the Declaration of Independence or something.

I think I have to go with number one. On the surface, it seems selfish. But Iâ€™ve read enough sci-fi to know I will mess up the world if I try for number two. And I feel like I could easily miss any event I was trying to see if I went for number three. Number one it is.

Now, the big questionâ€¦ what can I do in five seconds? Based on the rules above, I canâ€™t go back twenty years and give myself a book of sports results Biff Tannen style. I also donâ€™t have enough time to go back and tell my past self to do something complicated like befriending Mark Zuckerberg and co-founding Facebook with him or something.

So hereâ€™s what I do. First I research the single stock price that has risen the most in the past five years. Then I travel back in time to letâ€™s say February 26^th, 2009. I do this late a night when my loner self is sure to be home. I take with me a newpaper from February 28^th, 2009.

I appear in front of myself, instantly say, â€œShut up and listen,â€, and I hold up the newspaper. Two seconds have passed already. Then I say, â€œBuy as much stock in company X as you possibly can, and you will be rich in five years.â€ At that point, my time is up and I disappear.

My past self may be confused and skeptical at first. But two days later, he will see the same newspaper I showed him. He will invest.

Thatâ€™s the best I can do. How about you? Leave your answer in the comments below, and hit the like button on the comments you enjoy.