Survive and Get Rich/Famous/Powerful in History: Time Travel Test

[rollete]

Cognitively it may be related to the "too sure of oneself" bias. There must be a technical term for it. The following is an illustrative example. Suppose subjects were being asked to name a number greater than the experimenter's age which they had to guess. It should be an easy game to win; the experimenter must in all likelihood be no older than than 509 years, so 510, or 50,000, or 2 trillion, or a googol are all right answers. But instead the subjects would try to guess at her age and then add small integers to the age they guessed. So most answers would be like "38" or "55".

Or not reading the OP + mob mentality.

But given the even more bizarre observation that the OP just follows along, I'm beginning to suspect mind control. A cyberportal into The Twilight Zone is also a possibility.

 

[EnumaElish]

So you know how to obtain and cultivate penicillin?

I'd plan to start with blue cheese gone bad, then move to bathtub mold :) if nothing else they should offer a placebo effect. I think there'd be very little room to make the early 19th-century patient worse, or in any case make too many of them very much worse, although getting it right might take a few years.

 

[EnumaElish]

Is there a study about that? Sounds interesting.

I did some searching. The closest I can find is Anchoring bias, although my recollection is that the process involved some kind of estimation, and subjects were overconfident in how precisely they could guess the anchor itself (experimenter's age in my example). But cannot find the source at the moment. In all likelihood I might have seen it in Sci. Am. or perhaps in Psych. Today.

 

[tionis]

So I will go back and paint portraits of the modern world to sell on the markets. Also write down all the songs that I know and pass them on as my own thus thwarting the composing careers of future artists

 

[micromass]

So I will go back and paint portraits of the modern world to sell on the markets. Also write down all the songs that I know and pass them on as my own thus thwarting the composing careers of future artists

I hope they like ACDC in 1816!

 

[Rubidium_71]

So you know how to obtain and cultivate penicillin?

Yes.
I'm curious, I didn't notice what your 1816 plan is when I looked through the thread. Based on your posts here so far, would you be earning a living as the village heckler?

 

[EnumaElish]

Famous time travelers https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel_claims_and_urban_legends

It's remarkable that none of them is reported to have brought future technology with them. Not even a "most forms of cancer is prevented by interchanging these two genes in the fetus's DNA"-like proposition.

Or how about "the key to economical nuclear fusion is 2 teaspoons of dark matter and a pinch of rosemary."

Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that no famous (or infamous for that matter) inventor has come out saying "a time traveler tipped me."

 

[Kevin McHugh]

Sure,
I sarcast
you sarcast
he/she/it sarcasts

we sarcast
you (pl.) sarcast
they sarcast

Forecast, sarcast, aftcast

 

[EnumaElish]

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/08/package-tour

 

[Fewmet]

I just discovered this thread and read it from the start, expecting to see references to L. Sprague de Camp's Lest Darkness Fall. It's time traveler is an archeologist in Rome just before the fall of the Dark Ages (hence the title). He sells the secret of long division to an accountant (division with Roman numerals is not very efficient), invents brandy and then movable type, getting political power through publishing a newspaper. His command of the period's history plays a key role, too.

I, too, read the OP as focusing on 200 years ago, and spent time struggling to find something fairly low-tech and everyday that would give me an advantage in 1816. I suspect I could support myself as a teacher. There are a number of scientific discoveries I might be able to accelerate like the discovery of Pluto or the mid-Atlantic Ridge if I have access to to researchers in physical science. I think the Thomson experiment was delayed by glassblowers developing techniques for making evacuated flasks...I might be able to fund the development of that technique to prepare the path for Thomson. I don't know if money could be made by anticipating the need for vacuum tubes, but with some reflection I might come up with some similar, easy innovations. If I raised some capital, I could discover petroleum in Pennsylvania.

 

[m k]

Can't remember why it's 1816 but wouldn't it be easier farer back?

 

[micromass]

Can't remember why it's 1816 but wouldn't it be easier farer back?

I don't know, would it? Can you explain what time period would be easiest and how you would do it?

 

[Kevin McHugh]

Assume that you are being sent back in time. You can choose the exact time period, but it has to be more than 200 years ago. You cannot bring anything with you.

