A lot of people think that would be a good use of time travel. If you could kill Hitler before he came to power, you could (they say) stop WWII, the Holocaust, etc.
I’m not so convinced. I’m afraid that if someone went back and killed Hitler, somebody more competent would have taken his place, and he would have taken the world down a similar path — but the Nazis would have won.
I want somebody to go back in time and find the person who turned the wedding toast into a speech, and convince him out of it. Or maybe just tie him up for a few hours to prevent it from happening.
I’d be concerned that by trying to stop Hitler that it could trigger other negative unintended consequences (in addition to the Nazi’s winning). This idea was well illustrated in the movie “About Time”. https://youtu.be/T7A810duHvw
Yeah, I like that movie. There are a lot of paradoxes and strange issues with time travel. It’s a good thing we don’t have it! 🙂
My real point was to subtly compare the person who did the first best man speech to Hitler.
QUOTE: My real point was to subtly compare the person who did the first best man speech to Hitler.
But, if someone stopped him…something worse might have evolved. Instead of a toast, maybe the tradition would have become a “red wedding”??? 😉
I’d go for the one who made it into a comedy routine. I’ve heard some great best man speeches that I was glad to have the opportunity to hear.
We tend to limit and structure things to account for variations in talent. Like service books for ministers. “Just read what’s in the book and don’t improvise.”
I’m sure some people can pull off amazing speeches, but most people can’t. So I’d rather rein them in.
Stephen King had a decent book called 11.22.1963 or something like it. Some guy goes back in time to try and stop the JFK assassination. The universe tries to block him at every step, and then when he succeeds and returns to the future it is worse off—because Kennedy somehow instigated a nuclear war with the USSR. Yeah…you don’t know what the consequences are…