The Time Machine

[niesl2]

I had this discussion with my mates a few days ago, and I was wondering what other people (with different interests) would pick. If you get the option to time-travel to three different moments in time, where would you go and why?

My choices are:
1. Woodstock (1969). I think it would be interesting to visit this festival and check out the difference between a free-love-hippie-festival and the modernday festivals with much tighter rules. There were probably a lot of interesting people to talk to too, and on top of that some great bands, including my favorite band The Jefferson Airplane.

2. The Opening of the Colosseum in Rome (1st century). The opening of this Roman amphi-theatre included a grand festival with 100 days of plays and entertainment. I think it would be quite impressive to see gladioators fight in a crowded arena filled with Roman nobles and higher class people, warriors and townsfolk.

3. My third choice I'm not really sure of yet, but for now I'd go with Meso-America in the 15th century, to check out the Aztec empire.

Where (or better, when) would you go?

 

[lreal]

Interesting...I'll bite.

1. Assuming I'd be safe, I would travel back to sometime when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. It's be an amazing experience right?

2. I'd like to be with Jesus from birth to death to know what really happened.

3. (If possible) I'd like to go back to meet myself before middle school. There are some things I've done in the past that I regret. No talk about parallel universes or what not here...it's my imagination

Probably a lot more/better choices I could make, but these are just some things off the top of my head.

 

[Encirnia]

1. If possible, I'd go to when I was in my mom's womb and implant my consciousness into myself early on. Then I'd be able to fix a lot of mistakes I made earlier in life...

2. Middle school. Right before Middle School actually. Did anyone NOT get screwed over there?

3. Back before I wrote this and everything magically happened, so I could do it all again (or something better).

 

[Kandy-Sugar]

1. I'd like to go back to 2001 and start highschool all over again, and this time with a lot more confidence and I wouldn't let myself get walked over or picked on by the snotty girls who thought they were all that.

2. Like lreal I'd also like to go back and see for myself what really happened during the time Jesus was alive. I'd like to be able to bring back some sort of proof and then maybe I could prove my partners mother wrong about a few things.

3. I'd also like to go back and stop myself from going out with certain people and then sit and wait to meet my Steve and only be with one guy forever!

I realise that these are all about fixing my life, but if I had three chances to go back in time I wouldn't waste them on anything else to be honest.

 

[Dionysos]

I don't think travelling to any point in my life would fix my issues, as they are mostly issues I have with the way my brain works which needs to be sorted out in this period before I go back to another, as I'd have nothing to teach myself so it'll be rather pointless. Therefore I'll spend my 3 trips on having fun and learning more about certain periods.

As a lover of history it is hard for me to pick only three time periods to travel to... I'd probably pick periods we either don't know much about, and learn about them, or just periods that I love and would like to learn how things really were back then.

Here goes for 3 that I might choose from, but not a final 3 for definate as I might change my mind.

1. The reign of Akhenaten in Egypt in the 1300's BC. This was perhaps the most interesting period in Egyptian history as this pharoah changed the religion to a monotheistic cult, the standardised art conventions we associate with Egypt and some of the scenes expressed, and some time after his death the changes were reversed and the whole episode swept under the carpet, Akhenaten himself they made great effort to forget. I'd probably go there to see how people reacted to him in general, and then after his death how things were recieved. I might stay on for a while longer and wait to see how Tutankhamun died... Not the most important mystery in the world, I know, but I may as well while I'm in the period.

2. I'd like to go to the Mycenaean period of prehistoric Greece. We have many remains of citadels, large tholos tombs and shaft graves with rich finds, lots of votive offerings and terracotta figures of a probably cult nature, but we know very little about any actual history for these people. In fact, we don't really have anything. The Linear B tablets are merely lists of amounts and variety of goods and objects. We have no written history for them at all, unless you count the mythology of the ancient Greeks as a survival of the memory of the Mycenaeans, of which some of it may have survived but been completely distorted beyond recognition. I'd like to go back in time to this period therefore to learn about them, and maybe even write their history! I'd like to learn if the Trojan war ever actually happened, so I'd probably head over towards the end of the Mycenaean period and find out everything I could then. I'd probably not have a big understanding of the earlier Mycenaean periods though, as without written history it is likely that even then to describe the earlier Mycenean history was distorted. However, who knows... They might have written history somewhere on materials that have decomposed.

