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[DragoonKain]

Someone asked me this question the other day, and I had to give it some thought. If you had the option to be teleported to a time and place centuries from out past. Could be the colonial era, could be medieval times, biblical times, any time period you want. But something in the distant past, not like 1960, let's say 1700s and prior... would you do it?

The rules:

-No guarantee for your safety in that time period. So depending on what time period you choose, you may not even be guaranteed something as simple as clean water or food. You're subjected to the daily dangers and struggles of any normal citizen of that time period.

-You have to stay a full week. Two days in you can't bail and want back to present day. Once you come back, you retain all knowledge you gained with you.

-You can pick any specific point in time. So you could go and get insight into any past events and bring that knowledge back with you and answer questions that have been long debated by historians once and for all. Or you can go just to see what it is like to live in another time period out of pure curiosity. Your choice.

I think I would take the risk and do it. The potential for knowledge is far too great. You could be the most knowledgeable person on the planet about a specific subject or event and have more insight into it than anyone on the planet earth right now.

 

[Skyfox]

Absolutely. I'd want to try to meet Jesus so I'd aim for Jerusalem like 20AD. Can I bring my phone? It has audio translation software. Dunno if it does Aramaic or whatever though. I'd probably need to consult with some specialists before I go. Maybe learn to ride a horse or something

 

[ManaByte]

 

[DeepEnigma]

Yes.

To either meet Jesus, or the forming of the USA meeting George Washington and crew. Can I bring them shit back in time to show how batshit insane things have gotten?

Probably not, that whole butterfly effect and all.

 

[Vicetrailia]

No way in hell.

 

[Nobody_Important]

Not a chance.

The Past sucked and despite everything that's going on right now the present is still better. Especially if you're going back centuries.

 

[Zeroing]

Can I use the XIX century????
France. I would go with all the now famous Impressionists artists and buy some of works ( back then they barely could sell it, so it would be cheap ) then I would travel to the Switzerland and put all those artworks on safes ( they cannot empty the safes as long as a relative is alive and it is passed down from generation as long as you have the keys.) using the name on my ancestors.

I would be back in the present and voila... I would be all in the news for having unknown or lost paintings by those artists.

 

[synchronicity]

Sure. Life's an adventure, change is a constant and physical death comes to all. It would be amazing to see a period that you may have only imagined or read about, and have the ability to compare your ideas/historical narrative with actual experience.

Talking to people would be hilarious though, as dialects are always changing, so even if you spoke the language, you'd come across as a real oddball, lol.

 

[poppabk]

I have kids so it would have to be sometime or place relatively safe - but hell yeah I would travel in fucking time for a week.
PS can I bring anything I want or am I doing this Terminator stark bollock naked style.

 

[Sakura]

Yes.
Can I bring my phone?
I want to go to ancient Sumeria and take photos and videos.

 

[Zeroing]

I have kids so it would have to be sometime or place relatively safe - but hell yeah I would travel in fucking time for a week.

What if when you came back you realize your wife is married to someone else and your kids are not yours? And nobody knows you and you have a different life because somehow you messed up the future/present by petting a dog?

 

[Zeroing]

Who was in this thread that went to see the Dinosaurs and left their SNES there?

 

[haxan7]

Absolutely would, assuming we rule out the risk of terrible time travel related mishaps such as being stuck in a conscious but immobile state for trillions of years until the universe implodes.

 

[DeepEnigma]

What if when you came back you realize your wife is married to someone else and your kids are not yours? And nobody knows you and you have a different life because somehow you messed up the future/present by petting a dog?

 

[haxan7]

If I do go back, I'm going back with a plan to be Biff Tannen rich.

 

[strange headache]

Would love to travel back to ancient Greece and meet Plato and Aristotle. Never again has there been a greater concentration of wisdom in a single point in time and space. During that time Athens was still in its golden age ushered in by the benevolent reign of Pericles. Life was generally good, even for a perioikoi... plenty of trade, arts and culture protected by the strong walls of Athens and a capable bond of city-states.

I would tell them about our times, modern democracy, our values, our struggles and problems as a society and soak up their reactions. I would show them how philosophy has or hasn't evolved and how meaningful their thoughts have been to the modern world. Finally, just shoot the shit and share a nice glass of wine.

I'd come back with great many new insights into their teachings, many of which became lost to the whims of history.

 

[p_xavier]

I doubt I could handle the smelly people of all things. Daily hygiene is a recent phenomenon.

