If you had a choice...

[Mcnowhere]

If you could be beamed into the past or the future, which one would you pick? Hypothetically, you only get one choice for a one time experience. Do tell why you made the past or future choice and what you would hope to gain from the experience if anything. Also explain, if you will, why you wouldn't have picked the other choice.

[Nemo]

Interesting idea McNo. I find this a very hard choice. In normal life, I have very little use of the past. I don't think about it much. I have no contact with old friends. I don't listen to much music from my past and am not interested in history. I like futuristic places like Tokyo and all new inventions and gadgets. But.........if I really had a choice, I would have to think carefully. Here's why:

1. If you went into the past, the medical care would be horrible. What do you do if you need glasses? Dental work? Or any other sort of medical issue. Just think if you had something like ulcers. In the past you just suffer, now you can take a pill and be cured of the bacteria in a few weeks. Imagine living with diabetes - you don't.

2. One great advantage of going to the past, however, is that you could become very rich. You could bet on a big horse race, for example. You could meet with a top scientist to develop a common technology that we have today.

3. The future is really a gamble. What sort of future is out there? Would it look like Planet of the Apes where people have suffered some sort of global war and gone back to the Stone Age? Would people be treated better or worse? Would you be so backward and ignorant that you would be considered mentally deficient and confined to a hospital? Would people have more rights or much fewer?

But, taking it all in, I would say I'd go to the future. I don't want to live in a world without flush toilets, cars, electricity, TVs, computers, cell phones, medicine etc. That's where I would take my chance, I guess.

[Divinorumus]

I choose right now, exactly as it is and as I am right now. To witness the great collapse of civilization, of the age of willful and encouraged rampant consumption of the planet, AND the coming galactic equinox .. well, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to witness these two infamous historic events in person. Wow. Yup, right now is where I would certainly want to be. Nobody else really interested in the greatest period of change (har) ever for humanity? Think of all the action packed fun and adventure you'll be having real soon now. It will be like being in a virtual reality holodeck survival game, action packed with fantasy violence and anarchy and adult themes and content. There will be many books written about this time, but the best sellers will be written by those that were here in person and lived through it along with the humons. Earthlings put on a good show, and now is the best time to be here to see what they do next. Really, now is a thrilling time to be here, it's why there are so many here. Watch what they do next .. it's really funny.

[Alpha]

Good questions McNO :notworthy

I guess I have a few questions first; do we get take what we know, think we know, our past memories with us or start from scratch??

[RedDog]

Alpha may have a point.

What makes you think we are not already in the past or in the future right now? We may have forgotten.:shocked:

[Mcnowhere]

Good questions McNO :notworthy

I guess I have a few questions first; do we get take what we know, think we know, our past memories with us or start from scratch??
You go as you are (hopefully, you haven't just got out of the shower) and can stay as long as you want.

[Mcnowhere]

Alpha may have a point.

What makes you think we are not already in the past or in the future right now? We may have forgotten.:shocked:
Aaaaaaargh. This hurts my brain!!!

[Alpha]

Alpha may have a point.

What makes you think we are not already in the past or in the future right now? We may have forgotten.:shocked:

:lmao: :biggthump .....exactly ;)

[Jon-Marcus]

I would go to nether. Nor am I fond of anyone else doing so.
While I believe that sooner or later someone will figure out how to time travel, I don't think it should be done. In this instance I'm presuming a linear timestream rather than multiple parallel timestreams. The temptation to tamper with what has been could be too great for some. Or to use knowledge gained in the future to change the present. That might not seem like such a bad thing to us, but what about those who's past is our present?

[HB3]

I have a feeling that no matter what I picked, I'd be walking around saying, "Oh man, this sucks...."

[VOguy]

Past, 95% for society issues, 5% purely selfish. Let me address the 5% first. Life was simpler. You could lave the keys in the ignition and sit on your front steps without fear of attackers. You knew the guy at the drug store, paper stand, and the lady in the white uniform that poured your coffee for 10-cents. OK. That's a no brainer.

But the 95%, I would probably go back and arrange for the those in our society today that have caused the most damage to mankind to never be born. Suppose Barbara and George H. never met. Suppose some others in history never had that cocktail at the party and then started dating. Suppose that someone passive was introduced to someone who was slightly aggressive. Perhaps with enough trips back and forth we could erase some of the people who came on this earth for the sole purpose of chaos.

We would have to be careful as one wrong step and .....

((BLIP!))

VO ceases to exist.

[Mcnowhere]

I have a feeling that no matter what I picked, I'd be walking around saying, "Oh man, this sucks...."
:biglaugh::biglaugh::biglaugh:

[Mcnowhere]

Past, 95% for society issues, 5% purely selfish. Let me address the 5% first. Life was simpler. You could lave the keys in the ignition and sit on your front steps without fear of attackers. You knew the guy at the drug store, paper stand, and the lady in the white uniform that poured your coffee for 10-cents. OK. That's a no brainer.
What you describe here VO is exactly what it is like living here in my little community in the middle of nowhere. I can go for a walk at 3 in the morning and not worry, unless of course it's bear season.

