“The way I interpret the question, the OP is asking whether it would be better to experience a whole new life from the age of 5 in a different era or acquire a huge pile of money in our current one.”
That’s pretty accurate.
But I want to fix that part about retaining your memories. OK, you contain only a very very few of only your fondest memories of time and times, but no, no real all inclusive recollection.
Money.
Childhood would be a species of Hell.
Money.
Five is overrated.
Tris
For Trisk, instead of five, make it 21 years old…what then?
If five is too young for this choice, pick your own year. Would ya take the money now?
If you are willing to barter here then sign me up for 18. Give me a call when it is ready. 5 was a no-go though.
I’ll go back and change all the fives for eighteens, and we’ll see how people will come around and give up the damn money.
Well, I’m 17. So, uh… no. Money’s good.
If I don’t keep my memories, I don’t care what age you’re offering- I’ll take the money. If my memories aren’t part of the deal, then no matter what age you make me, the important fact is that you’re killing me.
Gimme the money. Being 5 years old again would mean eventually being 12-13 years old again, and why would I want to experience the hell of junior high school again?
But if I could go back knowing what I know now, and have the opportunity to correct my mistakes, I’d do it in a heartbeat. The one big mistake I’d correct? Listening to my parents when they went on and on about getting a “dependable job”. Fuck that - this time around I’m chasing my dream of rock stardom!
Like most above, I’d take the money unless I could go back with my present memories.
This hypothetical is not unlike a choice many MMO players wrestle with: should they reset their character?
edit: I would reset (go back to age 5), personally.
An extra forty-odd years of life (on average) versus a bunch of money? Hello first grade.
Are all the parameters the same as they were when I was 5 the first time? If so–I might still take it. There were times in my life when I knew I was at a crossroads but lacked the courage to take what I see now as the correct path. Maybe I’d take that path this time around–I can’t really say.
Then again, the money would come in handy about now.
If I were 69 and offered this, I’d become 5 again in a heartbeat. I’m assuming one couldn’t mess with time anymore than necessary for this, so I wouldn’t go back in time, I’d just be 5 year old me in 2007–so I get to see what I wouldn’t see of the 21st century if I had stayed 69 (because I would have died). Now I’m getting a headache…
I’ve always wanted a “do over” of my life, starting at about age 13. I would not go to nursing school; I would not marry the man I did; I would not have settled for less than what I wanted, just to name a few things I’d change. And I’d like me a whole lot more.