How old would you want to be if you could manipulate time?

[MrPixel]

The rhetorical question was posed in the high school thread:

Who would be a teen again?

I find the extension of this question to be particularly relevant to my writing where I am projecting my own "desired" persona in the form of the MMC. In one story series the MMC is 50-ish, in another he is 40-ish. Why? Experience, wisdom and respected authority, while still attractive, vital and in good health.

I thought for years that the "ideal" age for me was ~32 - adult enough, successful career and the means to have fun, still had my boyish figure, wow'ed the girls (or so I thought), and wasn't limited to once a night. Ya' know, right about the time I wow'ed the right girl, who I married at 35 and we're still having fun today. But the fantasy me seems to revel in the maturity. He's a nicer guy, too.

 

[AchtungNight]

Freeze myself at 29. Then style myself as a Highlander immortal and study sword fighting, business, etc. After I find a gold mine I can invest.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Choosing the best age is a dynamic of competing priorities. I would choose 30-35 as my best for stamina, but 50 for the freedom that maturity and experience gave me.

But the rest of the world just won't recognize a 30-year-old as having the same level of maturity and experience. However, there's something to be said for going back in time with the experience to know that the 30-year-old might have more fun being the boy-toy of a sexy cougar!

 

[NoTalentHack]

The big problem with the "turn back time" question for me is that I have kids. Even if I did everything I could to meet their mom again, have the same number of kids at the same times, etc., I'd erase them from existence. I couldn't live with that.

Now, if I could magically wave that away, and I'd always get to keep my kids? Shit, I'd go back at least to college, maybe high school. Not because they were great; they sucked, especially high school. But now I know WHY they sucked: I had ADHD that went undiagnosed until a few years ago. Getting to correct that and go on a path that I "should" have gone on? Hell yes.

 

[SimonDoom]

If I understand the question right, this isn't a "do it all over" question but "if you had to stay at one age, what would it be"?

I'd go back to 40. I was at peak fitness at that age, running marathons and triathlons, hiking in the mountains, etc. Maybe just a slight trace of gray hair. I'd reached maturity, as whatever level of maturity I was ever going to reach. The advantage of being 40 forever, as opposed to being 25 forever, is that I wouldn't want my peer group to be 25-year-olds. Older people are wiser, more mature, and more interesting. I'd had all my kids by that age so I wouldn't have to contemplate the "doing without my kids" issue.

 

[AchtungNight]

Yeah, I don’t have kids at 44, so I can look back at 29 and be ok with that age. If I did have kids my opinion would probably change.

 

[Comshaw]

Mid 40's. I was in good physical shape. I had resolved the majority of those thorny issues of internal strife that had plagued me through my early life and was at peace with myself and the world. I had learned how to deal with my partner to enhance our relationship. I was still sexually very active with plenty of stamina and experience to please my partner. I had gathered enough knowledge to understand how ignorant of the world I was and how much more I had to learn to be even a little bit educated on it. All in all it was the best time of my life.

Comshaw

 

[nice90sguy]

This might sound phony, but I'm quite happy riding the train of time. I don't want it to stop 'till I get there.

 

[alohadave]

The big problem with the "turn back time" question for me is that I have kids. Even if I did everything I could to meet their mom again, have the same number of kids at the same times, etc., I'd erase them from existence. I couldn't live with that.

The movie "About Time" has this as a big plot point.

 

[LoquiSordidaAdMe]

If we're freezing time, 45 seems about right for me. Old enough, but not too old. If we're rewinding...

13 so I can completely redo high school and actually study to my potential instead of skating by on luck and being really good at tests. Would completely change my life, I think.

Oh God, the exact opposite! I'd do high school again and not waste nearly so much time studying.

 

[Btq97]

Mid 30s so I could not not make the same mistake

 

[SimonDoom]

If we're freezing time, 45 seems about right for me. Old enough, but not too old. If we're rewinding...

Oh God, the exact opposite! I'd do high school again and not waste nearly so much time studying.

If it was a "redo" issue, I'd go back to the first day of college, but probably not redo high school. I'm not sure I could put up with the drama and stupidity of high school students again. But there are many ways I could have done college better. For one thing, I'd write more. I regret that I spent my entire adult life until my early 50s doing no creative writing.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I wouldn't change anything. Without my birth father's abuse, I'd have never run away from home. If I never ran away from home, I'd have never lived on the street by any means necessary. If I never lived on the street, I'd have never met my adoptive father. I just can't envision a life without my Mum and Pops. I don't want to know what that life might have been.

I firmly believe this is the best me I can be.

