Life's great mysteries - Would it be better to have a PAUSE button or a REWIND button for your life?

It occurs to me that some of the mysteries I contemplate get a little weird. But hey... I'm a sci-fi author, so weird is the way I roll.

When you were a kid, didn’t you wish you could have a PAUSE or a REWIND button? A PAUSE button would stop everything around you (except it wouldn’t stop you). A REWIND button would let you go back in time and do something over that you messed up. Which one you choose might say a lot about who you are.

Let’s consider these one at a time. A PAUSE button would allow you to pause when things get frantic, or just before doing something important, so you could contemplate it carefully or perhaps “phone a friend” for advice. Or, if you suddenly found yourself in a dangerous situation, you could pause and remove yourself from the danger, such as when you suddenly realize a car is about to run into you. Hmm… but I guess it wouldn’t help much if you slipped and were already falling. However, one could argue that access to a PAUSE button would lead to people becoming careless, which would result in getting themselves into more bad situations, perhaps even deadly ones in which a PAUSE button would not save them.

A REWIND button might allow you to correct mistakes, in hopes of achieving a different outcome. Or perhaps some people would use it to relive happy or thrilling moments. If you could use your REWIND button repeatedly, it might allow you to try things over and over until you figure it out (this reminds me of two movies: Groundhog Day with Bill Murray and Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise). However, one could again argue that a REWIND button would cause a person to become apathetic, eventually not caring much about his or her actions. After all, if you can have a redo to fix every mistake you make, you might stop being careful. Also, there is a risk that, in the process of reliving something, you might change something else that causes a cascading effect and makes your future even worse.

Okay, I’ve talked myself out of both of these. I’ve decided I don’t want either one! Why? Because life’s risks and potential dangers are what keeps us on our toes, and they make life exciting.

But I still wonder what other people might choose. I dug into this question enough to realize that no psychologists have ever done a serious, large-scale study or survey to see what most people would choose. Well, now I want to know why no one has done a large survey on such an important question! Possible answers: First, this question is abstract, not easy to answer. So, researchers probably assume many people surveyed would simply not answer it, leading to what is called non-response bias, making the results unreliable. Second, large-scale surveys usually are designed to provide insights tied to product or policy improvements. A question like this is interesting, but it doesn’t really offer practical outcomes for businesses or institutions, making it a lower priority. Bummer.

My conclusion (pure speculation, or course)? If you’re a PAUSE person, you’re more focused on the present, on caution, and on savoring the moment. If you’re a REWIND person, you’re more focused on nostalgia, regrets, and a desire to fix past mistakes.

There you go... something to think about as you start your day today!