GenXers, would you go back to your youth for a do-over? (programming.dev)

submitted 2 months ago by connect@programming.dev to c/genx@lemmy.ca

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I wonder sometimes how it could have worked out if I’d had decent guidance. The prospect of living back under my mother’s glare or having to do homework again feels awfully tiring, though. And I’ve forgotten my locker combination! And my schedule. And where the classrooms are. Fuck, I can’t remember what a secant is!

I would have to fight back for my own vision of life rather than my mother’s. Now that I have the life experience to even have one. Back then I was so aware I didn’t know anything about life and the world. Would she fold, or would she go thermonuclear?

Maybe the butterfly’s wing would be a little different and there’d literally be nuclear war.

Maybe I’d be satisfied to see videos of other versions of myself in other universes and see what was possible.

Say you still get your same kids.

I know the usual answer is to buy stocks, but that seems too easy.

If you were a character in a book, you’d try to stop one of the famous disasters. Conveniently, they always remember lots of details about the famous disasters.

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[-] connect@programming.dev 5 points 2 months ago

I saw a television episode on Youtube once where a guy went back because there was the girl he didn’t get when he was around 17. She had been so built up with the glow of memory, but then seeing her again with adult eyes, she was like a kid to him. Pretty girl, but someone whose memory he could move on from now.

Maybe Back Then would be less of a nebulous, mysterious thing to think over if I had photos or video from back then. No photos or video? Must have been real horse-and-buggy days.

[-] ArgentRaven@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Did you see "Final Cut" with Robin Williams? It's a movie about having a recording chip implanted in your head so people can watch your life after you die. Most of it focuses on the ethics of it, but there's a few scenes about seeing how people's memories of childhood events (it even more recent ones) are distorted with time.

I wouldn't say it's the best sci-fi think piece, but it could be right up your alley if you're thinking of this question.

[-] connect@programming.dev 2 points 2 months ago

I remembered a classic brain implant story: Learning to Be Me, by Greg Egan. Not perfectly on topic, but in case you like stories.

[-] ArgentRaven@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

I haven't heard it, but I'll check it out. Thanks!

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this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2024

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Generation X

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Born between 1961 and 1981, we are Generation X - the original latchkey kids, the feral generation that came of age without cellphones, internet, or helicopter parenting. By 16, we had the life experience of 30-year-olds, and that gritty wisdom still defines us today.

We grew up under the looming threat of nuclear annihilation. "The Day After" was our introduction to the fragility of our world. Yet, we also witnessed momentous change: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the dawn of a new era of peace and possibility.

We saw the excesses and failures of the Boomer generation, but we charted our own path. We reject their ideals and march to the beat of our own drum. Apathy is our armor, authenticity our creed.

We are the generation of grunge and metal, of raves and vaporwave. Plaid shirts and ironic detachment are our trademarks. We're tech-savvy, resourceful, and fiercely independent.

This sub welcomes GenXers from all corners of the globe to share links, photos, graphics, memoirs, memes, commentaries, and stories that capture our unique journey and outlook. Whether you experienced the Cold War from the US, UK, Soviet Union, or anywhere in between - if you identify with the GenX ethos, this is your tribe. Let's celebrate our shared experiences, historic milestones, and irreverent spirit that set us apart from any other generation.

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