Time travel

[Banzai_Joe]

Hi all,
so this got me thinking:
If you could travel back in time, say 500 years, given your current knowledge/experience/whatever, what could you impart on the world that might improve it?
For example, would you know how to re-create/re-invent something that we use today that the world of 500 years ago could use to its benefit?

Personally, even at 51 and with quite a lot of life/work experience behind me, I'm not sure i can think of anything right now that i could introduce or McGyver the hell out of to a world of 500 years ago.

What about you? I guess if you're a scientist or medical practitioner you'd be pretty useful......

 

[Lysander]

You'd probably be locked up and executed for witchcraft.

 

[jsmoke]

You'd probably be locked up and executed for witchcraft.

Yep. You wouldn't last long.

 

[Martynt74]

I've sometimes thought this and come up with the same conclusion. I'd have no idea about creating an Iphone or gun so i'd just be running around telling people about things with no proof/evidence. I'd basically be part of religion

 

[MookJong]

Pretty sure I could get a steam pump sorted out. The problem is getting access to materials. You would need to convince people in positions of power to form a team of people around you to gather materials and fabricate the parts you need. That would be the hard part.

 

[Lysander]

You couldn't just bring them an iPhone or tell them about the internet in the year 1600, they'd think you were insane or a magician. It would have to be a realistically-believable improvement to their current technology. Advances in printing, farming etc. Something workable and innovative.

 

[Randomface74]

The problem for a lot of ideas would be getting people to listen. I reckon there were people at the time doing very forward-thinking stuff but could never get the word out.

So I'd probably impart on 500 year ago folks something to aid communication. Landline telephones probably. I'd like to think it'd be possible for something like that to facilitate all sorts of other inventions, and change society sufficiently early enough to avoid the world wars.

 

[jsmoke]

You may be able to make penicillin but I'm not sure how you do that, roughly it's growing mold on food and separating out the penicillin but I'm sure there's a lot more involved to get a working product.

 

[doodah]

Surely the safest thing to do is find a quiet corner and off yourself, lest you want to **** up the timeline or have Daniels on your case.

The only time I need to go back in was ~6 years ago and lump on hard on a Leicester, Trump and Brexit triple up!

 

[Rroff]

You couldn't just bring them an iPhone or tell them about the internet in the year 1600, they'd think you were insane or a magician. It would have to be a realistically-believable improvement to their current technology. Advances in printing, farming etc. Something workable and innovative.

Yeah prodding things in the right direction, pointing out improvements in a more organic progress of invention... it isn't like you could realistically produce a iphone, etc. with the tech of those days even if you had all the knowledge hardware and software wise to implement it.

 

[dlockers]

Two factor authenication.

 

[jsmoke]

You'll find that advances in chemistry came first. Making acids like hydrochloric acid was a big thing. From there you could make a battery, then make a light bulb.

Maybe a dynamo might be doable.

 

[lemonkettaz]

Start with making things cleaner because everything will stink.

Then I'd bring the world woke and save the world from the evil we were about to inflict.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Good responses, but maybe we're overthinking it. Forget the being burned for witchcraft and all the other social reasons etc. Bearin mind we are talking time travel so already this topic is a bit "out there"
What could YOU yourself do? Anythign in your job that you could make?
Was the matchstick around in 1600AD? Or was it still whacking flint on flint etc.
I don't know just something you could recreate even if it was to just improve your own existence there.

ps.....don't know why im so fascinated by this

 

[Nasher]

Youd have to be subtle, but I bet with modern knowledge you could take over the world. What is common knowledge now would be very powerful 500 years ago.

 

[CapitalOne]

Take some books with you...

 

[lemonkettaz]

Imagine someone turning up today and saying we are doing it all wrong...

You would need several quotes/screenshots/graphs and surveys done and you will still be cancelled

 

[Randomface74]

What could YOU yourself do? Anythign in your job that you could make?

OK so if I'm tied to my profession (software engineer) there's basically nothing I can do because there are no computers, the profession doesn't exist yet and there's nothing comparable. My backup career option was joining the navy, but the navy 500 years ago was super dangerous so probably not that either.

 

[Reality|Bites]

Trump being Jesus and we all nailed him to the cross

 

[Lysander]

What could YOU yourself do?

I don't think much. I think I'd be a hindrance rather than an asset since I can't provide anything practical and my modern knowledge would be irrelevant. I'm a good researcher and writer, but English in the year 1600 was very different. And then there's the cultural differences. I think it would be a nightmare for me.