What if it was all fake?

[Product Placement]

If it was all simulation, I'm gonna assume that all of my personal experiences (events I've witnessed) were all made up and thus it's not like I possess knowledge of the future (no preventing 9/11 for me). However, I'm also gonna assume that the knowledge/experience I gained was not some made up bullshit and as thus, my experiences has some applicable qualities in the real world. To paraphrase the last sentence, even though the education and life lessons that I've collected over my life was mostly simulation, they're no less real than those that were experienced in the real world.

If this is the case, you just created a 5 year old with 15 years worth of customer service experience, who's only one year away from getting his bachelors degree in computer science.

 

[RufusMcLaser]

Constructed realities are so much fun. I'm with those who point out that the dream/simulation was just that- a simulated experience. How closely does it correspond to the world? How many of the "initial conditions" at the point of divergence, i.e. when the deam/sim was initialized, corresponded to real-world conditions?
For instance, I might have "dreamed" the Bill Gates and Steve Jobs that we know, and wake up in a universe where Gates never held onto the rights to DOS and Jobs never left Apple to muck around with NeXT.

Having awoken from this dream, and finding myself to be 5 years old in the 80s again, it's anybody's guess whether my comparatively undeveloped brain will be able to cope with things. I might have trouble believing that the world I've woken up in isn't another sim/dream. Maybe I'd be able to give adults some stock or gambling advice. If I saw events play out as I recalled them having played out in the dream world, I would probably start recording what I "remembered" was still yet to come. Maybe I could stop something, maybe not. It's hard to imagine a minor having much chance of influencing the world; could I have stopped the Challenger disaster, or the bombings of the 90s, or the unpleasantness in the Balkans? Perhaps I would become some sort of Cassandra-esque mental patient, akin to Bruce Willis in 12 Monkeys.
But it's just as likely I'd wake up in a world which radically diverged from the dream and I'd be just a little wiser for it.

See Replay by Ken Grimwood for much deeper exploration of this theme.

Sidenote: this happened to me once... sort of. I woke up in the middle of the night and a pattern of light & shadows in my quarters looked (through my eyes, lidded heavily with sleep) like the light that came in through the doorway of my bedroom when I was a child. For a few moments, I was a 10 year old kid again, my parents were sleeping just a door away, and everything was alright. It's hard to express how deeply secure I felt for that moment- the intervening decade-plus were gone from my mind. No growing up, no responsibilities, none of the nastiness of the last decades. I was a little sad when I woke all the way up.

 

[wrightguy0]

i would not get fat, that would be my first priority, priority numero dos, get my dad to invest in google, that way he can retire a decade earlier and live out his life doing all the theater work he wants, without the bother of having a job, while i take my advanced knowledge of math, science, art, literature and use that to my advantage, while also using my overdeveloped sense of snark and sarcasm to put down the fools who once teased and abused me.

i would probably be much better off than i am now, i would also bet on elections and sporting events, knowing the outcome in advance (if this is a vision of the future)

 

[Zanderinfal]

Alrighty then. I wouldn't mind if I could (as said in OP) develop my own life, I would bring back the good things from my past life, and get rid of most of the bad things, then fix things wrong with the world. If that were a reality I wouldn't mid. Good things? Bring them back. Bad things? Get out of here, this is my new world.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

I was a very serious child, I would learn what I could from the dream, and maybe in my future childhood, I'd spend more time having fun and less time trying to prove my worth to everyone.

Also, I would spend a lot more time putting my knowledge to use in school, cuz my life sharply imploded once I entered the school system, but since I've spent a long time studying people, studying how insecure idiots who are trying to be at the top of the pile treat everyone else, so I would likely be popular or at least have friends, rather than bein outcast by the outcasts and shat on my the popular kids. I mean sure I'd still be poor, but I would take myself a lot less seriously, and be a funnier more friendly kid, more likely to laugh stuff off than start fights over them.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Use all my knowledge if it still works to my advantage.
Also probably spend at least 7 years just enjoying my childhood. I'll try to set myself up with a different look personality this time around as well. Its kind of hard to just do a complete 180 in appearance and personality once you have already found a place in highschool.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

I would not change anything in my life.
The bad. The Good. The downright depressing and the astonishing cheers of joy? I'd do it all again.

If everything happens for a reason then you have never made a mistake. Just keep rolling and experience life for what it is - imperfect.

 

[SonicWaffle]

How would you react? Do you value a chance to develop your new life with the experience of your former self or would you grieve over all the people and experiences now proven to be nothing but your own imagination?

I think I'd go utterly and totally insane.

Imagine taking all the things you're used to doing, that you love doing - drinking a pint with your mates down the pub, having sex with your girlfriend, smoking a cigarette, playing extremely violent video games, having your own home with your own rules, staying up all night doing whatever you want on the internet, being able to walk into any movie you want, being treated with the respect that is due to a self-sufficient adult - and now imagine them all being taken away from you.

Your days are run entirely by parents and teachers. They dictate what you eat and when you eat it, they tell you where to go, what to wear, how to talk, what you can or can't watch on television. Imagine going to bed at 7pm. Imagine being forced to eat foods you hate. Imagine having to go through school again, except this time you are aware of just how little any of it matters and how worthless 99% of the things you're being taught are. Imagine wanting to read a book and being told you can't have anything more advanced than Spot the Dog. Sure you've got a lot of free time and no responsibilities, but you're incapable of doing any of the things you enjoy doing. Worst of all, imagine not being able to do a damn thing about it because as far as everyone else is concerned you're just a 5-year-old. If you try to explain what's happened to people, they'll think you're going insane. Can you even begin to imagine the horrific, soul-crushing boredom of having everything you love about life taken away and replaced by the life of a small child?

I think that, before too long, I'd probably attempt to jump in front of a truck.

