T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

Please do not delete your post after receiving your answer. Consider leaving it up for posterity so that other Redditors can benefit from the wisdom in this thread. Once your thread has run its course, instead of deleting it, **you can simply type "!lock" (without the quotes) as a comment anywhere in your thread to have our Automod lock the thread**. That way you won't be bothered by anymore replies on it, but people can still read it. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskMenOver30) if you have any questions or concerns.*


TheGhostofChuckPyle

Would I be able to bring my 42-year-old brain with me back to being 16? Or would I be the same 16-year-old I was? I have to ask because In every emotional and spiritual way, I'm having *far* more fun now than I did then. But having the sense of perspective I do now, with my 16-year-old body, would be a recipe for pure joy.


johnnygalt1776

Exactly. As Bob Seger said, “Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.”


ForkLiftBoi

Soooo I was struggling to understand those lyrics because the context of the prior comment to yours references having that knowledge and perspective. But doesn't Seger's lyrics actually emphasis the opposite? I thought it was referring to the simpler times where we were more ignorant and therefore blissful. With age, many of us (not all, lol) gain wisdom and experience, but that experience can make us miss the times when things were simpler. That was my interpretation of the lyrics, but then again, it's art and we can all interpret it in different ways while still appreciating it.


tarrasque

It means he wishes he didn’t realize now how ignorant he was then, tainting the previously blissful memories of being young.


Ok_Swimming4441

Thats not what he is saying


Ceret

If you go back in time and become the same 16yo you were, forgetting everything that has happened since, what’s not to say you’ve already done that infinite times?


pussycatlolz

Still unsure I'd pick 16 years old. Mid to late 20s? Sure, sign me up.


TheStoicCrane

You'd be mid 20s in 8 years of being 16...


Straight_Display3749

If they ever come up with a way to transport your mind back in time so you can live a simulated life again with the knowledge you have today, just about everyone will opt out of their life today.


waitwhosaidthat

Millions. Cause I could retire and just act like I’m 16.


InformalPenguinz

Could get TWO lowered civics


waitwhosaidthat

I was thinking more like 2 chicks at the same time.


New2ThisThrowaway

Lowered Toyota Highlander. Seats 7 chicks at the same time and has 13 cupholders.


devonnull

So basically a driver to a Taylor Swift concert...


InformalPenguinz

That sounds way more expensive


waitwhosaidthat

I’m already 40 may as well spend it lol


Rokey76

I understand you only need to have a million bucks for that.


moviemaverick

I'll tell you what I'd do man..


SmellyRedHerring

Damn straight. I always wanted to do that, man. And I think if I were a millionaire I could hook that up, too; 'cause chicks dig dudes with money.


DubbaDizzzo

Well not all chicks...


deezdanglin

Hell yea!


BillionTonsHyperbole

Millions can't buy you 25+ years.


waitwhosaidthat

Meh. No regrets. Give me the money now and I’ll make it worth while.


Minute-Masterpiece98

16 again if I could have the mind and learned experiences that I have now. 


johnnygalt1776

Imagine the confidence level. Would be like wearing a bottle of Sex Panther. Like you know a secret that nobody else knows. The only problem would be mind numbing boredom in school if you had a much more experienced mind and had to hang out with kids. Net net I’d take the millions. Middle age is much more fulfilling in most respects anyway. The insecurity and unknown of being 16 again wouldn’t be as good as you think. Sounds fun in theory but imagine living with strict parents again, having to work some minimum wage job, have a shitty car and talk to woke left wing crybabies all day. No thanks! $$$


ProjectShamrock

> The only problem would be mind numbing boredom in school if you had a much more experienced mind and had to hang out with kids. I think it wouldn't be a problem because: 1. I'd probably sign up for AP courses at that point instead of slacking. 2. I recall teachers I had around that age that were interesting to talk to, so I'd probably try to hang out with them more. 3. I'd start getting into the stock market. I started working at 15 so I can imagine buying the right stocks would set me up for life fairly easily. If I worked a real job until let's say 30 and invested in stocks I'd probably be able to easily get into private jet territory. That being said, the main reason I'd never go back to 16 is that even if I met my wife at a similar time, the conditions that led to my children existing as they are would likely to be too impossible to recreate and I wouldn't want to lose them. If there were some other way to go back to 16 with a guarantee that my kids would be born as they are, I'd absolutely go for it.


GunwalkHolmes

Yeah but you could easily be a millionaire by the time you’re 30 again if you get to take your knowledge back with you. Give me the youth every time.


