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ironknee · Dec 31, 2005, 01:19 AM

and where?

Footy · Dec 31, 2005, 01:25 AM

Probably about 20 years in the future just to check out my computer options. With my luck dinosaur's would be back and I'd be a snack with in the first 2 minutes upon arrival.

euchomai · Dec 31, 2005, 01:25 AM

Good question. I'd for sure go backward. The future will suck, too much violence and the robots will also run the world.

I'd probably go back to around 30 BC. I'd like to see the whole Jesus thing pan out.

olePigeon · Dec 31, 2005, 01:26 AM

Originally Posted by ironknee

and where?

That's a REALLY tough one. Of course, you'd want to go back in time cuz you could invest in the stock market and become the first trillionare.

But then, personally, I'd want to go forward in time to a point (I hope) that would allow me to not age.

Then I'll work on becoming a trillionare.

ledzeppelin · 11:41 PM

...

zerostar · Dec 31, 2005, 02:16 AM

I would go back approx 13.7 billion years

nredman · Dec 31, 2005, 08:13 AM

Did someone say time travel?

ghporter · Dec 31, 2005, 08:16 AM

1) Read the corporate history of the big money makers like IBM, Xerox, etc.
2) Go back to when they just got started and buy stock in them
3) Go forward to just before when they maxed out and liquidate the stocks
4) Enjoy!

36days · Dec 31, 2005, 08:20 AM

Forward. I would pick up an eight CPU Power Mac when they come down in price to what an iMac costs in the present and then bring it back with me if astroscientiphysicsally possible.

36days · Dec 31, 2005, 08:21 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

1) Read the corporate history of the big money makers like IBM, Xerox, etc.
2) Go back to when they just got started and buy stock in them
3) Go forward to just before when they maxed out and liquidate the stocks
4) Enjoy!

that happens in Back To the Future II I think.

36days · Dec 31, 2005, 08:22 AM

Originally Posted by nredman

Hang on a sec, what's this?????

Did Tom Baker use his machine to father Howard?

ghporter · Dec 31, 2005, 08:32 AM

Originally Posted by 36days

that happens in Back To the Future II I think.

Nope, it's about a sports almanac...and the wrong person gets his hands on it.

My thought would be to be much quieter and low key about it, not build some "gaming empire" like Bif does in BTTF II. Bif BAD! BAD Bif!

Y3a · Dec 31, 2005, 09:05 AM

I'd go back far enough to buy the property that had oil on it and become an oil baron in the late 1800's. Penn here I come!

macintologist · Dec 31, 2005, 09:11 AM

I'd go in the future 10 years, go to apple.com and apple-history.com,

then come back to 2005/6 and get hired by ThinkSecret and makes lots of money for accurate predictions

nredman · Dec 31, 2005, 09:23 AM

Originally Posted by 36days

Hang on a sec, what's this?????

Did Tom Baker use his machine to father Howard?

good call

anyways to answer the threads question i would go back in time to the biggest powerball lotto - win it and give 90% of it away - or go back to some point to help humanity.

Hash · Dec 31, 2005, 10:34 AM

i would go back to time when Alexandria library was burned and will try to prevent the fire. The manuscripts will tell us so much about ancient kingdoms and maybe help locate the Atlantis. And it also will save precious knowledge.

Cody Dawg · Dec 31, 2005, 10:45 AM

I would definitely go back to Israel and try to see Jesus speak.

Huge

Cody Dawg · Dec 31, 2005, 10:48 AM

Uh oh.

My husband said, "Sure, you'd go back to see Jesus. But when you got there you wouldn't understand what he was saying." (Whatever language it is that they spoke then.)

Then he says, "Plus, you'd be some weird blonde chick with white skin speaking a language that they didn't understand so you'd become another prophet or they'd stone you because they'd think you were evil. Actually, they'd probably stone you and you'd never come back."