How would you use your current knowledge in order to survive? Would you be able to get rich/famous/powerful? Note: you cannot learn anything new before going, you'll have to rely on everything you know right now.

Assume that language barriers won't be an issue.

Can you translate your position as well? Or do we stay in place, and travel back in time?

 

[micromass]

Can you translate your position as well? Or do we stay in place, and travel back in time?

You can choose any spacetime coordinate you want as long as its more than 200 years ago.

 

[Kevin McHugh]

Then I would want to go to the height of the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople. I would use my knowledge of chemistry to assist the alchemists of the time, securing a respectable position in society, and enjoying the wonders of of the East.

 

[m k]

I don't know, would it? Can you explain what time period would be easiest and how you would do it?

Don't know the period but some time when many of our everyday stuff is still unknown.
Like cleaning, nutrition sources and so on.

Obviously only Europe had dark ages but were they cannibals in Tahiti back then.
Clavell's Shogun mainly excludes far east when India and muslim world is totally unknown.
Maybe 1816 is actually very good year.

 

[kuruman]

I would go 70,000 years in the past and invent lawyers as a first step. Then I would invent the wheel, patent it and rule the world.

 

[m k]

I think you should reconsider.
(Toba)

 

[Fewmet]

As I let this question roll around in my head I increasingly think that simply being a reasonably well-educated person by modern standards would be a significant advantage. Being able to read and write would probably make me employable in a time and place where something like modern English was in use. I can imagine scenarios that would get me recognized as useful to the educated people of the period and so provide relative safety and income.

 

[dvdt]

Since I already know the history of how things are to be,I will use this knowledge of mine to become rich/famous/powerful you name it.

I was thinking along these lines too, but on the other hand maybe you could pick a critical point in history and dedicate yourself to changing it. Something that knowledge of the future could really act as an inflection point for. Presumably whatever it is, also requires that people not particularly believe your stories, but that it's something you can demonstrate. For instance what good would it do to try and warn the people who would first meet Cortez, that they should kill him and his whole crew and anyone like them in the future? They wouldn't believe you, you wouldn't speak their language, and you'd introduce your own host of diseases.

...Which actually brings up another point; go back far enough and maybe the biggest impact you'd have would be introducing modern pathogens to ancient peoples, and essentially giving those pathogens extra centuries to evolve.

 

[Seth1533]

Assume that you are being sent back in time. You can choose the exact time period, but it has to be more than 200 years ago. You cannot bring anything with you.

How would you use your current knowledge in order to survive? Would you be able to get rich/famous/powerful? Note: you cannot learn anything new before going, you'll have to rely on everything you know right now.

Assume that language barriers won't be an issue.

2600 BCE. This (I think) is right before civilization started. I would want to do this because it was the greatest opportunity to shape our world into what it has potential for today. Mostly I think this is the case because others would be able to follow a great civilization before developing into a completely different and opposing culture. I would use my knowledge to form a civilization from the grass roots and lead that into the way I perceive the world should operate. If a large enough civilization was started, I think the average person has more than enough ideas and solutions now to prevent these problems from ever happening or at least minimize the severity. We could be 500 or more years advanced in technology and as a society.

Problems we face today that I would try to eliminate: Wars, hunger, poverty, racial tensions, communist countries, lack of literacy and education, weapons, disease, global warming, extinction, and more if I had the time to think of them all.

I would establish a strong enough society so that we could draw in others and begin exploring the world and establish micro societies with the ability to expand across the globe. We would not have to shape culture entirely as culture variation is an important part of humanity. However, cooperation would be the key. We would just need leaders from the original civilization to expand and lead each continent to prevent differences from causing war. We could then get an early start on preventing all the problems mentioned above and establish communities capable of envisioning the future based off of what I know.

The great minds would still come and I would begin starting an organization set to ensure we spread education, science, and all other key ingredients to technology and development. We would have to capitalize on each great mind from then until the present. The Newton's, Einstein's, and others may have a greater society and more information to start with than they did at their respective time. This group would be permanent. We would not be able to afford losing the concept so all that I know would be recorded. We would never let our guards down and assume that our current problems not occur again. We may not have need for development of huge armies and nuclear weapons. We would prevent them before they became too large.

