this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2024
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I'll go first.

3 options

  • Going back to 1964 to watch the Duke Ellington's Montreal show. Try to meet the man and the musicians. Hang around my city.
  • Go in the end of the 70s to meet my parents before they had kids. Grab a couple of beers and party with my young adults parents. See my uncles, etc. in their young time
  • Going to 1881 during the couple of days when Nietzsche wrote Zarathoustra. I want to discuss with guy even if he is supposed to be writing all day long. No consequence right.

What are yours?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 53 minutes ago (1 children)

Put a large bet on Leicester City to win the Premier League.

The odds were 5000-1, and the last person standing cashed out their £50 stake at £75000. I'd have put £500 on for an initial £2.5m, maybe an accumulator on the top 4 to double it, and live a comfortable life off of the winnings.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 20 minutes ago

Good luck with the bookies paying out. Had betway refuse to pay out a £500 bet once. Deleted my account with them shortly after.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Killjoy: If there are no consequences there can be no memory of the event either. Our own future (from the time of returning from the past) would almost certainly diverge from the path of no knowledge otherwise, and that would be a consequence.

As such, every one of us might already have this ability, we just don't remember doing it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Since I'm in tremendous pain from an inner ear infection; I would CLOSE THAT DAMN WINDOW!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

No no no, that would have severe consequences on the timeline. You have to endure that.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Go back to see how they built Stonehenge

[–] [email protected] 1 points 51 minutes ago

Turns out they were utilitarian and had no bearing on astral observations.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I would prefer to go back in time literally 24 hours and HAVE consequences.

I would not eat the food that likely gave me food poisoning.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago

Hope you feel better soon.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 hours ago

(Assuming that "no consequence" also means that I won't die on the trip...)

  • Witness the Tunguska impact.

  • See a Beatles show when they were just some small time dudes playing in a crummy club.

  • Visit the Great Exhibition of 1851 and go inside the Crystal Palace

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago

If there were no consequences, I can think of a few different things I'd wanna see.

  1. Just out of morbid curiosity, what an atomic bomb dropping looks like when it explodes, being there in person rather than just seeing footage (from a safe distance with protective equipment, just in case I can still get hurt, otherwise get as close as possible if there are absolutely zero consequences to my actions, as if I'm a spectator in minecr*ft).
  2. Probably just go back in time and watch as many cartoons as I could back in the early netflix streaming era because I absolutely love cartoons.
  3. Definitely go back in time and watch either An American Tail or Fivel Goes West in theaters because I really like both movies.
[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

Go back to when I sold all 100+ Bitcoin for like $5 each and tell myself "no".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Oh fuck, I felt bad for ditching two that I got free with a domain I bought, but over a hundred?!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 hours ago

Said no consequences so sorry, your younger self doesn't believe you and sells them anyway.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)
  • Going back to slavery and beat some slave masters
  • Meet my mom when she was younger, maybe in high school. Tell her that she seems like a lovely young lady and very smart. I don't think she heard that enough.
  • Go back to the first day I got my first cat.
  • I would like to see a royal party of some kind.
  • Go to a Shakespeare play while he was still alive.
  • Go back to where my grandma alleges she met Bill Cosby to confirm if it's true, and, if so, punch him because apperently he was rude as hell.
[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 hours ago

Why not do the first one in the present?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Kick my dad in the nuts on my conception night

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago

No consequences

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago

All good answers, but the simple fact you were not self centered but curious and asked what OP would do back, made your answer great. Thank you. Up vote freely given.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Option 1: Attend Stewen Hawking's time traveller party - he likely won't expect someone so dumb though
Option 2: Watch and experience Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia - I often hear our conservatives argue this was actually friendly

I'd definitely try to record everything in both cases.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

"Warsaw pact" makes it sound like it wasn't orchestrated by the fucking russians... It was friendly if you don't count the tanks fire, people overrun by them, tens of thousands people displaced....

[–] [email protected] 17 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

I've always suspected that Stephen Hawking's time traveler party did happen and there were many people there but Hawking's agreed to tell everyone that no one showed up.

I bet they also made a clone of Hawkings and left the clone behind and took the real him to the Future with them.