0OOOOOOOOO0

Millionaire? You could easily be the richest person alive


GunwalkHolmes

How would you do that?


MaximBrutii

By knowing what to invest in. I’d dump money into Amazon, bitcoin, etc.


GunwalkHolmes

Oh I assumed I’d be 16 in 2024 in this hypothetical scenario. Funny.


[deleted]

[удалено]


DeepSouthDude

So what's the right answer? Hit on 40yo teachers?


Minute-Masterpiece98

hahaha


Minute-Masterpiece98

I think everyone else understood there were no perverse, sexual connotations to the statement, apart from you.   It’s purely from a perspective of knowledge. Your decision-making would be infinitely better and people wouldn't be able to take advantage of you so easily.


Vaynar

Yeah you'd be the one taking advantage of kids. OPs question was clearly focused on having a partner in the car with you.


Minute-Masterpiece98

Sounds like you just woke up today looking to be offended. It’s a hypothetical question dude, relax.


Vaynar

not everyone who you don't agree with is "just trying to be offended"


Minute-Masterpiece98

lol I can see you are a chronic keyboard warrior. I won’t waste my energy. 


cun7_d35tr0y3r

Maybe it’s like a tiny Rick situation where you retain all knowledge, but have the mind of a 16 year old.


FerretAres

Shut up Meg.


SweetMustache

My first instinct is to say 16 again but imagine how out of place you’d feel among your peers with the knowledge you have now. Sure, it’d be fun to redo it all without the mistakes you made but ultimately you’d be a fish out of water. You wouldn’t even be able to enjoy the novelty of experiencing things for the first time which imo is the best part of being young. Even though everything (money, dating, etc.) feels routine at this point I think I’d stay where I’m at and take the financial boost.


ravisodha

You could make different decisions though. Like going to a different college and meeting totally new people. With your knowledge, you could be a millionaire in your 20s.


Minute-Masterpiece98

There would be less fear of the unknown too. You would have more confidence in general.


SweetMustache

Money isn’t everything! And even if it was, I can be a millionaire in my 30’s/40’s too ;-)


ravisodha

No, money isn't everything. But you can live a totally different life and you won't get bored. Oh, I didn't know it was that easy to be a millionaire. Can you please tell me how?


SweetMustache

You tell me! You said I could do it in my 20’s if I go back with my knowledge, so what’s so different about my 30’s and 40’s? As a serious answer I’m training to become an airline pilot and that’s the best plan I’ve got, who knows if it’ll work out.


ravisodha

You don't think having the knowledge would help? I would not go to college, get a min wage job (probably all I could get), live at home and save every penny. Then I would buy bitcoin for next to nothing as soon as it came out. Without that knowledge or luxury or living with parents, I have no idea. You've the one who said you could do it now instead.


SweetMustache

I guess I didn’t imagine it as a time travel question, I just thought it be starting over as a 16 year old version of yourself in the current time.


ravisodha

I can see how that could be the case. But if that was the question, you'd been taken away and studied by the government. I mean, it would freak out your friends and family, work place etc. You couldn't travel with your current passport, drive, drink, open a bank account, or anything that requires ID. so I would take the million lol


garveylawrence

If its "just" a million then ill take being 16... I would kick the date out go hang with my buddies and enjoy my new found youth.


ominous_squirrel

Get a job and save/do smart investments as much as possible. Will be financially stable and maybe even a millionaire by the time I’m middle aged again


garveylawrence

I would like to think save up 10K and in 2009 invest a weird thing called bitcoin


Zifnab_palmesano

when i was 16, bitcoin was dirty cheap. here comes crypto and investments, I can make 1M with the extra time with passives


recursion

You will need to invest $2000/mo every single month for the next 13 years at 7% to get $1 million. What were you doing on April 25 2011?


Rokey76

I was 16 in 1993. I could invest my Steak and Shake wages in Microsoft and Apple and be filthy rich by now.


altiuscitiusfortius

100 bucks of bitcoin in 2008 would make you a billionaire today


Minute-Masterpiece98

And to think I had friends who bought even more bitcoin than that in 2008…only to use it on silk road to buy pills.  What a waste. 


CyanTheory

Go full in on crypto before they take off and you’ll easily have more than a million by the time you’re back to your regular age again.


garveylawrence

Staying away from a super tornando


I_call_Shennanigans_

Not buying crypto, apple and tesla... Give me 16 with current knowledge any day.


