"Second Chances" ~ would you like you?

[varek]

I wish I could go back to my self in high school and tell myself all I've learned since then! Maybe, then, I would live my life the way I should have. So many stupid mistakes and missed opportunities to have done things better!
As the comedians say, too: If I'd have known I'd be in this body this long, I'd have taken better care of it!

 

[Hikaru_Ichijo]

I do find it regrettable that they never followed up on Tom. DS9 really should've devoted one last episode to tying up this loose end, especially after hanging such a sequel hook in "Defiant".

I know! I wish they'd rescued him, or at least given us an update.

You can read about Tom and Will crossing paths again after the Defiant incident in "Imzadi II" by Peter David. I had a blast reading it years ago, especially since they were able to explain why Worf wasn't going after Deanna anymore by the time he was assigned to DS9.

 

[Mojochi]

I tried to have this debate with someone once. I tried to convince them that the person they are today is related to the person they were two-decades ago, but that the accumulated experiences of that 20 years means the "now" you has got perspective that the "then" you doesn't, which means however much you are the same person, you are also very different on a fundamental level.

The other guy didn't bite. He simply said he knows he's the same person, even if looking back at his past self makes his present self cringe.

Really, that's what "Second Chances" is all about. Will Riker gets cold water splashed in his face when his (effectively) decades old self comes back and gives him a stark reminder how much he's changed in all those years... but then, he decides those changes aren't necessarily such a bad thing after all.

I think it goers even further than that in this case. Tom had 8 years of divergent perspectives too

There's a lot of truth to Will's concern for Deanna getting involved with Tom, Truth about Will, not about Tom. Will left her. Tom probably wouldn't. Tom spent 8 years coping with having lost her. Will never had that. Will spent 15 years figuring out he should have stuck with her to begin with.

Tom did some soul searching that Will never did. In that way, Tom had a leg up on Will, & that's what bugged him

To answer the OP. I suppose if an absolute duplicate of me spawned here right now, I could figure a way to get along, but if a me from nearly a decade ago surfaced & had undergone a catastrophic, life altering event, which had changed me in ways I could never see myself changing, then no. I'd find it really disturbing

 

[JarodRussell]

Past ME could use some poking into the right direction to save some time and money.

 

[RandyS]

Well, this is really two questions.

1. Would I like Past Me? Yes. But there are MANY things I would warn him about. Mostly stuff to avoid.

2. If I met an exact duplicate of myself as I am now, would we get along? I'd like to think so. I've always wanted to shake hands with myself, plus, it would give me the opportunity to actually have an intelligent conversation with the greatest person in the world.

I love Me.

 

[ALF]

RandyS, I was thinking the same thing, two ditinctive ways to answer the OP's question:
Would I like a duplicate of myself today, maybe. A copy from seven years ago, no fucking way. I think I'd prefer a copy of Riker. He knows how to party.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Welcome back, K'Ehleyr. I think I'd mostly like me. It would be interesting to see how eight years of different experiences affected us. She might seem immature.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I would either...

A. Instantly see everything I dislike about myself and hate me.

B. Instantly see everything else and love me.


No middle ground.

 

[QuarkforNagus]

I get along with EVERYBODY so I'm pretty confident I would get along with me. I also like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and I'm pretty empathetic. I like those qualities in people, so I think I'd see them in this other me and like her. I think we'd be really good friends, actually.

 

[TheSeeker]

If I met myself from 7 or 8 years ago the only big difference would be that I married the woman I was dating 8 years ago and I have been a father for the last 4 years. I think my past self would congratulate me on my current assignment in New York as it is something of a coveted position within my department.

 

[USS Firefly]

Of course I would like myself!
I don't meet a living legend everyday
And then I would kick myself in the ass.