Kevin · Dec 31, 2005, 10:54 AM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Then he says, "Plus, you'd be some weird blonde chick with white skin speaking a language that they didn't understand so you'd become another prophet or they'd stone you because they'd think you were evil. Actually, they'd probably stone you and you'd never come back."

So when is he sending you off?

storer · Dec 31, 2005, 10:58 AM

Future perhaps out of curiosity, but I reckon it would be scary. Dunno why/where I'd go back to though. It'd be nice to use my knowledge of the future in the past to make money.

dcmacdaddy · Dec 31, 2005, 12:15 PM

Go Back, definitely. It's exciting (and sometimes depressing) to contemplate the future.
But to get back in time to a known period and know how to fully enjoy it, that would be awesome.

The following are some of the people and/or events that I would want to see.

*Byzantine Emperor Constantine (Kill him before he could convert to Christianity)
*12/13th century pilgrims (I would have liked to take the overland route to Jerusalem: It was the ultimate road-trip in its day)
*Moorish Spain (Help Boabdil maintain his Kingdom in Granada)
*Elizabethan England (See Shakespeare's works; Figure out who he was really)
*Adolf Hitler (Kill him as a young child before he could grow into the monster he was to become)

to whoever suggested saving the library at Alexandria. Personally, I would love to have read Aristotle's
Comedics--The now-lost work that was the comedic counterpart to his Poetics on the topic of drama and tragedy.

Kevin · Dec 31, 2005, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

*Adolf Hitler (Kill him as a young child before he could grow into the monster he was to become)

I think we as a planet learned NOT what to do because of this man. If you killed him, more than likely another just like him would have popped up.

dcmacdaddy · Dec 31, 2005, 12:20 PM

Originally Posted by Kevin

I think we as a planet learned NOT what to do because of this man. If you killed him, more than likely another just like him would have popped up.

Well, with Mussolini, Franco, and Stalin all historical contemporaries of Hitler I don't think the world would be lacking any knoweldge of the horrific atrocities possible at the hands of humans.

Kevin · Dec 31, 2005, 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

Well, with Mussolini, Franco, and Stalin all historical contemporaries of Hitler I don't think the world would be lacking any knoweldge of the horrific atrocities possible at the hands of humans.

But that was my point, killing him off wouldn't have done much good.

demibob · Dec 31, 2005, 12:29 PM

to the future to buy a new laptop
the further the better

dcmacdaddy · Dec 31, 2005, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by Kevin

But that was my point, killing him off wouldn't have done much good.

Killing him off would have saved a lot of Jews, cripples, homosexuals, gypsies, un-accomodating Catholics from needless death.

None of the other dictators mentioned had nearly the level of desire or drive for wholesale anhilihation like Hitler did. Mnay of the dead under Stalin were because of the Russians fighting Hitler--There still would have ben plenty killed in the purges but not nearly as many as those killed fighting Hitler in WWII.

Kevin · Dec 31, 2005, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

Killing him off would have saved a lot of Jews, cripples, homosexuals, gypsies, un-accomodating Catholics from needless death.

OR caused someone even more evil to rise up in his place. Killing off more. We do not know. The time and place he came up, was prime for anyone charismatic enough to capture the people's hope.

None of the other dictators mentioned had nearly the level of desire or drive for wholesale anhilihation like Hitler did. Mnay of the dead under Stalin were because of the Russians fighting Hitler--There still would have ben plenty killed in the purges but not nearly as many as those killed fighting Hitler in WWII.

Where did Hitler come from? He came from nowhere. Who knows who would have popped up. Hindsight and such.

We just don't know.

Of course I believe certain things happen for a reason. But that's probably just me being naive again.

dcmacdaddy · Dec 31, 2005, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by Kevin

OR caused someone even more evil to rise up in his place. Killing off more. We do not know. The time and place he came up, was prime for anyone charismatic enough to capture the people's hope.

He was charismatic enough to cappture the German people's hope, not any people's hope.

