If you had the option to go back in time and change something would you and why ?

Nina Rzechorzek answered on 5 Jun 2019:

I’d want to somehow prevent senseless abuse/killing of innocent people and animals – as as happened in many wars over many centuries. I think part of this is understanding how and why humans find themselves doing such terrible things or making decisions that result in war – to do that, we really need to understand how the brain works.

Marianne King answered on 5 Jun 2019:

I’ll have to copy Nina’s answer and say something very similar. I’d want to stop all the horrific genocides that have happened throughout history. This is an example of where I think scientists and historians could work together. Understanding human behaviour in certain historical contexts could be very valuable for preventing similar atrocities happening the future.

Kate Timms answered on 5 Jun 2019:

I would prevent the burning of the library of Alexandria. So much of the world’s knowledge at the time, both from the ‘west’ and the ‘east’ was held their. Our knowledge of the world might be so much further developed than it is now if that hadn’t happened.

The other thing I would do would be to prevent the mistreatment of Alan Turing, which eventually resulted in his death. He invented the computer and figured out how to brake codes during world war II. If he had survived and continued to research, who knows where we would be! He was brilliant man who didn’t get the recognition he deserved until long after his death.

Shobhana Nagraj answered on 5 Jun 2019: last edited 5 Jun 2019 9:11 pm

There are so many pivotal moments in the course of history that could change the world we live in … but learning from the Back to the Future trilogy of films (!), I’d probably not change anything as the repercussions – according to the scientific theories outlined by the Butterfly Effect and Chaos theory, could be much bigger than we can even imagine! The Butterfly effect suggests that even very small things that we do can have big impacts on a complex, dynamic system, like the Universe. You can find out more about Chaos theory and the Butterfly effect here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrJNBlS6Okc and here: https://fractalfoundation.org/resources/what-is-chaos-theory/
The potentially positive part of Chaos theory is – that if we do random acts of kindness to others, these may go on to have much greater effects than we could even imagine – so in answer to your question, I’d probably smile more, be kind, and encourage others to do the same throughout history!

Rebecca Moon answered on 5 Jun 2019: last edited 5 Jun 2019 8:51 pm

What an interesting question and lots of things to chose from.

I would prevent the publication of the “research” that suggested a link between MMR vaccine and autism. It was bad science that was later shown to be performed fraudulently and lots of subsequent research has shown no link between MMR and autism. It has probably contributed significantly to the low uptake of MMR vaccination at the current time, meaning we are seeing more and more cases of measles. Measles is a serious illness from which people can die or have serious long term brain damage. Its really important that medical sciences is done accurately and honestly as it is the basis for the way we treat and prevent illness.

@belle, I’m interested in what you would do? Do you think you might be the first person to invent a time machine?

Alex Blenkinsop answered on 6 Jun 2019:

I think there are many things we wish we could change, the others have given some really good answers. But in my opinion we should focus on learning from the mistakes of the past and preparing for the future with respect to the main threats to humans: conflict, climate change and famine. Getting more young people into science is an important aspect of this as you could be part of solving these problems in the future!

Ettie Unwin answered on 6 Jun 2019:

To take a different tack answering this question on a more personal level, I would go back to my younger self and tell me that everything was going to be ok. I didn’t get into the university I wanted despite having all the necessary requirements and I took the failure really badly. I nearly gave up perusing my dreams but now, I’m one of only a handful of my friends who actually have a job they enjoy.

David Wilson answered on 6 Jun 2019:

I’ve watched enough SciFi to know that going back (or forwards) in time never works out well for anyone, it’s important that we learn from our own and others mistakes. Check out Rebecca’s answer above about the MMR Vaccine, I really like that one.

Thiloka Ratnaike answered on 6 Jun 2019:

I interpreted this question as related to my personal journey, in which case my answer would be no (apart from perhaps actually rehearsing our first dance prior to our wedding). I am saying no because I am definitely a better person now for all that I have learnt through trial and error, all the great people I have met along the way and continue to meet, and for all the downs which have made me appreciate the ups much much more!

In terms of historical elements- yes I would love to stop any of the numerous genocides, and destruction of valuable history, unfortunately that may not stop this from happening in the future (as highlighted by the ongoing problems currently)..

Kaitlin Wade answered on 7 Jun 2019: last edited 7 Jun 2019 5:31 pm

I interpreted this in a personal way. I don’t think I would go back in time. I think about this quite a lot myself but I always come to the same conclusion that, if I did change anything in the past, then I wouldn’t be where I am today. I don’t think I’d like that.

Rachel Hardy answered on 8 Jun 2019:

On a personal level, if I could go back in time, I would tell myself to stop worrying so much about things. I always worried a lot about my exam results, getting into University, being able to find a PhD that I wanted to do etc.. And everything has turned out fine! So I wasted a lot of energy needlessly worrying. I still do sometimes (about finding a job after my PhD for example), but tell myself not to as everything is always ok in the end. And I am thankful that I have such a lovely network of family and friends around me who are healthy 🙂 The way I see it now is, there will always be something new to worry about as life progresses.. so what’s the point? 🙂 I also wish that I had done a lot more travelling with my long summer holidays, as I am a lot more restricted with work now!

Matthew Bareford answered on 11 Jun 2019:

Here is the thing, there is so much that you’d want to change, that picking just one thing would be really difficult!

Changing something could also mean that I might not even exist in the future anymore, to which you have the conundrum of if I then didn’t exist, I wouldn’t be able to go back and change it… (mind blowing thought!)

But if there was one overall notion that I’d want to change then it would be peoples attitudes towards each other and the environment for a better, cleaner and peaceful world

Question: If you had the option to go back in time and change something would you and why ?

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