Saturday, April 21, 2007

am i that boring?

Talking to a younger version of oneself in books, films, and personal families has become so common as to need a name: how about "feedyack." In these events there is a lot of raised eyebrows and slow revelations, perhaps cryptic warnings; it's popularity has a lot to do with the fact that this is a guaranteed moment one can act like a sage.

I'm going to propose an alternate scripting. I think that talking to oneself would be immensely boring, and probably a waste of time. Do you ever write down word-for-word what you think in the shower in the morning, or right before you go to bed? When read back, 90% of the time it comes out mostly gibberish. Now imagine if one half of this self-conversation was even less mature, and there was the added confusion of time travel. After the (I can only assume) intense anticipation of the event, it would probably seem awkward and diminished. The fact that we naturally romanticize the past and future would also probably lead to a slightly disappointing self-impression as well.

So, should time travel become possible, stick to the dinosaurs and spaceships. As you've probably been told, one of you is more than enough.

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