I’m reminded of the Star Trek TNG episode “Tapestry” - where Picard gets to make different choices from his youth again. His life did not turn out the same because he did not make the errors of his youth, which he learned from and that helped form his personality.
Not quite the same but interesting...
'veritas non verba magistri'
Posts: 4026 | Location: The Prairie | Registered: April 28, 2007
I would certainly like a do-over knowing what I know now. I believe that I could avoid some of the stupid mistakes that I have made in life. But mostly, I would stop to smell the roses along the way. Many folks that are truly driven to a goal just never look up until one day, and they realize that they are old. What happened to the younger years, and what all did I miss doing things this way?? Oh well, we all can wish!!
Posts: 6748 | Location: Az | Registered: May 27, 2005
I'm not talking about any particular individual. I'm talking about the Human race as a whole. Saying "I've had a good life" misses the point.
Think about the groundwork which could have been laid by all the generations who have come before this one. Think what kind of world this might have been, had humans the opportunity to get it right the second time around.
There was a recent thread about the worst decision you ever made. Plenty of responses. If I could go back for a do over and avoid some of the mistakes I made, I would have had an easier time of it. And avoided some pain. As I look back on it, most of the mistakes I made were things I didn't do (and should have), rather that things I did and regretted.
The one thing I did do that I regret is this. I actually never had a drinking problem, and in fact have been intoxicated maybe 4 or 5 times in my life total. But in my twenties I spent a lot of times in bars looking for something that was never there. For me every minute of it was a waste.
Posts: 1075 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: May 03, 2019
No, thank you. I prefer to stick with having just one life to live. What has happened in a past life isn't much of a guiding light. The days of our lives should just be like sand through the hourglass of time trickling down below but never upwards. Maybe in another world, I would like to build a dynasty watching all my children enjoying the best of everything and being the young and the restless until they grow up to be the bold and the beautiful in the city.
"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
Posts: 20180 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011
Certainly having knowledge could improve things for the individual and humanity. But so many of our choices are driven by instinct more than knowledge that I’m not sure how much would change. Especially in the area of romance. I’d know what type of women to avoid but I would likely still seek them out.
These go to eleven.
Posts: 12605 | Location: Westminster, MA | Registered: November 14, 2006
Do we need a second chance or just the ability to extend lifetimes?
In a few decades, I expect human lifespans will be extendable (so long as one doesn't try to cheat nature too much by smoking, over drinking, being a glutton, listening to the lame stream media, etc.) through biotechnology by 20-30%. Not double mind you, but providing additional time to the middle years should add to human accomplishment... so long as society doesn't extend the onset of responsible adulthood to 35 years of age, like some Millenials would prefer.
Posts: 3396 | Location: Mid-Atlantic | Registered: December 27, 2002