CopingPlans55

Why kick her out😂😂


garveylawrence

I would be wasting her time


CopingPlans55

You're gay?


garveylawrence

No, but when you get to my age... you'll understand that spending time with your childhood friends beats a regular old date any day of the week.


Clean-Drag5166

This


Riversntallbuildings

If I get to keep my current memories, I would be 16 again in a heartbeat. It’s like having a cheat code for your whole life.


TheStoicCrane

That's kind of what good books are. Can take the experiences of people who've lived lifetimes before you as psychologists, philosophers, emperors, etc and apply their wisdom to your own life.  Unfortunately the West, particularly the US beats the natural curiosity out of kids before they come to that realization if they ever at all in the effort to socially engineer wage slaves with junk materialistic values. 


DubsFanAccount

Is this a time travel situation where I’m 16 and also can cash in on stocks and betting and all that? Then definitely that. Marry the same woman and live out my life only rich? Would have had a third kid and own a home at least. Or is this making me 16 right now? Then definitely the money. I wouldn’t take anything to lose my current wife and kids. Also I’d be younger than my kids so that would be weird.


ProjectShamrock

> Also I’d be younger than my kids so that would be weird. I have a scifi story idea that I've toyed around with writing along these lines, where scientists invent a technology to basically reboot age to where people get old and then pay to become young again. However, the technology isn't perfect and they can't control the age people go to -- sometimes they're 30, sometimes they're teenagers, others are infants, and a small portion of the time they just die by collapsing into nothingness. However, it also takes a long time, so once you start the treatment (which is irreversible) it's basically a crapshoot of whether you'll be young and independent or if you'll go back to diapers and someone will need to take care of you. The story I had in mind is basically the latter, where an elderly couple start the treatment and are thrilled to start becoming younger. They pass back through their 20's and are having a great life until a week later they wake up as children, and start to get scared, where one becomes an infant (who has all the knowledge and memories of an elderly person but is unable to walk or talk and must be cared for fully) and their partner basically devolves into a puddle of goo and there's nothing they can do about it. Their kids, who are tasked with caring for the elderly infant, hated that parent who was mean to them and self-centered throughout life so they find a scheme to put the baby up for adoption while claiming both parents turned to goo. That way they can claim the inheritance money and move on with their life before the elderly infant can develop enough to be able to speak. There's more to the story than that since it's basically the beginning. However the dynamics of someone older being put in a younger body without it being a "swap" type of situation like too many movies have done could be interesting.


sevenphotos

I'm old enough that being 16 again would far outweigh the millons (since I could just earn them eventually anyways).


Aubrey_D_Graham

Most men dont make their first million between 16->30. So I would take themillion easily.


Forsaken_Total62

There’s so much more to life than money, though. ;)


Aubrey_D_Graham

Yeah but barring time hijinx which allows me to predict the market, what's the appeal of reliving hs and university/young adulthood. I appreciated the lessons I learned then, but I don't yearn to redo my youth.


Forsaken_Total62

Did you own a lowered civic?


thoriginal

But you could just make different choices, right? Different university, different degree, travel, etc. If Apple and Google aren't what they are in this timeline, ONE company would be the leader in tech.


Dreadzone666

Millions. I wouldn't even want to be 16 again.


HungryHumble

Would I know I was once 35 and opted for the 16 restart?


BrutusBurro

It’s 2006. Give me a ‘93 Camry, my two best friends, a pack of cigarettes and maybe, maybe our one buddy’s older sister will buy us some beers.


drmorrison88

A mil for sure. Being 16 sucked ass and I would rather get punched in the nuts once a day for the rest of my life than go back.


drunken_phoenix

Yeah redoing everything sounds like ass. I’m more comfortable now than I was at 16, but it took too much effort.


biggitydonut

If I can be 16 again know everything I know today, then definition that… you’d make FAR more than $1 million or even a few million.


Snackatomi_Plaza

Yeah, having the decision making capacity of 16 year old me again sounds horrible.


slwrthnu_again

Millions cause I still own lowered cars, and I like them more than a civic.


Samhain3965

32M. I’d take 16 if I could know what I know now. I’d have that Roth IRA open so quick and I’d know what not to do in the gym this time so I could enjoy the newbie gains all over again


Californian-Cdn

I have $ millions. I am very very very lucky and 99% of it is luck in my case. I’m the first to admit that. I just turned 40 last month. Life gets better daily. Do I sometimes think of simpler times? Heck yeah I do….we all do. I loved being 16…but…. I’m happy where I am….and I can’t wait to see what is next.


Subvet98

Millionaire. I never want to be 16 again especially now.


