These days we live in a world where there are just to many people, the world is to small and getting lost is easier than in the days without a compass. When our parents were young, let alone our grandparents, they lived in simpler times. Don't believe me, well I don't really care, but it is what I feel. I have spent months compiling data and combing old books bound in leather, just to find all the info I need to prove to you that I am right. Now if we could all jump in a time machine. Sure there are things we can't solve over night, social, racial, gender inequality, famine, war, etc. But let's just calm down and pretend we could hop in a time machine and none of those things mattered. That we could just go back to simpler times.
Population
Let's just start with the obvious. As of 2012 there were 7.046 billion people in the world. That is a number I cannot even fathom. As I write this sitting on a subway there are about 100 people going about their lives and I cannot imagine 7 billion of them doing the same. This compared to 1920 when there was less then 2 billion shows just how much the world has changed. Less resources, less competition, less problems. As the world population grows things are only going to get more challenging. Where is that Time Machine I wish I could go and chill with the Dinos.
School
When are parents and grandparents were young, the options of jobs were far more standard. If you could make it to University you were pretty much guaranteed a good job. Back then choices were far simpler. Sure if you wanted to be a poet, well then you could write something deep down. If you were educated well that was a pleasure the world was yours to conquer. What is more, how many of your parents told you that school/uni would be the best days of your life. If you were like me you looked at them and thought 'what are you on about?' Well they were right school was great and don't even get me started on university. If I could hop in a time machine I would go back to some awesome times.
Work
Is this the job you wanted? Is this where you saw yourself when you were picking your nose wanting to be a fireman? Is this where you saw yourself sitting in Politics 101 thinking how you were going to change the world? No you thought you were going to change the world. And who knows maybe you still will, maybe I will, we can never know (unless we had that bloody time machine). But one thing I know for sure is that I wish I could go back to Uni and slap myself. Don't take ECON402 because you think you need it for business. Take coding, learn more languages come on invent Facebook.
Add the fact that there are over 7 billion people on the planet and job options are looking pretty slim. If I had a time machine I would travel back I would help Mandela, I would watch as the first rocket flew into space. Hell I would go get an internship with William Shakespeare.
Travel
As we sit at our desks we often find ourselves looking out of the window dreaming of white sandy beaches or lands unexplored. Well unfortunately there are no lands unexplored and secondly you need to get back to that spread sheet you were working on. You need to save money for the future, You don't have the time to take a year off and travel. Soon enough time has passed you by, soon enough you don't have the time. But what if you could go back. Go back to when you were young. Go back and walk the Champs-Élysées with someone special or better yet, with Monet.
Technology
I have two things to think on here. First have you ever watched Hot Time Machine? It was awesome! Ever watched Hot Tub Time Machine 2? It was not! But what they did nail is the point on technology. You could beat someone to the idea. Imagine you thought up Google, Facebook or the wheel? Well it may seem selfish, but life would be lovely with all that cash. I could actually afford to fund the research for a time machine. Bit of a conundrum there. My 2nd point is that to some degree life was a simpler time when there was limited technology. Sure I love my smart phone, but as I look at people walking the streets of the city everyone seems so disconnected yet so connected to the illusion of society that is the web/social media/app world. Imagine breaking out the quill and ink to send a letter to that friend you haven't written to in a while. Jump on the good old horse and take a ride. I am sure I would miss the tech, but hey that is what the time machine is for. I can just jump in when I want to go back butterflies and all.
Family
Something close to me. Take that Time Machine and just click back a few years. Spend days with people who are no longer with us. How I wish I could spend time with my family members are no longer around. Just cook one last meal together, see their wrinkled smile. Hear them shout at you again while all the while you are just so happy to have them as family. This would be the one thing I would want most, because for me, there is nothing more important than family. If future me does find that time machine, don't let me know, I want to enjoy the surprise.
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