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[FearfulJesuit]

I have an idea for a thread: I'll put up a hypothetical question, run it for a while, and then change it to something else.

To start: what if everyone woke up tomorrow and it was 1993 again? Assume you retain your 2013 age. Bill Clinton is newly President, the Internet (insofar as there is one) is a toy for university science departments, and the most cutting-edge games available are SimCity 2000 and Doom.

Go.

IN MEMORIAM

[freeformschooler]

Get my dad to punch Biff in the face.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Jesus, I'd be happy.

[Frumple]

Just... dropped right into it, eh.

It'd be time to rustle up some money (most cash we'd have on us now probably wouldn't pass muster, back then, and I don't have much in the way of hawkables on me, normally.) and make some investments. Once millionaire, figure out something important to do. Plenty to choose from!

... also, find pants, and probably figure out how to explain waking up in bed with whoever owned this house back then. That'd probably be hella' awkward.

Would 1993 self still be around? Not sure what could be done, there, but it might be interesting.

E: Of course, if the house and the contents thereof (or even just the bed) overwrote past house... hrm. I sleep with the laptop besides me. Find the right buyer for that, and not only do I make hella' green, I manage to catapult PC development by a couple decades, hopefully funneling the advancement in a useful direction.

[FearfulJesuit]

I'm not sure whether it would be against the rules to make investments.

Just don't violate too much causality. Go ahead and buy yourself some Apple stock, but don't assassinate Osama bin Laden or convince Barack Obama to quit politics and go into business with you.

[Ameablable]

Spoil the movies that came out that year for everyone. like Groundhog day and Jurassic park.

and maybe make a few bets with some historical events to get me-self some money

Get my dad to punch Biff in the face.

I lol'd really hard.

[Pnx]

Well for starters in about 15 years I'd go visit myself and try to prevent myself from making some really horrible mistakes.

Secondly I'd be sure to make hefty investments into Google.

[Frumple]

Just don't violate too much causality.

Well hell, there goes all the fun

What's the point of time traveling into your personal past if you're not going to do anything interesting?

... meh. Without that. Hrg.

Find pants. Explain inexplicable presence in some random person's bed. Find money, find food. Stick finger up arse for next two decades. Get back to business as usual, twenty years older. Simple plan is simple.

[FearfulJesuit]

Just don't violate too much causality.

Well hell, there goes all the fun

What's the point of time traveling into your personal past if you're not going to do anything interesting?

... meh. Without that. Hrg.

Find pants. Explain inexplicable presence in some random person's bed. Find money, find food. Stick finger up arse for next two decades. Get back to business as usual, twenty years older. Simple plan is simple.

I dunno. Maybe you can violate too much causality...who knows.

[Trapezohedron]

Well, maybe I'd go trying to prevent my birth from taking place, so I wouldn't be here.

AND NO MENTIONS OF GRANDFATHER PARADOXES, PLEASE! D:<

[Leafsnail]

Become the world's best fortune teller, but make sure that only 50% of my predictions are correct to mess with people.

[Devling]

Become the world's best fortune teller, but make sure that only 50% of my predictions are correct to mess with people.

Ninja seer.

Combine this with the betting on stuff, make all kinds of money. Dump money into things I'll know will be lucrative in the future.
Adopt myself, raise self rich and educated. Assuming it happens again for stable time loops, instruct myself in the ways of making the future even better. Continue into world is a paradise, or something.

[WealthyRadish]

I'd go to my future house in the middle of the night and bury a bottle containing a letter to myself warning me not to read this thread and get teleported back to 1993.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

In 1993, send my parents (whom are currently pregnant with me) an anonymous package of investment advice. Take advantage of this myself to get rich and make out from the .com bubble with a lot of money.

In 2000, frame Ralph Nader for some harmless but devastating scandal (it could even be something true) so that Al Gore wins the 2000 election.

In August 2001, send the CIA an anonymous tip concerning the 9/11 attackers. No 9/11, no Guantanamo Bay, no Patriot Act, no DHS. Just another averted terrorist attack that nobody but intelligence agents remember in five months. The 2000's are a time of renewed optimism instead of fear. Continue to give the CIA and FBI anonymous information concerning possible advantages over the coming years, with a promise of permanent withdrawal if they try to find out who I am. If they find and capture me anyway, tell them the truth and refuse to help further unless freed. If not freed, give 1/10ths accurate and 9/10ths horrifically inaccurate information under torture.

In 2004, meet my 10-year old self for the first time. Do my best to convince myself of whom I am and swear me to secrecy (this should be easy enough, even at 10 I had things only I knew and thoughts only I indulge, plus I look like me). Be prepared to convince my parents of me being me in case I am unable to maintain my secrecy (also probably not that difficult). Give myself life advice.

By this point most of my knowledge is going to be butterflied away, so I'll just get back to what I'm doing now (renewable energy).

[Max White]

Invest the fuck out of google. Also kill Bush before he gets personal security.