Farming would begin ASAP. I would use my knowledge of farming concepts to start everywhere. Each person would have a role in society and I would try to begin a free market with monetary assets. Trade would begin as soon as other civilizations started. There would be no need to wipe out the america's or other continents. Our explorer's would already know what would ensue and we would find a way to keep ourselves from fearing others of different races. Slavery would only be a caution and not a reality. We would need to unite immediately and encourage learning form one another. Our current races would still be around, but perhaps asians, caucasians, africans, etc would be minorities and the predominant race would be a mix. People would hold power in their goverments so that we voted and evil regimes were never to be established. We would have knowledge of disease and have safe practices and preventative actions for devastating diseases such as HIV, Bubonic plague, and the flu. Once antibiotics emerged we would not abuse them and they would be used properly to prevent antibiotic resistant bacteria. The people would be aware of global warming and we could find a way to prevent it in the first place. Lastly, we would respect our environments and not pollute our earth. We would not poach animals and cause extinction. We would be a efficient society.

 

[mfb]

2600 BCE.

Farming would begin ASAP.

You missed the establishment of farming and permanent settlements by ~5000-9000 years. The Egyptian empire starts building their first big pyramid (62m tall) in the century you picked.

I would use my knowledge of farming concepts to start everywhere.

How much do you know about farming without modern tools or fertilizer and without modern seeds?

Even if you go back enough to be there before farming starts: domesticating crops and selective breeding to get reasonable results is a process you cannot speed up much without modern technology, and it takes centuries to millenia, way longer than your lifetime. If you are the first to start deliberate farming, you won't live to see its benefits.

 

[Seth1533]

You missed the establishment of farming and permanent settlements by ~5000-9000 years. The Egyptian empire starts building their first big pyramid (62m tall) in the century you picked.How much do you know about farming without modern tools or fertilizer and without modern seeds?

Even if you go back enough to be there before farming starts: domesticating crops and selective breeding to get reasonable results is a process you cannot speed up much without modern technology, and it takes centuries to millenia, way longer than your lifetime. If you are the first to start deliberate farming, you won't live to see its benefits.

I think you may have misinterpreted what I said and/or I wasn't exactly clear. The question asked my opinions without looking up anything right now so I took a guess at when mesopotamia arrived. So if farming was that far before, that's great. I'm not an expert on farming but the basic principals I would instill in the minds of others basically to get the process started. I really wanted to just say I would do all that I could to make sure there is an organization that captured my knowledge of the world and that the knowledge was not forgotten. I know I would miss the technological age and we would more or less be building a city the whole time in the context that I used. I understand moore's law, but my point was if a person went back in time and could tell others what to expect and try to promote education and science, let's say the lightbulb and telephone are created 200-300 years sooner and the internet was here in 1850. By now, our technology would be greatly improved. On greater terms, If somebody could have planted the idea of all of our basic understanding of the world, we could by more advanced by now.

 

[mfb]

I think the time of the Greeks/Romans would have been the best then. You have to do something interesting first to get others to listen to you - telling early farmers about atoms won't work. Building a primitive steam engine, a hot air balloon or something similar is more interesting and should be possible with the technology 2000-2500 years ago. They also had ways of conserving knowledge over multiple generations.

Oh, and invent buttons with buttonholes!

 

[straydog]

Account test (I've not logged in for a while).

By His Bootstraps - Robert Heinlein.

 

[SW VandeCarr]

In 1816 I could confidently tell them Napoleon is never coming back. I could also tell them (assuming I'm in Europe) that it's a good time to go to America where the non partisan Era of Good Feeling is about to begin. Imagine, there will be only the nominal Democratic-Republican Party where there is widespread agreement on all the major issues in peacetime. It's hard to believe such a time ever existed.

Of course I would take my own advice and buy land in central Manhatten along the borders of what would become Central Park. The money would come from arranging passage for immigrants from Europe and loans. Actually my ancestors farmed land in Manhatten, but sold out and moved upstate because the farming was so much better (better soil, not so many rocks). Brilliant!