I read the piece someone posted about time travel a few hours ago, and wound up, as I was doing laundry, thinking about whether I would ever consider, if it were possible, going back in time to try to convince my parents to accept me as a girl at age 3, and to give them a road map for transitioning me before the onset of puberty, which, from a certain point of view would be my ultimate selfish dream.
As I was coming back from another load and picking over some things in my basement, I came across an old copy of New Scientist that contained an article on resurrecting extinct species and thought to myself, why stop there? Why not clone myself in the present, when such an approach might be even better in some ways, given more widespread awareness and acceptance, at least by some, and more and more cases where transgirls are accepted and socialized as girls from earlier and earlier ages, giving these girls much more of their lives simply to express their gifts in the open, and press on with becoming productive individuals.
What would be your dream or your amendment to one of these approaches?
Would you rather have transitioned back in sync with the time when you grew up in this lifetime?
Or would you prefer to be cloned in the present, or in a few more years, and get a do over?
Or are you stubborn and happy to just have the life you've had?
I've always said that if I had a chance to come back, I'd come back as me.
I'd be happy to have my brain transferred into a 19-year-old body and carry on. I have no desire to relive childhood and I wouldn't wish to lose the experiences that have made me who I am.
I don't think cloning will make me another me, but just be an identical twin.
I would go back in time. I don't think it'll change the "me" that much if I redid things, except being a more happier person in general. I would go back to when I was 8 years old, and make it clear to them what I am. But I lived in an oppressive environment and in poverty, and I couldn't expect much back then.
Quote from: Devlyn Marie on January 05, 2013, 05:50:30 PM
I've always said that if I had a chance to come back, I'd come back as me.
This ^^^ is a sign of having achieved wisdom, joy, and emotional maturity. A beacon and a good example for us all
I would actually travel to the future and have them transfer me to a 8 year old girl version of my dna, (an altered clone) and experience growing up as a teenager and a young child, I think anything younger than 8 would not be able to really grasp what is going on. I don't recall much before age 8.
I am glad I got you thinking about time travel >:-)
Kia Ora Elspeth,
If time travel was a fact/possible, death 'as we know it' would be no longer...Food for thought....
Metta Zenda :)
Quote from: Wild Flower on January 05, 2013, 09:36:39 PM
I don't think cloning will make me another me, but just be an identical twin.
I would go back in time. I don't think it'll change the "me" that much if I redid things, except being a more happier person in general. I would go back to when I was 8 years old, and make it clear to them what I am. But I lived in an oppressive environment and in poverty, and I couldn't expect much back then.
Perhaps I should have added a different option, to travel in time and age to any era or culture of your choice, with the one thing being, of course that you would, as we all seem to assume, be essentially the same person inside. I suppose another part of the question is, if you wanted to start out at a particular age, what age would it be. Interesting responses so far; very stimulating and thoughtful.
QuoteI would go back to when I was 8 years old
8 seems to be the magic number
Hmmm. At first thought, I would clone myself and then raise the clone as my own child. And if GD is truly a condition of genes then my 'child' would be allowed to transition, just as Momma did. (https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsmileys.on-my-web.com%2Frepository%2FAnimals%2Fferret-8.gif&hash=d9498942f8bbb4bf3ad29af75944ea5e1135c6fa)
If GD is because of the hormone flush then I would raise the child as their gender (mental) would dictate. Without the flush, I might have another son.
I think I'd pass on living life anew. As much as I would like to live my life again, I absolutely don't want to lose the memories I've made. I haven't had the best life ever, but it certainly hasn't been bad, and I really value everything that has happened so far.
If I lost these memories, I wouldn't be me any more. I might not like 'me' a lot of the time, but being 'me' is better than being 'not-me'.
