Wanna borrow my time machine? There are some stipulations...

[youhas]

So being the generous guy that I am, I'm going to let you borrow my thought experiment time machine. It's a machine based in magic rather than science, which is probably for the best - although that does mean that there are some weird rules and stipulations associated with it. Those are:

- You can travel to wherever and whenever your heart desires... but you have to spend five years there, and can't travel more than 50 miles from the spot you're beamed to. (Want to see/record/prevent the JFK assassination? Sure, go for it... but realize you have to bum around early-1960s greater Dallas area for half a decade.) At the end of the five years, you get beamed back right to where and when you left.

- Your actions won't actually change our present. You're sort of off in a "pocket universe": you can do whatever you want, but it won't change our timeline one jot. So if you want to kill Hitler - or your own grandpa, or whomever - to see how the next five years would unfold without them: great, have a blast, go nuts. If you want to see how present day would be affected by that - or hide a giant stash of precious metals or rare antiques under your front yard - sorry, no dice.

- The travel process will automatically take care of some things on your behalf. It'll magically make sure that your modern bacteria won't make you inadvertently genocide the people you meet, smallpox-blankets-to-Native-Americans style, or vice versa. (Though getting shot in the face, stepped on by dinosaurs, or otherwise attacked? Yeah, that still kills you dead. Same way that breaking local laws may mean you get to pass your five years in a jail cell.) And it'll provide you with enough resources so you can lead "a comfortable upper-middle class (or equivalent) existence" without having to worry about picking up a job wherever you decide to visit, plus some language translation equipment to spare you the effort of picking up the local tongue. Think of your time travel trip as a five-year vacation of sorts. No need to work, but you may still need to be advised as to local customs.

- At the same time: you're still you, though. If you want to become part of Bob Dylan's road crew, or President Nixon's inner circle, or what have you, you're going to have to do it in the usual fashion: meet them, hit it off, make small talk, and become friends. Just because you're going back to the time of Abraham Lincoln doesn't magically mean you get to sit in on his cabinet meetings or something.

So all that said: hey, you've got a time machine at your disposal, yo. And the opportunity for one hell of an awesome personal experience. Where do you go? What do you see? What do you do once you're there? What five-year slice of time would you personally love to experience? (I'll hold off my own response for later, so as not to spoil anyone else's ideas.)
_________________

Amusing the world 140 characters at a time: http://www.twitter.com/youhas

[youhas]

So being the generous guy that I am, I'm going to let you borrow my thought experiment time machine. It's a machine based in magic rather than science, which is probably for the best - although that does mean that there are some weird rules and stipulations associated with it. Those are:

- You can travel to wherever and whenever your heart desires... but you have to spend five years there, and can't travel more than 50 miles from the spot you're beamed to. (Want to see/record/prevent the JFK assassination? Sure, go for it... but realize you have to bum around early-1960s greater Dallas area for half a decade.) At the end of the five years, you get beamed back right to where and when you left.

- Your actions won't actually change our present. You're sort of off in a "pocket universe": you can do whatever you want, but it won't change our timeline one jot. So if you want to kill Hitler - or your own grandpa, or whomever - to see how the next five years would unfold without them: great, have a blast, go nuts. If you want to see how present day would be affected by that - or hide a giant stash of precious metals or rare antiques under your front yard - sorry, no dice.

- The travel process will automatically take care of some things on your behalf. It'll magically make sure that your modern bacteria won't make you inadvertently genocide the people you meet, smallpox-blankets-to-Native-Americans style, or vice versa. (Though getting shot in the face, stepped on by dinosaurs, or otherwise attacked? Yeah, that still kills you dead. Same way that breaking local laws may mean you get to pass your five years in a jail cell.) And it'll provide you with enough resources so you can lead "a comfortable upper-middle class (or equivalent) existence" without having to worry about picking up a job wherever you decide to visit, plus some language translation equipment to spare you the effort of picking up the local tongue. Think of your time travel trip as a five-year vacation of sorts. No need to work, but you may still need to be advised as to local customs.

- At the same time: you're still you, though. If you want to become part of Bob Dylan's road crew, or President Nixon's inner circle, or what have you, you're going to have to do it in the usual fashion: meet them, hit it off, make small talk, and become friends. Just because you're going back to the time of Abraham Lincoln doesn't magically mean you get to sit in on his cabinet meetings or something.

So all that said: hey, you've got a time machine at your disposal, yo. And the opportunity for one hell of an awesome personal experience. Where do you go? What do you see? What do you do once you're there? What five-year slice of time would you personally love to experience? (I'll hold off my own response for later, so as not to spoil anyone else's ideas.)
_________________

Amusing the world 140 characters at a time: http://www.twitter.com/youhas

[qays1991]

What?
_________________

Its QAYS and not gays!

(It sucks that I'll never be able to play my own custom )

[qays1991]

What?
_________________

Its QAYS and not gays!

(It sucks that I'll never be able to play my own custom )

[conlan22]

I would go tell the writers of the constitution what it has been interpreted to today (ex. some people say second amendment allows any citizen to have a gun etc.) and see what they say...