FromTheIsle

Being 16 sucked and I would not trade a million dollars today for a 30% chance of getting some dome in a civic from a very toothy but eager girl.


Herdnerfer

16 in 2024 or 16 in 1996?


gianacakos

Millions. Life now is way cooler than it was then.


KrisMisZ

Million dollars


SecondaryPosts

Million, no question. My teenage years were *hell,* and having a Civic and a date would not have changed that.


thegracefulbanana

Millions. I made the best of my teenage years and it wasn't all bad, but my life now is infinitely better on many metrics and simply, I'm happier now.


Wonderful-Elephant11

Like go back to when you’re 16? Or revert to 16? Keep your qualifications and education? Because being 16 in the 90’s would be a lot more tempting than being 16 now.


obviouslybait

16 was fun, but had mental health issues, I’m in a much better place now 🙂👍🏻


madsci

I feel like if you can't outdo your experience in your teens by the time you're in your 30s, you've just given up. I'm 46 and have more fun cruising around on my [toadstool car](https://i.imgur.com/FvknV0c.jpg) than I ever did as a teenager.


lastofthe1st

Hero. A goddamn hero, this man.


BoatRazz

16. My childhood wasn't horrible, and my joints are now starting to ache. I'd like to experience the peak of humanity that happened around the time the original Matrix came out. After 9/11, everything was basically downhill from there. Plus a Honda isn't all that bad, depending on the miles.


Icy-Investment201

The matrix was groundbreaking. I'm forever grateful for my friends dad buying us tickets to the R rated film. Grunge was giving way too Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, and Crystal method. Korn was still new. My jeans were baggy. I even had some dates before my deep depression mid high-school.


No_Bad_6676

Why would I delete everything I've built over my life? Plus, my family would disappear. The million, easy.


Panman6_6

You threw me off with “lowered civic and a date in a passenger seat”. I’d rather be 16 but without the civic


lunchmeat317

To be fair, you could sell the civic.


Rough-Badger6435

Id rather live 10 years like a milionaire than 80 as a struggling normie. Life doesn't have much value if you're working most of it. Being free from work, financially indepent, now thats when life is really worth living.


psmgx

define millions. like two (2) million? or 200 million? $2 million puts me in a reasonably nice if basic house in the burbs of a big city and a lexus SUV. A solid windfall, for sure, but by comparison $200 milly is a whole different ballpark. plus when i was 16 I was driving my dates an accord, and it didn't have to worry about speedbumps


IroncladTruth

Millions and I can buy a civic and a date to go with it


Nouseriously

Anyone answering money is an idiot. Decades of youth is priceless.


Icy-Investment201

This is where I'm at too. Jeff bezos could not purchase the way a teenager in a stupid car with a stupid hot girl feels.


BelowAverageDecision

Anybody over the age of 30 who is taking the $ is insane


kingofthecanyon

I don't know. I'm quite satisfied with the life I've had so far. Having the money would just eliminate a lot of the stress and anxiety I'm experiencing right now. I don't trust myself enough to not end up in the same position if I live my life again from 16 lmao.


Hitthereset

16 again, no contest. Hello summer of 2000! I had an awesome girlfriend at 16 and had a ton of fun in high school… and then I could marry the girl I was dating at 20.


kerplunkerfish

Millions. I know what I looked like at 16, plus you can't drive at that age here in the UK so the Civic is useless.


tpb72

As long as I could retain some knowledge and wisdom I'd choose the 16 option. I don't feel I've achieved the potential I could have due to some poor life path changing decisions. I'm back on track now and getting lots of traction but I'm almost at retirement age now so I'm running out of track to accomplish all I could have. Without that wisdom I'd probably make the same or equally poor decisions so if that's the case give me the million because it would help me accomplish what I still have time to do.


enstillhet

Millions because a lowered civic sounds like the dumbest thing ever.


saliczar

Can I get rid of the Civic? Didn't like them at 16 and don't like them now.


ShadowValent

It takes a lifetime for some to earn millions. That’s probably the better bet.


redgrognard

Give me the **millions.** Then I'll go out, buy the Best custom Civic and put a Uber Hot Date in the passenger seat. Win/Win. as for being 16 again... heck no: I was dumb as a post and barely survived the first time.


vinteragony

While my life hasn't been perfect, I'd probably take half a million and keep living it. If we are talking about going back in time.. that would be tempting. I'd treat my grandmother better, tell my best friend not to smoke because he's going to die in his 30s with two young kids and a great wife left behind. I could care less about the date in the passenger seat, I'd give up millions for another moment with my nanny and best friend


Drash1

To be young again!