Besides, it might not even be the greatest trade-off. I don't look half-bad as it is, and I actually might end up prettier than I'd've been if I had been born female. I'm also taller - if I were born female, I may not have even made it to 5'! Sure, I'd be able to have kids if I was reborn somehow, but I frankly don't even like most kids, and I don't really miss my fertility. Also, being trans means I don't have to put up with periods. Pretty big plus right there.
Overall, I'm okay with my life. Being trans isn't half bad, once you get past the relentless self-hatred and the fear of others and their thoughts.
I'd go back in time and clad my teenaged self in unbreakable armor from about the chest down. No shattered bones, no pregnancies, no chronic pain and no poverty. Pure win.
QuoteAlso, being trans means I don't have to put up with periods.
Women who have AIS, also do not experience this.
Quote from: Zenda on January 05, 2013, 11:57:47 PM
If time travel was a fact/possible, death 'as we know it' would be no longer...Food for thought....
Time travel would not affect the age of the traveler. It just moves you, as is, to a new time. So death would come once your candle burns out, whatever time-when you happen to be in.
No?
-Ani
Quote from: Ani on January 06, 2013, 10:43:01 AM
Time travel would not affect the age of the traveler. It just moves you, as is, to a new time. So death would come once your candle burns out, whatever time-when you happen to be in.
No?
-Ani
Kia Ora Ani,
Many people/things you see in the past will be already dead in the future time you left from... When travelling back, one would in a sense be bringing them back to life...So in theory there would be no death as we 'presently' know it....Even for ourselves !
Metta Zenda :)
-Ani
Quote from: Zenda on January 06, 2013, 11:53:42 AM
Kia Ora Ani,
Many people/things you see in the past will be already dead in the future time you left from... When travelling back, one would in a sense be bringing them back to life...So in theory there would be no death as we 'presently' know it....Even for ourselves !
Metta Zenda :)
Sorry, I don't see it! An individual's life clock is always moving forward regardless of which when they are in. In their time frame, each person moves from non-existence, to life, to non-existence. If you visit another's time frame you are not changing that.
-Ani
Quote from: Ani on January 06, 2013, 01:53:55 PM
-Ani
Sorry, I don't see it! An individual's life clock is always moving forward regardless of which when they are in. In their time frame, each person moves from non-existence, to life, to non-existence. If you visit another's time frame you are not changing that.
-Ani
Kia Ora Ani,
::) So what is 'it' that actually visits another time frame ?
Metta Zenda :)
Quote from: Zenda on January 06, 2013, 02:00:19 PM
Kia Ora Ani,
::) So what is 'it' that actually visits another time frame ?
Metta Zenda :)
Hmmm, getting sent rolling eyes...being led down some path here...
Perhaps I'm reading too much into your statement that time travel 'changes death as we presently know it'. Given time travel, we can see the dead 'live' again. If we ourselves have died someone from some other time can visit us, and we 'live' on for them, but in that when we aren't dead - nothing has changed for us. There's some Gibson book where the characters speak with a dead person whose consciousness has been stored in some construct. Is that person dead, or does that construct change death as we know it?
-Ani
Well, there are two ways to look at time-travel in the past. I think Zenda is speaking of time-travel into the past in the way that it may rewind time. Therefore, you would be younger again, and all time would be renewed.
The other, of course, is to go back in time as your present self. This method is shakier as a hypothesis because it allows all kinds of paradoxes to happen. Time doesn't slow down for you, of course, but you do get to experience the past as if it were alive again.
When I was a kid I always thought, 'hmm, I wonder if I've met myself already" because I thought if I was ever going to come back in time, I'd want to meet myself as a little kid. Ya know, impart some kind of 'secret knowledge' or something. Yes, back then, I thought we'd have time travel by now :laugh: But at the time I was always looking to meet myself as a chick, because I thought I'd be trapped forever. I didn't know what transition was, I didn't know I could fix my body.
Now, I can't help but wonder if I went back and mentored myself as a man, never giving away who I was ;) I wonder if I'll meet 'me' someday.