Originally Posted by Kevin

Where did Hitler come from? He came from nowhere. Who knows who would have popped up. Hindsight and such.

Well, that's my point. Others did pop up but none of them were as virulent in their desire to eliminate their opposition.

Originally Posted by Kevin

Of course I believe certain things happen for a reason. But that's probably just me being naive again.

No, it's not naive at all. If you believe certain things happen for a reason, what reason do you think is the basis for the appearance and rise of Hitler?

Kevin · Dec 31, 2005, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

He was charismatic enough to cappture the German people's hope, not any people's hope.

Germans are human like the rest of us. We are all made of the same material.

Well, that's my point. Others did pop up but none of them were as virulent in their desire to eliminate their opposition.

I am not arguing with you there. We know this because that is how history played out. If we changed history, we don't know who would have popped up. We have no clue of others hidden desires or such. Again hindsight.

Changing past events can't have foreseeable consequences.

No, it's not naive at all. If you believe certain things happen for a reason, what reason do you think is the basis for the appearance and rise of Hitler?

I don't think I was singling him out per say. Just giving a general statement.

bowwowman · Dec 31, 2005, 01:01 PM

ummmm........hate to burst ya'lls bubbles, BUT

you can't change the past without effecting the future. The slightest action, good, bad or otherwise, will have a direct & immediate impact on the present......

Say for instance, while you were in the past 30 years ago, you inadvertantly get killed.......

Now, in what is your CURRENT life,

Your son will never be born, and the gov''t he helped overthrow goes on to become another Nazi Germany..........
Those people who robbed you didn't do it, but decided to kill someone instead. Now that person's life is also effected......
They guy you beat out for a promotion at work gets your job & goes on to be the CEO a few years later, and does an Enron-type move.......

ect ect ect ect.....

Kevin · Dec 31, 2005, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by bowwowman

you can't change the past without effecting the future. The slightest action, good, bad or otherwise, will have a direct & immediate impact on the present......

BING! Give that man a cigar.

bowwowman · Dec 31, 2005, 01:06 PM

Cubans are good! (Cigars, that is)

Apparently some folks are not familiar with the term "timeline" as it relates to the laws of physics and spacial continuity

too bad for them!

Hash · Dec 31, 2005, 01:15 PM

Actually, isnt is a paradox of time travel? If you change the past, it will change the future - you now - and you may not exist in present. Thus, no one will travel back to change the past, which in turn, will be left unchanged and you will be present again. So, I guess thats why if any future people can travel in time - they would prefer not to meddle in anything.

I think that the history of humanity is a proof of that. We know and we have witnessed multiple wars and tragedies. Now, if only our descendants could travel in time and prevent those tragedies, they would. But we know they happened.

Thus, time travel will never result in changes of history.

Another point was developed by Stanislav Lem, a great Polish sci-fi writer (Solaris) - the history as we know very well maybe the RESULT of the efforts of our descendants to change the past. He explores the idea in a comical way, but you get the picture. It is fascinating read, btw

dcmacdaddy · Dec 31, 2005, 01:17 PM

Originally Posted by bowwowman

Cubans are good! (Cigars, that is)

Apparently some folks are not familiar with the term "timeline" as it relates to the laws of physics and spacial continuity

too bad for them!

Actually it's referred to as the space-time continuum and the idea posits that you cannot separate into distinct aspects the manifestation of spatial or temporal existence. That's why the term spatio-temporal is often used when discussing ideas such as time travel. In other words, you can't have space without time and you can't have time without space. (Well, unless you are talking about cosmological singularities but then all "regular" laws of physics break down.)