It would also be interesting to go back and see the creation of religion. Being a skeptic it would be very interesting to see what really happened. The 50 mile limit might mess that up though because I couldn't go everywhere i might need to.

[conlan22]

I would go tell the writers of the constitution what it has been interpreted to today (ex. some people say second amendment allows any citizen to have a gun etc.) and see what they say...

It would also be interesting to go back and see the creation of religion. Being a skeptic it would be very interesting to see what really happened. The 50 mile limit might mess that up though because I couldn't go everywhere i might need to.

[conlan22]

[conlan22]

[11yearoldkid]

There's nothing (that I can see) to stop me from traveling to myself about 3 years in the past. Then we could hit up some GH2 and GH3 co-op, dominate the rankings, then move on to me doing Voxtar, and my other-me doing drums. I've always wanted to have twin (just for that reason lol).

If, for some reason, that would create a rift in the time-space continuum because of some rule of the magic machine smothered with fairy dust, I would go to 1962 and become the drummer for The Animals, but I suppose I would run into problems when going on tour.
So...if I were to go on tour and hit the 50 mile mark, would I like evaporate or something? Or is there an invisible wall? Or do I become fairy pixie dust?
_________________

JCirri wrote:

Matt wrote: No, its only 10000. I am going to ban the next person who types THOUSANNNNNNND TEN THOUSANNNNNNND!

My life.

[11yearoldkid]

There's nothing (that I can see) to stop me from traveling to myself about 3 years in the past. Then we could hit up some GH2 and GH3 co-op, dominate the rankings, then move on to me doing Voxtar, and my other-me doing drums. I've always wanted to have twin (just for that reason lol).

If, for some reason, that would create a rift in the time-space continuum because of some rule of the magic machine smothered with fairy dust, I would go to 1962 and become the drummer for The Animals, but I suppose I would run into problems when going on tour.
So...if I were to go on tour and hit the 50 mile mark, would I like evaporate or something? Or is there an invisible wall? Or do I become fairy pixie dust?
_________________

JCirri wrote:

Matt wrote: No, its only 10000. I am going to ban the next person who types THOUSANNNNNNND TEN THOUSANNNNNNND!

My life.

[zlinkneoXZ15]

Awesome topic, youhas. I thank you

First thing that comes to mind: hang out with my dad as a teenager. Idk why, but that sounds like so much fun to me (partly cuz of all the stories he's told me, and how it would be sweet to be present for both the good and the bad)

Second thing: hang out with me from like 10 years back. Again, I'm not sure why, just seems like something I would want to do. (not egotistical or anything, just saying the first few things that come to mind lol)

third thing: essentially what conlan said. go back to some point in the past that would allow me to see where life began. or maybe when the universe began, if thats possible?

ill update if i think of anymore, but basically the first two things I said would be the places I would go to the most (atm)
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[zlinkneoXZ15]

Awesome topic, youhas. I thank you

First thing that comes to mind: hang out with my dad as a teenager. Idk why, but that sounds like so much fun to me (partly cuz of all the stories he's told me, and how it would be sweet to be present for both the good and the bad)

Second thing: hang out with me from like 10 years back. Again, I'm not sure why, just seems like something I would want to do. (not egotistical or anything, just saying the first few things that come to mind lol)

third thing: essentially what conlan said. go back to some point in the past that would allow me to see where life began. or maybe when the universe began, if thats possible?

ill update if i think of anymore, but basically the first two things I said would be the places I would go to the most (atm)
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[bclare]

Hm... my immediate first response was to go back to ~1200ce Mongolia and chill with Genghis Khan, but the 50 miles is a pretty short distance on the steppes, when his armies conquered territories thousands of miles across.

Second thought, since I'm a huge math nerd also, is to find a mathematician. I've always thought that if Archimedes had modern notation, he could have pretty much invented calculus and most of analysis; dude was smart. Did you ever realize that all of Greek geometry, everything in Euclid (so basically everything you've ever learned about plane geometry) was developed without algebraic symbols? Everything was constructed, and when they wrote it out it was in words like "the measure of quadrature of the hypotenuse is like to the measures of the quadratures of the two legs" (Pythagorean Theorem). So yeah, I'd go to Syracuse and explain to Archimedes how to use x's and y's and + and - and =, and see what he could come up with.
_________________

I'm back I suppose

[bclare]

Hm... my immediate first response was to go back to ~1200ce Mongolia and chill with Genghis Khan, but the 50 miles is a pretty short distance on the steppes, when his armies conquered territories thousands of miles across.

