I'll take the quick pick, I'd go back and off the inventor of the quick pick.  Alright wise guys which lottery was the first to get the quick pick? In any form? 

Microsoft 1985 $1000 of stock would be over $3M last year, I sold it way too soon.  I worked wih concurrent DOS ouch!

Google stocks all the way, baby!!   That would be like winning the lottery in itself.  That's assuming 50 and 100 years aren't my only choices of how far to go back.

If there's any point in time travel it must be to go forward in time. Can't make much money out of lottery draws which has happened.

Sorry but I disagree to the butterfly theory. First off, An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. SO to PREVENT an event ( World Trade Center ) or the Holocaust is a HUGE positive. Sometimes a small ripple can create the greatest of rewards. So explain to the small children who lost parents/ relatives at the world trade center that gosh IF you were given the ability to change that event, you wouldnt because it would affect so many others. As if their family or loved one doesnt count in the scheme of it all.

I chose Lottery, because its a risk that I would prefer to be a given :)

Tough one. Assuming there is time travel for the sake of discussion, if you go forward, despite having the technology to do so, you are still going to an unknown. Let's say you opt to go to, oh, 2020, but there is no 2020 because we never got past 2012! Then what?

If you go backward, you are going back in time with knowledge of what is going to happen. Whether you could really do anything with suck knowledge is up for debate (some Twilight Zones come to mind, Serling was a genius and loved this topic), and even if you could, what would be the consequences?

Let's say you could go back and prevent Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Well, there was actually an invasion planned, if need be, that would have been a much more immense bloodbath for both sides than dropping the A-bombs were.

The GameGrl

Good stuff, but considering the above, your post made me think of the Wishmaster movies.

Stocks all the way...

berkshire hathway all the way...

Does this time machine come with magical powers, too? How would one have prevented planned military operations? There are a few of those going on right now; no time machine required. Hop to it.

As far as other "events", if they were unpleasant, history shows it's best to keep it to yourself as you're going to be ignored at best, and accused at worst. In between are the possibilities of ridicule and/or job loss. You may get credit after the fact, but the "event" will still have taken place. Most people operate under the stop-light syndrome.

I understand what you are expressing here, but we can't play God.  If we went back in time to stop a disaster, that's exactly what we would be doing.  If during the course of our lives we prevent a death because we take action, i.e., running into a burning building to save a child or rescuing people from a car that was about to explode, then it wouldn't be the same as taking on superhuman powers.  Everyday there is death & destruction, and as humans we need to do the best we can to change the world.  However, to go back to change events that already happened would be too subjective.  Fortunately, I don't believe time travel is possible so I'll never need to make that decision! Believe me, I wish I could turn back time & stop all the horrific crimes that have been committed.  I'd probably first go back and save Jessica Lunsford. 

I chose lotto even though I didn't notice the 50-100 year plotline.

I read a little about time travel and noticed that you guys are in somewhat of a heated discussion so let me ask you a question (this question is why many scientists, theorists say time travel isn't possible)

This question was proposed by Rene Barjavel in 1943 and it is called the grandfather paradox:

The situation is this: One travels to the past and murder their grandfather. The question is this: What would happen to the traveler? 

Theorists came with up three possible answers but what do you think would happen?

You can look up the theorists answers elsewhere or you can ask me I suppose, this question is very popular to time travel enthusiasts.

Indeed true.

The answer would be that the grandson wouldn't exist. But travelling in the past seems unlikely. Travelling into the future holds major promise.