how would you like to time travel to the past?

If you have to go back to five years ago under the following circumstances— which of the four situations do you prefer?

1. You retain all your future knowledge, and you are aware that you are a time traveler;

2. You retain all your future knowledge, but you do not know that you are from the future;

3. Your knowledge resets to five years ago, but you are aware that you are a time traveler;

4. Your knowledge resets to five years ago, and you do not know that you are from the future.

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If one:
This scenario offers the greatest advantage because you could potentially make informed decisions to improve your life and the world around you. You may also relive moments or ensure you spend as much time as possible with your lost loved ones. But how much history will you change because of the butterfly effect? Are you fine with changing the course of history and lose your original future? If you decide to relive your life exactly the same all over again, wouldn't that be boring or redundant? What's the point of time travel then?

If two:
This scenario could be advantageous in terms of personal success, as you have knowledge of future events and trends. However, without awareness of time travel, you might not fully understand why you have this knowledge or how to best utilize it. Are you going to live in constant anxiety and fear that something bad is forthcoming? Are you going to live in the godly, lonely omniscience except the knowledge of the origin of your power? Does knowing about the future make you happier or more miserable?

If three:
In this situation, you would have to rely on your current awareness to navigate the past without the benefit of advanced knowledge. How does the awareness of being a time traveler change your life? If I tell you right now that you are a time traveler, isn't every moment of your current life essentially situation three? Knowing that a future self sacrificed five years of knowledge just to return to who you are right now, would you live your life more fully?

If four:
This scenario would be similar to living your life again from that point without any knowledge of future events. How is it different from the current moment? Because you don't know if you are from or knowing about the future, isn't every moment of your life essentially situation four? Knowing that potentially a future self sacrificed five years of knowledge just to return to who you are right now, would you live your life more fully?

Class 3 Small Group Critique Notes

this is a very commanding theme
Bethany: i don't have to make it related to Russian / East European art, even though the term may have been generated from there; it may create a different narrative and seem confusing— focus on my story

spell check!

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Big type spread

maybe don't reply on the russian/east european art anymore, use the dreamscape images

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Interview spreads

image: use image from my real home (Nanjing)
second interview spread content can start sooner, maybe still on a larger size, can interweave/flow across the spreads

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Non-linear storytelling idea

the non-linear storytelling can be small / textual / visual, instead of being structurally and disrupting the flow
Maybe the questions on the cover can be the element of non-linear storytelling: if you answer yes to scenario 1, jump to page 10 etc.

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Back cover

Bethany feels like the back cover doesn't sum it up
Hard to get the pepper idea/connection —> pepper is old, therefore pepper gone!

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Cover

The size of the type on cover is competing with the second spread with big type
Maybe start with the same text size as the second interview spread (the one with Nanjing)

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The teeth spread

It feels like a different taste, lose it, make space for others

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Annotations

Text size may be too small

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Get the habit of printing thumbnails to feel the flow of spreads.

Print out on 11x17 paper, 3x3 thumbnails or horizontal, print as spreads