So I'd like to go there.

3. I'm really not sure for a third place to visit. I'd like to visit the point where Moctezuma II and Cortez met face to face, but I'd like to see the whole chain of events happening. In this case it isn't about learning, though I'd like to learn too as I know little about this period (but could easily read about it if I wanted to), but I'd just like to witness it. The first time the Europeans really faced off against comparatively primitive but culturally rich peoples which really had no chance to hold them off. The Aztecs were essentially an ancient society living in a later times, and the day the Spaniards with their guns and technology landed, and the Aztecs saw them... I'd like to see that moment. A sad time really.

Oh! And before it gets destroyed, I'd have to check out Tenochtitlan! It sounds as if it was an amazing city, and really huge and impressive. I'd definately want to see it, and walk among the Aztecs within it.



That's my three. I'd like to pick more, but if three is all I can do, then I'll go with those I guess.

 

[Big Casino]

I would go back to the age of 12 and start over again from there. Iv wondered to myself alot what it could be like if i changed things that ive did wrong, and tryuth be told although i know its impossible to change the past, given the option i would go back and start over.
Its not that my life is shit or anything but i would like to have done things differently, maybe if i had things would be better now. Then again they may be worse so perhaps i should count my blessings.

On the subject of times places in history i would like to go to, i think some point in the 60s would be interesting. The 60s was a time of great change. Ernest Che Gueverra was liberating Cuba while the hippy era was coming about. Then later in the decade the events Vietnam. Theres no specific event i wish to see i just think it would have been an interesting time to be alive.

Thats about it really, im not that interested in going and seeing any specific events as im contempt reading about them on wikipedia ALthough tlike i mentionedV the 60s i would love to witness.

 

[Dee]

I would love to travel back to:

1. Ancient Greece - Sometime around 350BC and thereon. I've always had a fascination with Greek culture, especially literature, myths and Greek comedy. Their culture was just absolutely amazing. Plus, it would be interesting to see how life was like before the stronghold of the Christian religion.

2. 15th century Italy - or the Renaissance, as some refer to it. :3 This was such an amazing period in history, with such life, such culture, art, philosophy. I narrowed it down to Italy because I love the Italian culture and it is part of my heritage. I think it would be absolutely mind-blowing to be able to see this particular part of the world at this time in history.

 

[Shu]

---
Responses to those who went back to change something in their life:

Well I know I wouldn't go back and change anything despite how harsh sometimes I had it. Although it would have been funny to leave myself like fortunes in fortune cookies that made me go .... "is someone watching me?!" or maybe a cereal box prize that had some huge impact on my life.. that would be epic.

Nah, I don't care about changing my life, because it is very possible that my life would be on an alternate route and I wouldn't have met some very excellent people. 1) a girl who needed help, and made me forgive myself and made me give up the hate for myself/others 2) Family deaths made me grow in spirit, rather then take away, so nothing I would undo 3) I might have had a very different out look probably, and be located else where mixed up in some stuff that would never impact the world, only my selfish self.

- If anything I would change the way I distanced myself out of fear of losing others back in the day. Though like I said.. it made me real.

------

Response to main OP (serious part):

1) I'd go back and make sure that the Television was never created.

Reason: It's very complicated. Now don't get offended from what I'm about to say..

a) I just think media has gotten out of hand. Entertainment is paid way to much money. From Professional Sports, Acting, Untalented Musicians, talk shows, soap operas, and reality television. Don't get me started about the perversion of reality television.

People think they are the cream of the crop because they receive our money to see their so called talent. Now I'm not saying that Football, Soccer, acting, and singing doesn't take skill. I just think these people are over paid, largely due to television.

It is the cause of how we have these AWWWWWESSSSOME presidents here in the US. (sarcasm) Rather than focusing on peoples ideals and principles we focus on their charm or appeal.

b) Music has bottomed out as a whole, creativity is way down due to people wanting to make money, rather than putting their soul on the line. I think it has a lot to do with Music Videos and broadcasting their personas, more than anything else.

2) I would go back and see if I could dissolve all religions as whole, because I think people missed the big picture.