Hopeful thinking :)
Quote from: Ani on January 06, 2013, 01:53:55 PM
-Ani
Sorry, I don't see it! An individual's life clock is always moving forward regardless of which when they are in. In their time frame, each person moves from non-existence, to life, to non-existence. If you visit another's time frame you are not changing that.
-Ani
I was assuming many of those interested in answering the questions would be aware of the various kinds of time paradoxes that show up in time travel stories, and would possibly exist if time travel turns out to be possible.
For example, going back to alter your younger self's life could have all kinds of consequences (many of them unpredictable) regarding your own lifespan and what you would do with your time, for example, if, instead of wasting time and taking on some of the self-destructive behaviors that tend to be common for many of us, one found a way to begin transitioning before the onset of puberty.
One of the implicit questions (among many) has to do with whether one would prefer to grow up in the period that they did, or would be willing to sacrifice existing memories and experiences for the possibility of starting out an otherwise similar life, only beginning at a time one might see as more tolerant, with better options, at least for some.
While I realize that some would see a clone as a completely different person, (and some have also raised the issues of how prenatal environment may affect or even cause the differences that lead to a TG identity)... to me, I tend to think that so much is determined by genes, that a clone of myself would most likely not be so very different from my current self, except that my clone might have had a better chance of being insistent about its female identity from a very early age. I remember considering getting more insistent. Perhaps my tendency to doubt would plague me in every instance of cloning, though? This is speculation, after all.
My tendency to doubt is probably part of the reason I tend to lean towards the fantasy of altering my present self's life course, rather than risking creating multiples who might wind up torturing themselves in the same ways I did, only spread across multiple timelines?
In my current state, the idea of living forever has never seemed very attractive. Maybe that will change if I get to a point where I am comfortable with the degree to which I'm able to transition and find a way of living that doesn't seem like it's so hugely compromised?
These sorts of feelings are part of why I decided to combine these various options, as a way of bringing out various feelings related to how we tend to view our own lives so far.
While it would be nice to go back in time and grow up as a girl, I'd have to wonder about all the stuff that would be totally different just from me not making the same decisions as before. I'd rather go forward in the future and possibility find a time when I can enjoy living as a woman for a much larger lifespan, but then again you run the risk of going too far forward and finding the world ended :) Guess the best choice is to just not do it.
EDIT: My grammar was so bad I didn't understand what I wrote either.
Quote from: Ani on January 06, 2013, 03:21:17 PM
Hmmm, getting sent rolling eyes...being led down some path here...
Perhaps I'm reading too much into your statement that time travel 'changes death as we presently know it'. Given time travel, we can see the dead 'live' again. If we ourselves have died someone from some other time can visit us, and we 'live' on for them, but in that when we aren't dead - nothing has changed for us. There's some Gibson book where the characters speak with a dead person whose consciousness has been stored in some construct. Is that person dead, or does that construct change death as we know it?
-Ani
Kia Ora Ani,
In a short answer Yes and No....
I did have a longer response to the question but I don't think it would really go with the flow of this thread-Elspeth's intended purpose...It's an interesting thread BTW...Where one can exercise the imagination, stretching it to its limits [if there are any limits to ones imagination that is] ;)
Metta Zenda :)
Zenda you're right. Sorry Elspeth for going off topic...
Assuming time travel allows you to go to any 'when', I'd go back to my younger self and give myself the option to return to the future with me, where I would raise myself as my own child and support/fund my younger self's transition in the more accepting world we have today! Perhaps it would be better to go 20-50 years in the future where the world should be even more accepting.
If nothing else, if my younger self told me to "f***-off", I'd at least tell my younger self to always use sunscreen! :laugh:
-Ani
P.S. Of course, this would be terribly unfair to parents who would lose one of their children.
Quote from: Ani on January 08, 2013, 01:52:04 AM
Zenda you're right. Sorry Elspeth for going off topic...
No apologies needed. This thread was designed to veer off into tangents! ;)