• brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Holy heck, I’d be highly aware of being somewhere on the autism/add spectrum. That would change everything even if I just knew that.

    An example: I actually mined bitcoin when I was a kid, on 2x HD 6850s.

    And… lost it, in the depths of some old partition with files everywhere :/. I didn’t take any of that seriously.

    I’d have kept a bunch of friends too.

  • monovergent@lemmy.ml
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    2 months ago
    1. Be intellectually ahead of everyone my age
    2. Become an outcast
    3. Become depressed 😭

    More optimistically, I would stop complaining about my bedtime, take better care of my teeth, and join a sports program. Try not to be a perfectionist and put more time toward proper hobbies instead of wasting away on the internet. I’d also treasure my time with my parents a lot more than I did back when I was 8. They’re still around for me, but man do I wish I had more time to spend with them.

  • I used to think about this a lot and, despite having largely resolved my relevant trauma now, I think my answer is still the same.

    I would try to convince my parents that I’m the Antichrist, and if that didn’t work, I’d just stab my dad

    • Buffalobuffalo@reddthat.com
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      2 months ago

      If we assume I become my 8 year old self and live my life over, this becomes a problem. I love my wife and would not want to risk changing anything so that I meet her. Yet we at and dated at 16… this would be problematic as I would be a 45 year old man in the body of a 16 year old. Creepy factors aside, could I pretend to be what I think 16 year old me was like? And if I did would the relationship not be based on a lie?

    • electric_nan@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      Aww that’s very sweet. I know exactly where and when I met my partner though, and I could show up to the meeting way better prepared for our life together :)

      • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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        2 months ago

        Great! For us, so many things had to go right and wrong for us to meet each other at the right place, right time, and right frame of mind. Honestly any slight change could have led us to never meeting or never liking each other.

  • untorquer@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Depends on whether that’s 8yo now or back when I was 8.

    In either case, a lot more fucking around as a teenager and a lot less fucking around in my 20’s.

  • inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Transition decades earlier. Or more precisely have the courage, vocabulary and fortitude to stand up to my religious mother and bigoted father. I always knew what I wanted, but they both insisted on doing football and weight lifting, no matter how out of place and unnatural those environments felt to me.

  • BlueSquid0741@lemmy.sdf.org
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    2 months ago

    Probably be catatonic. This kind of stress, self-doubt and loathing require those extra 32 years of building resilience. Transplant it into 8 year old me and he just shuts off I imagine.

  • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Fix my education path. No compromises. No getting gaslighted.

    If they won’t officially give me my classes, I’ll sit in the right ones until they either give them to me or kick me out.

    Edit: Also, try and stop the Brook Brothers Riots.

  • HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml
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    2 months ago

    Do I keep my language skills?

    Then have a normal childhood with normal social interactions in Canada instead of the awkward immigrant who can barely speak. Also potentially get diagnosed with autism as a kid because I kind suspect of the language barrier masked some of the symptoms.