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 I’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 question… what can I do in five seconds? Based on the rules above, I can’t go back twenty years and give myself a book of sports results Biff Tannen style. I also don’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 here’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 let’s say February 26th, 2009. I do this late a night when my loner self is sure to be home. I take with me a newpaper from February 28th, 2009.
I appear in front of myself, instantly say, “Shut up and listen,â€, and I hold up the newspaper. Two seconds have passed already. Then I say, “Buy as much stock in company X as you possibly can, and you will be rich in five years.†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.
That’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.
I might tell myself to buy Bitcoins whilst they are still pennies and sell when they hit the peak. That's probably a bigger gain than any stock.
But it would be cool to go back to some historical event/period and take a picture. I was thinking about seeing the dinosaurs, but there might be none around. I'd like to see the pyramids being built to answer that question.
Good call with the Bitcoins (and the pyramids).
I would go to Calvary Hill and say "Thank you" to Christ at his Crusifixtion. Nothing that would change the world but knowing what I know now, would be the best use of 5 seconds I could think of.
I would go to Calvary Hill and say "Thank you" to Christ at his Crusifixtion. Nothing that would change the world but knowing what I know now, would be the best use of 5 seconds I could think of.
I have lost money before. I would go back and tell myself not to borrow money to a certain person. To be honest in my crazy mind changing anything can fuck up everything. What if my borrowing money to someone saved someone else that really needed it? Uggg. Exhausting. Think I will stay away from time travel.
I would go back to see exactly where Captain Kidd buried his treasure…That way I can come back and launch a full expedition to find it making me a Discovery Channel Super Star….LOL
I would/did tell hitler that the key to winning WWII was to fight a two front war. As you know from this timeline's history books, it was the reason why hitler lost the war. You can thank me from saving all of you from the original time line. Plus now we have pet rocks.
That answer wins my vote.
I would tell my college self to have more sex. Not like I was turning down women, but I should have asked more girls. The law of large numbers would've kicked in.
I'd go to the empty tomb on Easter morning just as John was peeking inside. I'd give him a swift (5 seconds, to be exact) kick into the tomb. I figure the guy who won the race should get the bragging rights.
I'd probably try to give myself the winning powerball numbers. Or the stock idea isn't bad either. Also, now that I hear it, telling younger me important things about having more sex would be a great idea too. I'd hope that if younger me got sex advice from fat, balding, current me, he'd realize the true importance of that advice and make every opportunity count. 🙂