I'd love to see a future Sci-fi TV episode where a character gets not one, but multiple such "from the future gift boxes with video messages from a future self" -- but from multiple future selves, that is, multiple future parallel universe versions of the character!
In other words, "here is a set of potential future you's -- along with the instructions to activate them -- important upcoming life decisions to make or not to make, depending on the desired outcome..."
And what would make it really interesting (as the plot unfolds!)... is that all of these apparently disparate sets of decisions -- are actually intertwined, entangled, and potentially mutually contradictory (i.e., choosing one set unchooses all of the others!)
Now, for extra points, for the future SF writer or writers working on this -- make it so that the main character, after discovering the "either-or" mutual exclusion principle inherent in these choices -- tries to somehow cheat fate and destiny by attempting to somehow obtain ALL of them at the same time!
Will the character be successful in his quest against the apparent exclusivity of fate?
Or will he somehow manage to attain all of these future possibilities, all at the same time?
Well, that's the episode plot for this future TV Sci-Fi episode and/or movie (should it ever be written!)
I could see this as 6 episode seasons and each episode comes with 2 boxes detailing potential outcomes, the first episode boxes cover the next week, the second cover the next month, then 6 months, a year, 5 years, and all the way to retirement.
After episode 5 which shows the MC having achieved an outcome they are happy with, episode 6 starts with a new person who gets an episode almost all to their self.
However, the first person finds them when back when they were on choice 2 (in Episode 2), and realizing that they are not the only person getting these choice boxes causes the original experiment that we saw to go off the rails. (Events in time can be changed after the fact, after all, the fundamental system the whole story runs on is time travel).
That queues up your idea of attempting to cheat fate and somehow obtain all of the potential futures with their #2 while also dealing with other people given choice boxes.
It allows the story to address all sorts of questions like, who is sending the boxes, what is the purpose of the boxes being sent, and what is the final goal once all of the time travel fuckery settles down?
I'd love to see a future Sci-fi TV episode where a character gets not one, but multiple such "from the future gift boxes with video messages from a future self" -- but from multiple future selves, that is, multiple future parallel universe versions of the character!
In other words, "here is a set of potential future you's -- along with the instructions to activate them -- important upcoming life decisions to make or not to make, depending on the desired outcome..."
And what would make it really interesting (as the plot unfolds!)... is that all of these apparently disparate sets of decisions -- are actually intertwined, entangled, and potentially mutually contradictory (i.e., choosing one set unchooses all of the others!)
Now, for extra points, for the future SF writer or writers working on this -- make it so that the main character, after discovering the "either-or" mutual exclusion principle inherent in these choices -- tries to somehow cheat fate and destiny by attempting to somehow obtain ALL of them at the same time!
Will the character be successful in his quest against the apparent exclusivity of fate?
Or will he somehow manage to attain all of these future possibilities, all at the same time?
Well, that's the episode plot for this future TV Sci-Fi episode and/or movie (should it ever be written!)
Anyway, interesting article!