 

[lem0n]

I'd bring my phone and a huge Bluetooth speaker and play Laffy Taffy by D4L at max volume to Queen Elizabeth I

 

[Daneel Elijah]

I could look for either religious confirmation, witness historical events or plan for riches...
But honestly I would like to go there.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

There's got to be some awesome sexcapades and uber porn stuff that can be done in a week and then get transported back to present day with no consequences.

 

[Decontamination Silo]

Absolutely.

 

[GeorgioCostanzaX]

I’d go back with like $1k and buy Apple stock in the 80’s then come back and retire.

 

[haxan7]

There's got to be some awesome sexcapades and uber porn stuff that can be done in a week and then get transported back to present day with no consequences.

 

[mitch1971]

As long as I can bring back a classical music genius from the past for my class project.

 

[Aesius]

I'd be wary of traveling outside of America or an English-speaking country because of communication issues. And even then, if I went back far enough, no one would understand me and vice versa due to linguistic changes over the centuries.

As a white dude, I would also be hesitant to travel to certain parts of the globe, especially in the far distant past. I certainly wouldn't want to teleport somewhere and be the first white person the locals had ever seen.

Just from a sheer survivability standpoint, 1700s America or England would be good. If any other part of the globe or time period, I'd be pretty damn cautious and scared to move around too much. One wrong move and I'd be accused of witchcraft or demonic possession or something because of my strange clothes, appearance, language, etc. It would also be difficult to even buy food or shelter.

Ancient Greece seems like a good bet. I'd go somewhere with good weather so that I could sleep outside if needed and where I could potentially forage food. The week would be hard as hell and I'd probably end up hungry and dehydrated, but I think I could survive and it would be mind-blowing to see life back then.

 

[I_D]

If you want to have any sort of interaction with people, just remember that your native language was completely different less than two hundred years ago, regardless of where you're from (almost).



I think I'd go back to the creation of the US Constitution. It's about as far back as I could go while still being understood, while also being super important to history.
I'd at least want to witness the debates that occurred right before quill was put to paper.
And if I could actually add my own influence, there are a few words that could have been changed, and saved the country a whole lot of later hassle (such as "man" to "people," for example).

That is, assuming I could even figure out a way to get to the right places. The whole question really depends on whether you can bring native-currency with you. If not, there's not really any point in going anywhere relatively-modern at all. You'd be pretty much automatically limited to places that existed before currency was the norm.
In which case, I'd go back and show some early humans some basic math and language skills, and then see if it makes any difference to history; assuming they didn't kill me.

 

[IDKFA]

Would love to travel back to ancient Greece and meet Plato and Aristotle. Never again has there been a greater concentration of wisdom in a single point in time and space. During that time Athens was still in its golden age ushered in by the benevolent reign of Pericles. Life was generally good, even for a perioikoi... plenty of trade, arts and culture protected by the strong walls of Athens and a capable bond of city-states.

I would tell them about our times, modern democracy, our values, our struggles and problems as a society and soak up their reactions. I would show them how philosophy has or hasn't evolved and how meaningful their thoughts have been to the modern world. Finally, just shoot the shit and share a nice glass of wine.

I'd come back with great many new insights into their teachings, many of which became lost to the whims of history.

I love it, but a few problems with this.

First, unless you speak the Greek from that period, you're not going to be having any conversations with anyone.

Even if you did, there I doubt they're going to believe you're a time traveler from the future. They'd probably also be offended by our version of democracy, and/or think it so absurd that you'd be declared mad. Remember, Plato wasn't the biggest fan of democracy.

This is why I would reject this offer. Unless you have money, speak the language of the time period and complelty understand the customs, you're highly unlikely to survive the week.

 

[haxan7]

Look at all these smart guys in here

 

[West Texas CEO]

Perhaps.
Maybe I'd go back to the time when women knew how to suck d*ck.

 

[strange headache]

I love it, but a few problems with this.

First, unless you speak the Greek from that period, you're not going to be having any conversations with anyone.

Even if you did, there I doubt they're going to believe you're a time traveler from the future. They'd probably also be offended by our version of democracy, and/or think it so absurd that you'd be declared mad. Remember, Plato wasn't the biggest fan of democracy.

This is why I would reject this offer. Unless you have money, speak the language of the time period and complelty understand the customs, you're highly unlikely to survive the week.

