#unhack going into sci-fi ponderings? No, not quite.

There is a thought, raised by time travel stories, source unfortunately no longer known (to me), that fits only too well into the theme of life skills, habits, and anti-life hacks…

That Fateful Little Change

Every other time travel story has the danger of changing something in the past, perhaps even the slightest thing, as a central tenet.

Step on a primordial bug, squash out all the evolutionary lines that lead to humanity. (Did I see that on Star Trek?)

Interfere with your parents’ meeting, kill your grandfather, never get born to interfere…

You know that story.

We Time Travelers

We all “time travel”, though.

Our lives proceed from birth to death, from the ever-passing present into the future.

And here’s that thought (that isn’t originally mine):

Why are we so afraid of fictional small changes in the past that would change the present – which are impossible… and fail to realize the immense importance this gives to our present actions?

If stepping on a bug in the past could have led to a whole different present, imagine the futures that you eating or not eating that additional piece of candy, walking for a few more steps or driving instead, studying a few more items of vocabulary or saving a bit more money could potentially give rise to.

You still cannot pay attention to every little thing. You may still not want to mind everything with intensity.

But maybe the thought can help shift a few little things that little bit towards the better.

Not to mention the bigger decisions…