 

[SonicWaffle]

I'd use my knowledge to become god of a new world. This must have happened for a reason, amirite?

Out of interest, precisely what knowledge do you possess that would enable a five year old to take over the world? I guess you could convince your parents to invest heavily in Apple, but even then you'd just become rich, not the God-Emperor of mankind.

 

[SonicWaffle]

Curse at being just too late to stop 9/11.

Wouldn't it be worse to wake up shortly before 9/11 and, being a fucking five year old have to watch it happen because there is absolutely nothing you can do to prevent it even if you try?

That would really mess with my head.

 

[maotad]

Was it a dream or a simulation? If a simulation, I wouldn't change much about myself, only add new skills. Since I'm already good at some stuff, I would just learn new things; other languages, instruments, coding...
On the other hand, if it was a dream, how do I know that anything I learned is actually true. I mean, for instance, how would a 5yo me, know enough english(if I even ever heard it at that age) to be able to dream learning it. Same goes for any other skill I might have picked up during this dream life.

Either way, I have 2 decades worth of new(or old, whichever way you look at it) movie and book material in my head, just waiting to become hits.

 

[Product Placement]

I think I'd go utterly and totally insane.

You're right to imagine that the scenario that you just described would be nightmarish at best.

However, I can't help but to imagine that a world that has a "implant 20+ years worth of memory into a child" machine would take special consideration to kids that have gone through this procedure. If you clearly possess the emotional maturity of an adult and can prove that you've reached a certain level of education (by taking the necessary tests), then there'd be no reason to deny you the rights of an adult.

Hell, we already have a legal framework that could handle cases like these. Minors can petition for emancipation, which frees them of the legal control of their acting guardian, provided that it's ruled in his favor. In order to make a convincing case, the minor needs to be able to prove that he can be financially self sufficient and can take of himself. Being able to fork over a high school/university diploma would get you a long way.

Despite that, you're probably still gonna have to wait until you can start drinking/having sex again.

 

[Jynthor]

Well, I guess I wouldn't care that much, my life has it's high points but in general I'm just a sad fat nerd dude, I could start over!

Question; am I the five year old version of myself or just some person, possibly the opposite gender? Because that'd be an interesting experience.

 

[Feylynn]

It would simultaneously be the best and worst thing that could happen I guess.
Being mentally ahead of your age is a huge advantage to setting up a new life and I'd be interested in how well I'd do with that advantage. On the other hand though I think I'd take it pretty damn poorly because there is no way I would get along with my friends when they were younger. I met them as a stupid little kid when they were stupid little kids.

If this was a precognisant dream then I'll do my life just better the second time around. I'll be well equipped to handle it.

If this is a fictional dream though than I will share things like The Lord of the Rings, Dresden Files, etc with the real world with attribution to their apparently fictional authors that I dreamed up. I would have stories to write forever and would feel an eternal guilt that I could not possibly save every story and likely not do most of them justice with my memory alone.

 

[General Vagueness]

Well, there would be:
- some things that would kind of automatically be different because I have certain habits, tendencies, etc.
- some things I could easily change
- some things that would be difficult to change, some of which I'd probably have to basically demonstrate precognition to change, and my memory isn't great, especially about stuff that far back
- some things that wouldn't be realistically possible to change
- some things in each of those categories that would be bad but have effects that aren't entirely bad
- some things I'd have to pretend not to know unless I go the precognition route, like writing in cursive-- which would be at odds with a principle I've held since I was about that young: honesty
- some things I'd regret later but might want to do again anyway, like eating an entire can of frosting
There would probably be some things I'd think I could change, and would probably try to change, that would wind up happening anyway.
I'd feel a weight of responsibility to make my future and everyone else's better, and I'd probably spend a lot of my free time-- and my other time-- trying to remember things so I could fix them and wondering what I've missed, because I'd know I couldn't fix or improve everything.
I'd have to re-live the things I couldn't change, and probably watch some of my plans for making things better not work or even backfire.
In short, it would be really hard.

 

[Smolderin]

Well...at first I would be extremely confused, and with a person with Social Anxiety disorder...I would probably panic. But then I would realize this is actually happening, I would confirm the year...and then be insanely happy. All the knowledge that I had acquired over a span of 16 years, would have the chance to be put to use in a time that would actually matter. All the mistakes I had made in middle school would not be made, and I would ultimately be a much happier, much more intelligent, and much more successful person.

 

[Terminate421]

If it's a simulation, that means its a virtual world right.....well then ITS TIME TO DUEL.

(I would duel my way out of the virtual world)

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I don't really know. On one hand, I'd miss everyone. I'm not entirely sure what all the rules you're applying to this are, but I'm going to go with going back to my life exactly as it was when I was five (so I can literally party like it's 1999!), but I'll not be a dick and invest in Apple etc. I just didn't want to have to deal with the 'everyone you ever loved didn't exist'.

But on that premise, I'd miss everyone definitely, but I would appreciate the knowledge I have now. You have know idea how many times I've been thinking 'I wish I knew how to deal with that crap' recently, there's quite a few things that I would love to get the opportunity to do differently. Things like picking up an instrument when I was really young, or social stuff and relationships. Hell, I wouldn't have been an awkward mess until I was 16! Shit. Secondary school would have been so much better.

 

[TheCrapMaster]

Well sir if that happend to me i would be very happy, i always wanted to do something like that. Change alot of choices i made. It would be like having a cheat on how to live your life until the point you "dreamed" to.

No more being Captain hindsight! Only be, Captain foresight until the age of 24!

Tho would be wierd to connect again with your "old" friends. Seeing they will be 5year olds and i would have the mind of a 24year old. Would make a ennoying friendship until they are around 15-18ish so they would be more like their "old" selfs.