I would beam back to the time of the Druids. I don't know why. I don't want to see what's ahead.

[Alpha]

I have a feeling that no matter what I picked, I'd be walking around saying, "Oh man, this sucks...."

Why?

[VOguy]

What you describe here VO is exactly what it is like living here in my little community in the middle of nowhere. I can go for a walk at 3 in the morning and not worry, unless of course it's bear season.

I would beam back to the time of the Druids. I don't know why. I don't want to see what's ahead.

Kind of the same way it is up in three U.P. One of the local officers and I were chatting and he said that they have a few DUIs up there, and the occasional bar fight, but most of the serious crime is downstate people coming up to party and just act like animals.

Somehow I feel like I'm insulting the animals. :)

[HB3]

Why?


Oh, you know, you take your world with you, and all that....

Who was it that said, "I myself am Hell..."? Three guesses!

[snowbird]

Without a doubt, I would like to be beamed into the future - some time after disclosure . While I'm at it, I would also like to be young enough to take some training on a starship. The future awaits... :rambo:

[Mcnowhere]

Oh, you know, you take your world with you, and all that....
Who was it that said, "I myself am Hell..."? Three guesses!
Somehow I can relate.

[Hadriana]

If you could be beamed into the past or the future, which one would you pick? Hypothetically, you only get one choice for a one time experience. Do tell why you made the past or future choice and what you would hope to gain from the experience if anything. Also explain, if you will, why you wouldn't have picked the other choice.

Well, assuming that I could not say when and where exactly in the past I'd go....I'd say the future, because I can read about the past, and in the future, they probably have a lot of answers to questions I'd love to know the answer to, or at least maybe they'd have a better idea.

Worst case scenerio, I go to the future, and it looks like the past.

[blackeyes]

I would travel back in time as long as I could keep all my memories in tacked. I would take every decision I made before and do the opposite. The reason I wouldn't go forward is at this point I already know my future.:13:

[Mcnowhere]

I would travel back in time as long as I could keep all my memories in tacked. I would take every decision I made before and do the opposite. The reason I wouldn't go forward is at this point I already know my future.:13:
There a few things I would change fer sure BE! But there are some wonderful times I would never change!

[blackeyes]

There a few things I would change fer sure BE! But there are some wonderful times I would never change!I agree. I was born on Groundhog Day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_yDWQsrajA):banana:That's a keeper.:happysad:

[Mcnowhere]

I agree. I was born on Groundhog Day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_yDWQsrajA):banana:That's a keeper.:happysad:
That's right, we just wished you happy birthday.
Always liked Bill Murray. Very funny guy!

[VOguy]

I agree. I was born on Groundhog Day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_yDWQsrajA):banana:That's a keeper.:happysad:

Does that mean if you get up on your birthday and see your shadow, that there is 6,000 miles of bad road in store for you? :)

I think if most of us had the choice it would be to go back and redo the things in life that we now know were mistakes. But I think a good number of us would look back at history and conclude that the decisions made to society years ago need changing first. After all, many of the problems we face today are those which affect a larger number of people, rather than just us.

[MuseNoir]

I would go back to September 10, 2001 - inspect the WTC - look for evidence of controlled demoliton. Then the next day go to the Pentagon and watch the impact... and see what hit... film it. Take that film and come back to the present and distribute the truth.

[emowaffles]

Alpha may have a point.

What makes you think we are not already in the past or in the future right now? We may have forgotten.:shocked:

Also, how do we know we're not in a virtual simulator (I.E. The Matrix) and just lost memory of this in the transfer. All this could really take place in a few seconds in the real world.

[DorieTesla'sMom]

My problem is I see time as linear, but it may be dimensional. It really bugs me if there is time travel in a story line, and a character goes back in the past and sees himself. As asked by the Firesign Theatre: How can you be in two places at once when you're really nowhere at all?


Now that I think about it it's a tossup between wanting to be an Australian aborigine, back before the colonists arrived, just living my life. Or maybe I'd like to live in a more enlightened future on a big natural preserve, just serving a higher Life Form, the noble elephant!

[Dera]

My problem is I see time as linear, but it may be dimensional. It really bugs me if there is time travel in a story line, and a character goes back in the past and sees himself. As asked by the Firesign Theatre: How can you be in two places at once when you're really nowhere at all?


Now that I think about it it's a tossup between wanting to be an Australian aborigine, back before the colonists arrived, just living my life. Or maybe I'd like to live in a more enlightened future on a big natural preserve, just serving a higher Life Form, the noble elephant!

Dorie, your time travel aspirations blow me away. I'd just like to go back again to "going west in a covered wagon" one more time (if the Indians didn't get me the first time), or maybe have a home and family such as seen in the TV show, "Little House on the Prairie", or live in the times and places of other Laura Ingalls Wilder novels. Woo-boy! would I ever have to get in shape through, and learn a bunch stuff! The life of a pioneer woman wasn't easy, I've heard! Whew!

[Topper]

Could you be more precise ... does this mean in the physical, the mental or is this in the spiritual realm?

[Dera]

Could you be more precise ... does this mean in the physical, the mental or is this in the spiritual realm?