Hash · Dec 31, 2005, 01:20 PM

And also probably killing Hitler would really prevent nothing - someone else will become the Fuhrer and history will repeat. It is because fascism developed due to objective socio-economic reasons and not because of Hitler. And who knows, the other Fuhrer could be even more devastating than Adolf Hitler. So your version of history will have even less benefits to humanity, so to say.

bowwowman · Dec 31, 2005, 01:24 PM

what reason do you think is the basis for the appearance and rise of Hitler?

the eternal battle between good & evil......no 2 ways about it. Mankind brought Hitler upon itself through our petty bickering, greed, lust and the insane belief that any 1 HUMAN being could solve all their problems. It was Prime time for evil to take center stage & perform it's scripted role in history, which it did quite dramatically!

And ANYONE who is foolish enough to think that this world, in it's current state of affairs, hasn't bred another, even more sinister creature, is REALLY naive......

His time is coming..........s o o n! And he will make hitler look like a sissy -assed crybaby wannabe

bowwowman · Dec 31, 2005, 01:31 PM

Actually it's referred to as the space-time continuum and the idea posits that you cannot separate into distinct aspects the manifestation of spatial or temporal existence. That's why the term spatio-temporal is often used when discussing ideas such as time travel. In other words, you can't have space without time and you can't have time without space. (Well, unless you are talking about cosmological singularities but then all "regular" laws of physics break down.)

Bingo!!!!!!!

Another Cigar winner

Glad to see I'm not the only one here who paid attention in science class.......

Dark Helmet · Dec 31, 2005, 01:43 PM

Either back to the dino days (as long as I am well protected from them) or 50 years or 1million years into the future.

Dakar · Dec 31, 2005, 01:49 PM

Far enough into the future so that I was amazed yet able to comprehend and learn what I saw.

Kevin · Dec 31, 2005, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by Hash

And also probably killing Hitler would really prevent nothing - someone else will become the Fuhrer and history will repeat. It is because fascism developed due to objective socio-economic reasons and not because of Hitler. And who knows, the other Fuhrer could be even more devastating than Adolf Hitler. So your version of history will have even less benefits to humanity, so to say.

Indeed!

Agasthya · Dec 31, 2005, 01:52 PM

I would go back in time to try to tell Steve Jobs that that whole Motorola/IBM thing was a really shitty idea.

Pendergast · Dec 31, 2005, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

1) Read the corporate history of the big money makers like IBM, Xerox, etc.
2) Go back to when they just got started and buy stock in them
3) Go forward to just before when they maxed out and liquidate the stocks
4) Enjoy!

Any thoughts on the consequences of those actions, besides your own benefit?

And what if travelling in time were to cancel that travel?

Say, travelling to the begining of Life on Earth, then, stepping on it?

BlueSky · Dec 31, 2005, 01:54 PM

I'd go sideways to see what's gonna happen now. I love surprises.

Pendergast · Dec 31, 2005, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by BlueSky

I'd go sideways to see what's gonna happen now. I love surprises.

A World Without Time.

We are actually travelling in Time, so, where ever we go, is equivalent to whenever...

But the problem is to figure a way to go further, like those places called "past" and "future".

Cadaver · Dec 31, 2005, 02:03 PM

I'd go forward... say 500 yrs.

turtle777 · Dec 31, 2005, 02:22 PM

I'd go north, uhm, no, wait, south. Stop, no, I'd go east, I guess. Aaargh, wtf...

-t

Obi Wan's Ghost · Dec 31, 2005, 03:11 PM

Jedi Masters don't need to time travel. We own in all time periods.

ghporter · Dec 31, 2005, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by bowwowman

ummmm........hate to burst ya'lls bubbles, BUT

you can't change the past without effecting the future. The slightest action, good, bad or otherwise, will have a direct & immediate impact on the present....

And who's to say I'm NOT the one who made a killing selling off those stocks?

Unfortunately, human language is not well constructed for discussing the potential to change history; not enough tenses to reflect the maybes and the possiblys.

wdlove · Dec 31, 2005, 03:35 PM

I'm happy where I am. This is the point in time that was meant for me. Just hope that I make a positive difference.

Kevin · Dec 31, 2005, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by Obi Wan's Ghost

Jedi Masters don't need to time travel. We own in all time periods.

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?t=280258