Humans were built to look back; that's why they have that swivel joint in their necks.
---Stephen King, from his novel 11/22/63
Stephen King's 2011 novel 11/22/63 is my favorite of his...one of my all-time favorite books. I just finished reading it for the fifth time...seems that I can't stay away from it too long. The premise here is something worked over a number of times in fiction: the desire to go into the past at pivotal moments of history and change that history. You might have already guessed...if you haven't yet read the novel yourself...that in this story it's the John F. Kennedy assassination that is the targeted outcome. The opportunity for time travel presents itself through what Maine diner owner Al Templeton calls a "rabbit hole" he discovered in the pantry of his newly relocated establishment, a portal taking him back in time from 2011 to 1958 that offers him the convenience of also returning to the present. Originally blown away by the novelty of escaping into the past, Al hits upon the idea of buying ground beef cheap back in 1958 and bringing it back to 2011, thereby seriously underselling all his competitors in the area with his business's delicious, cheap hamburgers. But eventually he realizes that 1958 isn't that far off from 1963, and he sets out to prevent JFK's assassination. Unable to fulfill his task due to declining health, he returns to the present and passes his cause on to Jake Epping, a divorced writer who is the first-person narrator and the novel's protagonist. The above quote is one of the book's many musings, aimed at our tendency to become obsessed with the past. I've discussed this novel repeatedly on this blog...today I'd like to look at the notion of regret and people's desires to go back at a specific time in their lives and change how they went about doing things, thinking from the benefit of hindsight that by so doing the entire rest of their life would change substantially for the better. But as King laid out in this story, once you go back in the past and alter something, all bets are off as to what will then ensue...for a completely new future will then follow, one that the time traveler has no notion of how to cope with. You go back and make one thing better, but the result causes a cascade of unintended consequences that can be much worse than the original regret. Better to see one's past failures...as well as those historical tragedies of bygone years...as necessary, essential parts of the great tapestry that today defines who we are individually and collectively. On the other hand, I find imaginary time travel a useful mental self-improvement tool. Say for example I wish that I had studied in high school more assiduously and maintained a disciplined regimen of homework, setting up "shop" at our dining room table going through certain established daily routines. I can't go back to 1971, but I can still incorporate those thoughts into the present in other areas of my life...
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