Topper, I guess I don't "get it". Which one of us (posters) are you questioning?

[earthist]

Dorie, your time travel aspirations blow me away. I'd just like to go back again to "going west in a covered wagon" one more time (if the Indians didn't get me the first time), or maybe have a home and family such as seen in the TV show, "Little House on the Prairie", or live in the times and places of other Laura Ingalls Wilder novels. Woo-boy! would I ever have to get in shape through, and learn a bunch stuff! The life of a pioneer woman wasn't easy, I've heard! Whew! They do a "passion play" of the murder of JB "Wild Bill" Hickock in Deadwood. I remember passing a sign (looked like an old fashioned Wanted Poster) with a picture of Hickock on it. The pic had him with a mustache and fairly long hair. At the time, I had those, too, and a cowboy hat, too! I passed the sign, stopped the car and backed up again to look more closely, and started looking back and forth: first the sign, then the rear-view mirror (at myself), and back at the sign, back to the mirror. Probably sheer coincidence, but I swear, I could have posed for that picture.

Hmmm.....

[Dera]

They do a "passion play" of the murder of JB "Wild Bill" Hickock in Deadwood. I remember passing a sign (looked like an old fashioned Wanted Poster) with a picture of Hickock on it. The pic had him with a mustache and fairly long hair. At the time, I had those, too, and a cowboy hat, too! I passed the sign, stopped the car and backed up again to look more closely, and started looking back and forth: first the sign, then the rear-view mirror (at myself), and back at the sign, back to the mirror. Probably sheer coincidence, but I swear, I could have posed for that picture.

Hmmm.....

So now we know earthist. Like this, eh?


http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/Starrphyre/WildBillHickock.jpg

[DorieTesla'sMom]

We visited the Ephrata Cloister in Pa and I was impressed with the lifestyle of those late 18th Century hippies.
They worked and worshiped. Period. No dying in childbirth (being female that concerns me) because they were celibate.
But I decided I wouldn't want to travel back and be one of them because a) they slept on cold old stone benches and b) they got up at 3 a.m.for prayers, and I'm not that devoted!

[earthist]

So now we know earthist. Like this, eh?


http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/Starrphyre/WildBillHickock.jpg

Please note that was more than 30 years ago, but yes, complete with the fringed, buckskin jacket. (not the bowtie, or pleated shirt, though)

Not your average hippie-freak, eh?

[RedDog]

Also, how do we know we're not in a virtual simulator (I.E. The Matrix) and just lost memory of this in the transfer. All this could really take place in a few seconds in the real world.

That is an even better observation Emo! How would you know?
You would not. It makes for a very interesting storyline. One that author Daniel F. Galouye wrote about in a book titled "Simulacron 3". Later turned into a gripping movie titled "The Thirteenth Floor (http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3120234777/)"

What we are noticing is that Time itself is something of an anomaly.

If we are in a virtual world, then the tools to move forward and backward, stop replay are all built into this universe.:yikes:

For another perspective on reality check out this webpage (http://www.thekeyboard.org.uk/The%20Matrix.htm). It raises some interesting questions.
This same fellow has a page titled "Is Time Travel Possible?" (http://www.thekeyboard.org.uk/Is%20time%20travel%20possible.htm)which will raise more interesting points.

[coopfan1974]

I'd go with the past. I don't think living in an even more advanced world in the future is something I want to live in. People can't even live peacefully the way things are now. That said I can imagine witnessing the events unfolding for a day or two while sitting in a time machine but do you really want to know what the future holds.

As for the past. I realize that not everything was as bright and easy as it is today. I don't think I'd want to risk getting a chronic or serious disease and not having the right medicine to help me recover.

Life was different in those days, I'm thinking 1930, 40s, not necessarily 1800-1900. People socialized more, there was no internet, people still delivered your milk, eggs to your doorstep and you had to go to the bakery to buy rolls, bread because there was no such thing as mega stores.

Kids spent more times outside since they did not have a Sony Playstation or other gadgets.

People generally had more style, they dressed better.

It seems cheap for us when we look back at the prices you paid for admission to a movie theater but when you compare them to today's prices and what 10 cents is in US $ today or any other currency for that matter, you realize it wasn't that cheap in those days either.

My favorite time was and still is the 80s, no doubt about it.

I think most of us would love to take a peak, maybe spend 1,2 days to see what life was like in the past or what it will be like in the future but I don't think we would actually want to live in it since we are absolutely not prepared for such a drastic change.

[Insignis]

Alpha may have a point.

What makes you think we are not already in the past or in the future right now? We may have forgotten.:shocked:

Good point! How would we differentiate?

[BeenSqueerm]

excluding the initial outlay on a flight, and a month in which to travel, how would you spend it, where would you go, and what would you do?

[Divinorumus]

Wow, (approximately) 133 days to go until the reason why I chose NOW to be here arrives. The anticipation is intolerable. ( :09: ) ( :18: ) ( :laugh: )

Now, I must go and get all dressed up and ready for tonight's shutdown party! :35: SHUTDOWN!!! :banana: