Knowledge vs Money - What Would You Do?

[gmillerdrake]

Saw one of these types of questions on FB and thought it'd be a neat conversation piece. Which one you picking?

I'm going with the $20 Million. While it'd be neat to start my life over again at 6 with everything I know now....I'm sure that'd alter any chance of meeting my wife and subsequently having my sons....which I cannot fathom not having them in my life. I think it'd be torture honestly.....knowing and remembering them but knowing I'll never see them again.

Give me the cash and let's just close my time left on earth out in style!

[TAC]

I think it'd be torture honestly.....knowing and remembering them but knowing I'll never see them again.

Well, that's the kicker, isn't it.

[Adami]

Cash.


Happy where I’m at in life and wouldn’t want to do anything differently. But 20 mil can get me a 1 bedroom apartment in New York.

[gmillerdrake]

I think it'd be torture honestly.....knowing and remembering them but knowing I'll never see them again.

Well, that's the kicker, isn't it.

Yep. I guess if you're a person who hates their wife and/or kids it's a good deal?? Like Adami stated.....I'm more than happy with how things have went and turned out....lumps and all.

[Cool Chris]

Do we start over at 6 now, or do we go back in time to when we were six and restart there?

[lonestar]

I'm taking the cash... If I went back there's no way in hell I hook up with my ex and have my kid. Now if I could go back to the day she was born, that's a whole different story

[TAC]

Why can't I have both?

[Ben_Jamin]

Does the Knowledge part include memories?

It would be very interesting starting at 6 with the knowledge I understand and the experiences I have gone through. I would definitely do things differently. But also, what you once knew as your life now becomes your "Past Life", as you are now in your "Present Life" which is a 6 year old kid who has recounts of memories not relating to what you are experiencing now.

I asked about memories because holding those memories of your "Past Life" sounds similar to how children in our current reality do recount memories of a "Past Life" and some even can recount the exact places and people of their past experiences.

But then, does the knowledge part include everything you understand about reality, including the things 6 year old kids don't really understand yet, such as how human reproduction works?

[Adami]

Anyone going back to being 6 is gonna have a weird feeling in September 2001.

[Lethean]

I'll take the cash.  Trying to change history never works out that well.  There are certain things I'd like to change, but then what would happen?  If I hadn't had X thing happen, who's to say something even worse wouldn't have happened?  Maybe I'd have been somewhere else and been hit by a car or something.  Of course that's looking at things with a glass half empty, but really you just never know how things would end up. 

But the rest of my life is a clean slate.  I wouldn't complain about $20 million.

[wolfking]

Cash, no brainer.

[Phoenix87x]

I'll definitely just take the money.

Age 6 is something I have no desire to revisit.

[pg1067]

I generally agree with what everyone has said thus far.  HOWEVER, my father died when I was 7.  If I go back to when I was 6 AND have the knowledge I have now, maybe I could do something to keep him around longer.

[KevShmev]

I will take being 6 again and knowing then what I know now. 

[gmillerdrake]

I generally agree with what everyone has said thus far.  HOWEVER, my father died when I was 7.  If I go back to when I was 6 AND have the knowledge I have now, maybe I could do something to keep him around longer.

 :'(   Aw man……sorry to hear this.

[TAC]

I will take being 6 again and knowing then what I know now.

So that'd be what, going 6 years back in time? 

[KevShmev]

I will take being 6 again and knowing then what I know now.

So that'd be what, going 6 years back in time? 

We all can't be as old as you, Grandpa.

[Harmony]

So if it was like 1 paltry million, I'd take the knowledge.

No way I'm passing up 20 million though. 


Wait - can I get the 20 mil at any age or does it have to be now - in my old age?

[gmillerdrake]

Wait - can I get the 20 mil at any age or does it have to be now - in my old age?

You get it right now, however old you are.

[hefdaddy42]

Cash.  No way I'm going through school again and running the risk of not meeting my wife and having my kids.

[gmillerdrake]

Cash.  No way I'm going through school again and running the risk of not meeting my wife and having my kids.

For me the school part would be fine....it'd be neat to do it again and actually 'try'. I was one of those students who just did enough to get through and never applied myself. It's the family thing that seals the deal for me. No way I'm risking never knowing my wife or kids.....especially since you'd retain the memories of them due to the 'all knowledge and experience' part of the choice.

[WilliamMunny]

Interesting thought experiment.

When I was 20 (and I thought I knew waaaayyy more than I actually did), I probably would've chosen option 1.

At this stage in my life, my only goal in life is to spend as much quality time with my family as possible, so I'd take option 2 without thinking a second thought. In fact, if you could guarantee me that I'd live long enough to see my wife and kids happy thirty years from now, I'd give you everything I have.

[Chino]

My fiance and I had this discussion last night! She saw it online somewhere too.   

We both decided that we'd go back in time with the knowledge and use it to get filthy rich. We'd both patiently wait until 9/14/2013 before ever making any kind of contact. We were both reasonably convinced we'd still hit it off just as we did the first time, and the crazy calls in the stock market as well as intimate knowledge of the other would suffice as evidence that one of us simply went back in time. 

We've got no children yet, so we don't have to worry about a certain genetic combo never coming to fruition.