 

[Carnevil9]

I believe the best age for a man is when his hair is 50% salt and 50% pepper.

I believe the best age for a woman (from this man's perspective) is when she has just enough lines in her face to make her interesting to look at and to demonstrate that she's not some giddy schoolgirl.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I have a fat enough face nowadays that the lines don't show at all.

I believe the best age for a man is when his hair is 50% salt and 50% pepper.

I believe the best age for a woman (from this man's perspective) is when she has just enough lines in her face to make her interesting to look at and to demonstrate that she's not some giddy schoolgirl.

 

[stickygirl]

The rhetorical question was posed in the high school thread:



I find the extension of this question to be particularly relevant to my writing where I am projecting my own "desired" persona in the form of the MMC. In one story series the MMC is 50-ish, in another he is 40-ish. Why? Experience, wisdom and respected authority, while still attractive, vital and in good health.

I thought for years that the "ideal" age for me was ~32 - adult enough, successful career and the means to have fun, still had my boyish figure, wow'ed the girls (or so I thought), and wasn't limited to once a night. Ya' know, right about the time I wow'ed the right girl, who I married at 35 and we're still having fun today. But the fantasy me seems to revel in the maturity. He's a nicer guy, too.

Phew! I still have that to look forward to

 

[gunhilltrain]

This might sound phony, but I'm quite happy riding the train of time. I don't want it to stop 'till I get there.

That's probably the most realistic view. In terms of health, before age sixty was pretty good (I only had bronchitis maybe every year or two). But, I'm sure it's gunhilltrain, May 29, 1955 - to ??/??/20??. At least I'm sure of the starting point.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fd/71/c2/fd71c20a181fb099d8d0a16293585ae8.jpg

 

[Dearelliot]

Like AlohaDave said..re family..same.
If that would somehow not change. I'm old so to be 21 again, wouldn't be bad.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I could've studied 10% more than the zero I did and been top of my class (I was in the top 10 with no effort) while taking advanced classes. I, instead, stuck to the almost remedial classes my two friends were in and shorted myself a lot of opportunity. As it was, I was helping a few of the kids in the advanced classes pass those classes while not being eligible for them myself because I didn't take the prerequisites.

I shot myself in the foot because of social anxiety and needing someone friendly nearby.

You wish to see a rather - skeptical, downbeat? - view of pubic education as it is practiced? Anyone wish to comment on this?

 

[EmilyMiller]

How old would you want to be if you could manipulate time?​

My knee-jerk reaction is back to early college. So that I could avoid doing something really fucked up, that I, pretty much immediately, massively regretted.

But…

I finished a book called The Midnight Library by English author Matt Haig a few weeks back (I do read things other than smut sometimes). Without giving away too much, it was about stuff like that. Going back and fixing X that you got wrong. Or taking path A, when you subsequently wished you had taken path B. But it’s also about what happens then.

It’s a clever book and it’s basic message is that spending time on regret is pointless. You have no idea what would have happened if you took the path B you day dream about, or if you had not made the massive mistake that you dwell on, maybe horrible things, maybe worse than what actually happened. Better instead to focus on what next, rather than what if?

It resonated with me. So I think I’ll say that I wouldn’t use the machine. I’d just stick to this version of me. I’m happy with who I am now, even if the ride has been pretty bumpy at times.

BTW there is a bit of hand wavy Everett Interpretation stuff, which is a bit distracting to anyone who knows some basic QM. Otherwise, it’s an excellent book.

Em

 

[Seadog777]

Since this is simply a fantasy scenario.....can I keep all the knowledge that I currently have, when going back???

 

[gunhilltrain]

Since this is simply a fantasy scenario.....can I keep all the knowledge that I currently have, when going back???

Maybe, but would you know how to utilize it properly? I have some doubts that I would know what to do with that knowledge.

 

[Bdm20]

40. That’s the age I was she I was divorced and then discovered that women my age really did like to have sex.

 

[Seadog777]

Maybe, but would you know how to utilize it properly? I have some doubts that I would know what to do with that knowledge.

Depends on what you define as "properly".
It's different for everyone.

 

[SimonDoom]

You wish to see a rather - skeptical, downbeat? - view of pubic education as it is practiced? Anyone wish to comment on this?

I'm skeptical. My sense is that the creator of the video cherry-picked sources to reach a pre-determined conclusion about the system.

My own experience, having attended both public and private schools in the USA, and having taught a little, and having watched my kids go through the school system, is mixed. It's hard for any large system to inculcate independent thinking and creativity, but I wouldn't describe the school systems I've observed as factories of conformity, either.