Reason: I believe in secularism through all things. I believe we as people would need to adopt a humanitarian faith. People would rely in the hope of people, rather then relying in a higher power to see us through things. Christianity and Buddhists both had very good ideals, but as a whole.. it might have been best that every religion was never invented by man. I believe in a foundation, but religion has caused way to must strife in our history to be worth investing time into.

---

Response to main OP (Fun part):

1) I would want to go back to the early Latin Days in Greece. I would want to see the beginnings of beauty and such from writing to art. Socretes Plato ... ah.. man I would love to speak my mind to these chaps.

2) I would want to go back and see how the Egyptian Pyramids were made.. man such a freakin feat for man. So many sacrifices.

3) I would go back to every key point in the American history and see if we really were founded on the ideals in which we think were as of today. I just want to be consistent with it all. How much stuff was brushed underneath the carpet and such.. Martin Luther King.. JFK.. all the presidencies and such.. the frontier days. I love where I am from. So hince I would want to enrich myself with truths.

4) Go back to Italy/Rome and see Leonardo Divinci, Michaelangelo, and others. I would love to see their works by first hand and know their ideals.

5) Go back and meet Freud and see if the dude was bat shiznit crazy or what for coming up with most of his ideals.

 

[niesl2]

Interesting to see how most of you would like to change something in your own past, but not something in the (everyone's) past in general.

But then, if meddling in the past would be possible, it would probably be dangerous and with a lot of consequences for our current time. (For instance, with no television, there is no Final Fantasy! ;-) )

 

[lreal]

Interesting to see how most of you would like to change something in your own past, but not something in the (everyone's) past in general.

Well, you can't just go around and meddle in other people's lives simply because you may find it to be better (a very subjective term) for humanity. What does it mean that something is better? Who determines what is the 'right' thing to do? Your choices should really just extend to your own actions in life.

 

[niesl2]

Well, you can't just go around and meddle in other people's lives simply because you may find it to be better (a very subjective term) for humanity. What does it mean that something is better? Who determines what is the 'right' thing to do? Your choices should really just extend to your own actions in life.

I agree with that, although I would be tempted to use one of my time travels to visit some historical figure just to give him/her either a welldeserved high five or a punch in the face. It probably won't change the future, but I imagine it gives a great lot of satisfaction

 

[Donald Trump]

I'd like to go back in time and kill Bono, and Bob Geldoff and Jon Bon Jovi. Then I think I'd travel in time and kill Ruper Murdock and Mr Packer, and every other Australian whilst I'm at it. Then I think I'd drag Jeff Buckley out of the river and then beat the shit out of Nick Drake and tell him not to kill himself. Then I'd go back and help Hitler take over the world. Then I'd kill him and rule the world for myself.

 

[Shu]

Interesting to see how most of you would like to change something in your own past, but not something in the (everyone's) past in general.

But then, if meddling in the past would be possible, it would probably be dangerous and with a lot of consequences for our current time. (For instance, with no television, there is no Final Fantasy! ;-) )

Not necessarily. There are still computers and other outputs. TVs just act as monitors for Consoles anyway. The TV comment was relative to the actual stations it broadcasts. If the FCC were more nazi'ish and regulated the regurgitated garbage and drama that is constantly broadcasted to our general public, we would be a lot better off.

Who really wants to see a singer getting famous, or should I say infamous for flicking off his/her fellow fans, or by denouncing his presidents because he/she has a following. Who wants to see 20,000 duplicates of the show real world. Who wants to see how a mom gets famous at the expense of having so many kids. If the news is never changing, then why would I want to watch it? It's always.. revolves around drama. Who wants their kids watching such crap cartoon shows these days. They have like 20 duplicate shows now.

Most people just Tivo or Record their shows anyway.. so what's the point? Oh well, I know quite a bit of people differ from my views on this subject. So keep on watching the degenerative, de-evolving, uninformative hunk of metal we call the television.

 

[Priestess-Mars]

I would definitely go back to 8 months ago in Toronto, to stop my family from moving. >< My reason being: I am unhappy here and lonely.

 

[Martel]

I suppose it isn't very original or exciting, but I'd wait until the Euro Millions or National Lottery reached a larger than usual number and wasn't won by anyone else, then I'd go back in time after the draw to a few hours before it and buy a ticket with the winning numbers on it.