[romdrums]

As Steve Miller famously sang, "take the money and run."  No way would I risk not meeting my wife or having our son.  $20 mil to live the rest of my life would be just fine!

[gmillerdrake]

My fiance and I had this discussion last night! She saw it online somewhere too.   

We both decided that we'd go back in time with the knowledge and use it to get filthy rich. We'd both patiently wait until 9/14/2013 before ever making any kind of contact. We were both reasonably convinced we'd still hit it off just as we did the first time, and the crazy calls in the stock market as well as intimate knowledge of the other would suffice as evidence that one of us simply went back in time.

I think that's an interesting way to go about it.....and, probably for most married guys like me with kids.....is too big a risk to have something go wrong to where your kids would never exist. That'd be just utter torture having the memory of them knowing you'd never get to see them again, no more hugs or conversations....that'd be devastating.

But I think your scenario could work

[Stadler]

My fiance and I had this discussion last night! She saw it online somewhere too.   

We both decided that we'd go back in time with the knowledge and use it to get filthy rich. We'd both patiently wait until 9/14/2013 before ever making any kind of contact. We were both reasonably convinced we'd still hit it off just as we did the first time, and the crazy calls in the stock market as well as intimate knowledge of the other would suffice as evidence that one of us simply went back in time. 

We've got no children yet, so we don't have to worry about a certain genetic combo never coming to fruition.

Even with the genetic combo, I feel like this is the right answer.   I don't know.  I do know I'm spending way too much time thinking about it. 

[ReaperKK]

I'm taking the cash. My childhood was really shitty and having my current knowledge in a 6 year old body would do little to change it. I'm taking the cash and retiring.

[lordxizor]

I lean towards going back to age 6. First of all, I could be a multi-billionaire by age 40 with the knowledge I have now. There are a lot of things I wish I had done differently, so I tend to want the opportunity to do that.

Now, if I were really faced with this choice, I'd take the money. I could go back in time and "fix" a couple of things that didn't go my way due to things within my control. But I fully acknowledge that there would be other things that pop up as a result of those changed decisions that theoretical future me would wish I had done differently. Plus it would be impossible to end up with the same kids even if I did manage to end up with the same wife. I think there's far more that could go wrong with a repeated life than could go better.

[Adami]

My fiance and I had this discussion last night! She saw it online somewhere too.   

We both decided that we'd go back in time with the knowledge and use it to get filthy rich. We'd both patiently wait until 9/14/2013 before ever making any kind of contact. We were both reasonably convinced we'd still hit it off just as we did the first time, and the crazy calls in the stock market as well as intimate knowledge of the other would suffice as evidence that one of us simply went back in time. 

We've got no children yet, so we don't have to worry about a certain genetic combo never coming to fruition.

Even with the genetic combo, I feel like this is the right answer.   I don't know.  I do know I'm spending way too much time thinking about it. 

I dunno brother. Can you imagine you, Stadler, the Gladler Dadler, having to relive what you've lived through with your knowledge? Prohibition? WWII? The Hippie era? the rise of social media? All while knowing that social media is solely responsible for the decay of civil society but not being able to do anything about it? You'll drive yourself completely insane!

[Stadler]

My fiance and I had this discussion last night! She saw it online somewhere too.   

We both decided that we'd go back in time with the knowledge and use it to get filthy rich. We'd both patiently wait until 9/14/2013 before ever making any kind of contact. We were both reasonably convinced we'd still hit it off just as we did the first time, and the crazy calls in the stock market as well as intimate knowledge of the other would suffice as evidence that one of us simply went back in time. 

We've got no children yet, so we don't have to worry about a certain genetic combo never coming to fruition.

Even with the genetic combo, I feel like this is the right answer.   I don't know.  I do know I'm spending way too much time thinking about it. 

I dunno brother. Can you imagine you, Stadler, the Gladler Dadler, having to relive what you've lived through with your knowledge? Prohibition? WWII? The Hippie era? the rise of social media? All while knowing that social media is solely responsible for the decay of civil society but not being able to do anything about it? You'll drive yourself completely insane!

Oh, no, my brother.   I would be President, and social media would be outlawed!  I'd be Elon Musk before there was ever an Elon Musk! 

[Adami]

You're the Rob Corddry character from Hot Tub Time Machine?

I can dig it!

[romdrums]

You're the Rob Corddry character from Hot Tub Time Machine?

I can dig it!

 

[XJDenton]

Money. I wouldn't be so cruel as to inflict current me on 6 year old me, nor would I wish to radically alter my friends lives, which would be inevitable.

[Stadler]

You're the Rob Corddry character from Hot Tub Time Machine?

I can dig it!

Here's a question. Was it morally wrong for me to exploit my knowledge of the future for personal financial gain? Perhaps. Here's another question. Do I give a f***?

[Adami]

You're the Rob Corddry character from Hot Tub Time Machine?

I can dig it!

Here's a question. Was it morally wrong for me to exploit my knowledge of the future for personal financial gain? Perhaps. Here's another question. Do I give a f***?

Can I be the Craig Robinson or John Cusack character and you've used these decisions to make my life way better?

Wait a minute......what if I'm the Clark Duke character?!?!