Second thought, since I'm a huge math nerd also, is to find a mathematician. I've always thought that if Archimedes had modern notation, he could have pretty much invented calculus and most of analysis; dude was smart. Did you ever realize that all of Greek geometry, everything in Euclid (so basically everything you've ever learned about plane geometry) was developed without algebraic symbols? Everything was constructed, and when they wrote it out it was in words like "the measure of quadrature of the hypotenuse is like to the measures of the quadratures of the two legs" (Pythagorean Theorem). So yeah, I'd go to Syracuse and explain to Archimedes how to use x's and y's and + and - and =, and see what he could come up with.
_________________

I'm back I suppose

[Southparkhero]

July 21st, 1969 - July 21st, 1974
_________________

sdfadf

[Southparkhero]

July 21st, 1969 - July 21st, 1974
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sdfadf

[Twang]

My first thought would be to go to my house on the day I was born, and witness the first 5 years of my own life. I don't know how that would work, and what kind of effect that knowledge would have on a guy, but (without thinking on it too hard) that would be my first choice.

If it weren't for that 5-years thing, and it were on a bigger scale where I could see the effect it had on today, I'd go to before the fall of Rome, and try to prevent the dark ages, if only to see what the world would be like today. Keyword being 'try.' I have no idea how I would do that, or if it would even be possible.

[Twang]

My first thought would be to go to my house on the day I was born, and witness the first 5 years of my own life. I don't know how that would work, and what kind of effect that knowledge would have on a guy, but (without thinking on it too hard) that would be my first choice.

If it weren't for that 5-years thing, and it were on a bigger scale where I could see the effect it had on today, I'd go to before the fall of Rome, and try to prevent the dark ages, if only to see what the world would be like today. Keyword being 'try.' I have no idea how I would do that, or if it would even be possible.

[youhas]

(I always like seeing other people's responses to this question because there really aren't any "wrong" answers, there are a lot of ways you can go with it, and folks always have neat interests I wouldn't have considered. Thanks for your responses thus far.)

[youhas]

(I always like seeing other people's responses to this question because there really aren't any "wrong" answers, there are a lot of ways you can go with it, and folks always have neat interests I wouldn't have considered. Thanks for your responses thus far.)

[ajanata]

[ajanata]

[Southparkhero]

Its the date of when Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon. One day, in my lifetime, I hope to go into space. Also, the 70's seemed like a cool decade.

More candidates: October 19th, 2005
Latitude - 17.3
Longitude - 82.8

I would experience the lowest pressure in the Atlantic Ocean in recorded history. I would also probably experience some of the craziest winds, ever. This was the place where Hurricane Wilma bombed out to 882 millibars and 185 mph winds. I, one day, would like to experience a hurricane (I'm also obsessed with weather).

September 11th, 2001
Place: who cares
I was too little to remember much from 9/11.. I would only go back to remember what it was like that day.

April 19th, 1993
Place: doesn't matter
Because a lot of shit could have been prevented this day.

[Southparkhero]

Its the date of when Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon. One day, in my lifetime, I hope to go into space. Also, the 70's seemed like a cool decade.

More candidates: October 19th, 2005
Latitude - 17.3
Longitude - 82.8

I would experience the lowest pressure in the Atlantic Ocean in recorded history. I would also probably experience some of the craziest winds, ever. This was the place where Hurricane Wilma bombed out to 882 millibars and 185 mph winds. I, one day, would like to experience a hurricane (I'm also obsessed with weather).

September 11th, 2001
Place: who cares
I was too little to remember much from 9/11.. I would only go back to remember what it was like that day.

April 19th, 1993
Place: doesn't matter
Because a lot of shit could have been prevented this day.

[Southparkhero]

double post oooooops
_________________

sdfadf

[Southparkhero]

double post oooooops
_________________

sdfadf

[11yearoldkid]

I like your answer to my question: "Destiny" intervenes and causes something so that you can't go beyond the 50 mile mark. Nice.

Also, another question: So, let's say I bring this time "machine" (it's an actual machine right?) with me to my younger self. Then my mischievous younger self happens to wonder on into the time machine and go forwards into time. I'm guessing he gets his own little pocket of universe to stay where his actions don't affect my pocket or the original universe. But what could be the implications of that? And also, how do I get home when time expires?
_________________

JCirri wrote:

Matt wrote: No, its only 10000. I am going to ban the next person who types THOUSANNNNNNND TEN THOUSANNNNNNND!

My life.

[11yearoldkid]

I like your answer to my question: "Destiny" intervenes and causes something so that you can't go beyond the 50 mile mark. Nice.

Also, another question: So, let's say I bring this time "machine" (it's an actual machine right?) with me to my younger self. Then my mischievous younger self happens to wonder on into the time machine and go forwards into time. I'm guessing he gets his own little pocket of universe to stay where his actions don't affect my pocket or the original universe. But what could be the implications of that? And also, how do I get home when time expires?
_________________

JCirri wrote:

Matt wrote: No, its only 10000. I am going to ban the next person who types THOUSANNNNNNND TEN THOUSANNNNNNND!

My life.

[NavyCherub]

Is there any limit on what I'm allowed to bring back? Do I have to have it in my possession now? Can I take anything back to the present with me from the past?
_________________

My Anime List

[NavyCherub]

Is there any limit on what I'm allowed to bring back? Do I have to have it in my possession now? Can I take anything back to the present with me from the past?
_________________

My Anime List