 

[RJMacready73]

Too fucking dangerous, you may as well go back and see the Dinosaurs, just as much chance of surviving for a week, once past a certain threshold you'll be considered a fucking witch, heretic or foreign spy and then the truly horrific shit happens, don't get me wrong, i would fucking love the see the funeral procession of pharoh Khufu, or a Triumph of Rome, even to wander the ancient cities of Babylon or Mexico but fuuuuuuck that, don't look the part, don't speak the part and one fuck up and you're toast, I'll stick to the occasional Ass Creed game thank you very much

 

[Sleepwalker]

You would all die.

 

[Fbh]

Probably not.
I have almost no survival skills and in any place I'd like to go there would be a massive language and cultural barrier.

Like I'd love to see and visit ancient Greece, and they were supposed to be fairly hospitable towards outsiders. But I have no idea how they'd react to a modern person that's completely different from anyone they have encountered. And just arriving there with no way to really communicate and no money I wouldn't even know what to do. Guess I could take some silver or gold (or gallons of olive oil) with me but even then it would be hard.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I would travel back to December 12th, 1980 and purchase 100 shares of AAPL stock at the IPO price. Then I would probably sit on the beach for a week and do nothing. Upon my return to the present day, I would begin enjoying the life of a billionaire.

 

[bitbydeath]

I would travel back to December 12th, 1980 and purchase 100 shares of AAPL stock at the IPO price. Then I would probably sit on the beach for a week and do nothing. Upon my return to the present day, I would begin enjoying the life of a billionaire.

 

[DragoonKain]

It would be awesome if doing this altered our timeline and there were ancient murals of a crowd of people wearing their normal ancient attire and one dude in there with like a wife beater and jeans.

 

[Bernd Lauert]

Idk, where and when would I go? People talking about going to Ancient Greece to meet Aristotle, good luck with speaking Ionic Greek or whatever the fuck they spoke back then.

 

[Zeroing]

Perhaps.
Maybe I'd go back to the time when women knew how to suck d*ck.

We know you did more than that, when you went to Ancient Greece

Spoiler: Recorded for posterity.

 

[Zeroing]

Look at all these smart guys in here

Perhaps.
Maybe I'd go back to the time when women knew how to suck d*ck.

There's got to be some awesome sexcapades and uber porn stuff that can be done in a week and then get transported back to present day with no consequences.

 

[Zeroing]

It would be awesome if doing this altered our timeline and there were ancient murals of a crowd of people wearing their normal ancient attire and one dude in there with like a wife beater and jeans.

We now know it was you!! Stop messing with the past.

 

[DragoonWalker]

Seems like a thing I would be willing to do if I had cancer or didn't have long to live anyway. I wouldn't even know how to intermingle with the general populace or survive the basics of daily life in the ancient times, I'd be basically an alien. I'd be dead before a week, eaten, sold to slavery or some shit. Even the smallest unexpected thing would hinder me. The farthest back I'd be willing to go is the 1920s.

Otherwise I haven't even exhausted the travel/adventure possibilities of present day. There's plenty of places I'd like to visit and see without time travel.

 

[West Texas CEO]

 

[The_hunter]

Send me back in time I want to be a sculptor, a painter or something related.

 

[InterMusketeer]

It's tempting to go see dinosaurs or observe ancient civilizations or something along those line, but too risky. My family would worry about how I died if I never came back. They'd never find out either. It's also unlikely you'd be able to find any of the famous people let alone interact with them in any meaningful way. Realistically you might be able to observe daily life in a certain time period but that's about it.

So I'd probably just go back a couple of weeks and get the winning lottery numbers. I can just redeem those and put the prize money on my account. Simple, no risk, highly effective.

 

[Nester99]

Sure would, the letters I would write myself would be valuable.

Also - Adventure!

 

[InverseAgonist]

I always thought Midnight in Paris was a charming movie and it taught the simple idea that you'll never be happy with any one ideal period, no matter how much you romanticize it.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

I doubt I could handle the smelly people of all things. Daily hygiene is a recent phenomenon.

This.

Diseases everywhere. Smelly people. Poor hygiene. Just overall everything is filthy.

No thanks.

 

[AJUMP23]

1. Jesus would be top
2. Nebuchadnezer he was the bomb in ruling kingdoms yo
3. Cyrus the great I would be an achimenid king too
4. Alexander but I would also like to be the strongest. Ptolemy too so I can see where he buried Alexander come back and find the tomb.
5. King David or Abraham someone cool from the Bible

 

[BigBooper]

I would, but not sure when. You wouldn't be able to fit in no matter where you went, so I'd go somewhere that was relatively open to different cultures. Maybe ancient Babylon.

 

[DeafTourette]

I'm black, so no. LMBO!