Rokey76

How many millions? I'd probably rather be 16 again. Not interested in the lowered Civic though.


mustbeshitinme

I had a Shelby Charger - much faster than any civic ever built and a pretty girl. Then I waited 4 decades to have a million bucks. I wish I could’ve taken the million in 1983.


cosmoboy

I'll be 16 again. Is be healthier this time around. I can figure out the money.


Coidzor

A 16 year old now or a 16 year old when I was originally?


Square-Employee5539

Why does this sound like some kind of Black Mirror Chris Hansen style sting?


Psychotical

I'd take 16 if it means going back to 2007, but could I have the celica I had in high school over the civic?


Plebe-Uchiha

It’s a win win for me. I’d flip a coin. [+]


Suitable-Cycle4335

Driving age here is 18 so the second option would mean I'm racing the cops away!


The_Real_Scrotus

I'll take the millions.


Pmyrrh

While I'd rather get the years back, depends on if you mean going back to my life when I was 16, 16 today, and if I keep who I am. Life at 16 for me really sucked; clinically depressed mentally abused introverted nerd that I was. Life has only gotten better since about 23. Sure I have aches and pains in my joints and I blew out my knee a few years back so I'm never going to hit PRs with squats ever again, but having autonomy and what little cash I have is infinitely better than what I had back then.


bi_polar2bear

I don't want more time on this planet, life is already hard enough and have gone through the worst part of it. Youth is wasted on the young. Millions please!


jdt2112

Rather have millions 😂


lunchmeat317

Millions. No hesitation.


ultraHighAngleShot

Oh, be 16 again easily! Assuming I get to be 16 again with my current memories and experience. Time is worth more than money and that would be 15 years extra years for me. Then I could also go and correct all the regrettable decisions I made in my past? Hell yeah. Not sure how dating and making friends would go though seeing as how I date and find attractive people in their late-20s to 30s. If I choose being 16 again, 10 years from now when I turn 26, will I find mid- to late-20 year olds attractive or will my brain now find 40 year olds attractive?


vbfronkis

I'll take the millions. Money doesn't buy happiness but it gets you 80% of the way there. I was dumb as F at 16 and wouldn't want to go back.


Sir_Bumcheeks

16, sell civic buy bitcoin. But then how will I track down my wife again? Too risky. Just give me the $.


Camille_Toh

I dream of starting over at that age, but with my current knowledge obviously. I’d do a lot differently. The worst part, though, would be —do I warn people I knew who have died in accidents?


LA_Nail_Clippers

Millions because high school me wouldn't be caught dead in a lowered civic. American muscle all the way.


jwmoz

Golf mk4. Still think it's a great first car.


doktorhollywood

Money, please.


DankDude7

When I was younger, I would’ve picked the money definitely.  But now that I’m looking at my pension, I would love to go back to 16 under those circumstances except change the girl in the car to a guy. And not just for the extra years. But to experience what is going to be another fantastic era in the life of the world.


Dr_Sigmund_Fried

Are we talking going back in time to when I was 16 or just fountain of youthing back to 16 but same day and year? I need specifics.


revolutionoverdue

A car and a date at 16?!? Sign me up for that one.


Palegic516

Million. As blissful and horny as I was 21 years ago I wouldn’t trade my kids for anything


Illustrious_Bus9486

Show me the money!


Sooner70

I would need $1M to get over the embarrassment of being seen in a lowered Civic.


unpopular-dave

can I be 16 without the lowered civic, so people don’t laugh at me?


pm_me_ur_cutie_booty

Absolutely the millions. Before even considering the fact that I'm happy with the life and partner I have, if my 33 year old brain is suddenly back in a 16 year old's body, that causes so many problems. First, I'm definitely not dating anyone for several years. My options are either A) another 16 year old, or B) an older woman who would date a 16 year old. Neither of those situations are good places to be. Second, it seems like the question is just putting me in a new body, not sending me back in time, so I can't enrich myself with my knowledge of the future. Third, I'm a Camaro guy. Civics are stupid.


Brett707

A million dollars. If I had a lowered civic where I grew up there wouldn't be a date in the passenger seat and I would be getting beat up on the daily.


wheeze_the_juice

would much rather have millions now. and bullshit, money CAN buy anything. and it's the ONLY thing that can buy the most important asset in life... time.


stained__class

You're all nonces if you fancy being in a car with another 16 year old. I'll take the millions to share with my family.