What would you ask your 12yr old self? [Video]

Ever wanted to give your future self advance warning about something you’re about to do? Do you remember what you were doing when you were 12 years old? Wouldn’t it be cool if scientists stopped obsessing with the meaning of life and particles that will always be there and just did something useful like invent a time machine?

These (and I am sure many more) are the kind of questions that kept filmmaker and actor Jeremiah McDonald awake at night. But he was smart and knew how to solve the problem. Twenty years ago McDonald decided that he wanted to talk to his future self, so he made a video, as one does. McDonald cut together a conversation using footage of himself in 1992 (at age 12) and in 2012 (age 32). The result, a humorous back and forth between a grown man a 12-year-old boy who doesn’t understand what the internet is.

It’s interesting to see what his 12-year-old self and his 32-year-old self still have in common, such as British sci-fi show Doctor Who, as well as the shift in their priorities. Grown up McDonald has moments of wistful longing for old dreams cast aside and moments of bemusement at his younger self’s behaviour.

The video is currently growing in popularity with more than 300 000 views in 24 hours. I suppose it’s fitting that McDonald had this conversation this year, considering come December the world will apparently end. Pity he doesn’t let his past self into that little secret probably for the best, his younger self seems quite hyper.

If I could talk to my 12-year-old self I would say “get off that Nintendo and go play outside!”