He's probably partying in 2743 right now in an 18 year old body, surrounded by beautiful futuristic space babes with neon hair and skintight glitter clothes.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 16 hours ago

But seriously though, if someone did show up, it's possible saying that no one did was simply required. Imagine everyone now thinking the future people will save us, and suddenly there's no future.

But I am sure it would still have some effects because of the butterfly effect. Hey, perhaps travelling into the past creates near-infinite timelines each time with all possibilities. I mean, it would affect the time traveller himself, and something would be slightly different each time. Simple example, because of the time traveller's presence things will go different and they will arrive at slightly different time due to which they will again arrive at a slightly different time. They may know something else, do something else, with some different effect in each time. But there's only so much a minor thing could do.

Perhaps if Hawking admitted to the vistors, rather than an unimaginable number of similar timelines, there would simply be no... but then the visitor ceases to exist... but if they already travelled back they must have...
Fuck, I hate getting stuck thinking about time travel.
But perhaps that's the thing, admitting to this would have perhaps resulted in some catastrophic events. But, like, how would you ensure it does not happen.

OK, let's trace it.
Time traveller goes back, returns, Hawking admits it, we're doomed with hope, there's no future, no time traveller to return.
But!!! They have already returned to their timeline. Maybe it doesn't effect their timeline. Maybe they just doomed one timeline, and only one, because in that one there won't be...
No, what the fuck, I can't just... or would that open another timeline... No. If you can't affect your own timeline it's not time travel.
Crap.

God damnit!!

[–] [email protected] 26 points 17 hours ago (5 children)

At first I thought you meant "go back in time 24hs" in which case my answer would have been "yes! And get my haircut elsewhere!!!" But seeing what you mean for real, and with no consequences, I'd go back in time to see extinct animals. Shame I can't bring photos back with me

[–] [email protected] 5 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Thought the same thing and was like, go the fuck to bed and do not watch that shit show of a boxing match.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago

Lmao, it was just a jerk going ez on a grandpa. I got scared for mike but realised jakes not gonna do shit.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I’d go back to “old enough to understand but still young enough to do something about it” me and have a nice long conversation 🙂

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago

But no consequences

[–] [email protected] 31 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

Initially I read that as “you can go back in time for 24 hours” and thought why would 24 hours ago be that interesting? :)

So my initial answer is: Not eating the late night burger I had last night.

My final answer is: San Francisco in the 60s/70s to hang out with the Dead and all the other amazing artists of that time. Maybe see a show at the Fillmore.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 13 hours ago

I read it like that at first as well and actually have a use-case for it. I have a certification exam next week and that 24 hour rewind would be very helpful if I do terrible on the exam. lol

[–] [email protected] 5 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I can't really answer without possibly breaking some rule... But my destination time would be exactly nine months before my own birth date...

[–] [email protected] 7 points 14 hours ago

Stop trying to do the nasty in the pasty.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 17 hours ago

My two choices:

  • Pontic Steppe, around 3000 BCE. Likely region where Late Proto-Indo-European was spoken.
  • northern Lazio, around 650 BCE. If possible/reasonable I want to spend a bit of time in an Etruscan city, then in a Faliscan city, then in a Sabine one. I'm OK travelling by foot if necessary, as long as there's always people talking around me.

In both cases I want to be able to record everything people say. Preferably video, but audio is good enough. I just want to know better about languages of the past.

It's kind of tempting to include 1450 Uruguay as a choice, since we barely know anything about the Charrúa language. However the Charrúa weren't exactly friendly to outsiders, so this option would be only if neither side can interact with each other.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Gonna go see some dinosaurs

[–] [email protected] 5 points 14 hours ago

What if you went back and the dinosaurs all just spoke perfectly understandable English but with a British accent? Nobody would ever believe you when you came back since “all of the science” suggests that dinosaurs didn't speak modern English with British accents.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 19 hours ago

I'd try to meet the Buddha, and see if he could shed some of that instant enlightenment on me. In the stories, he seemed to be able to say just the right thing to people to wake them up out of the matrix.

My first answer was "buy Apple stock" but no effect on the time line probably means I don't make any money. (well wait, what about enlightenment then, does that come with me?)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 17 hours ago

So many bands I'd love to see! But that's somewhat small fry, so to speak, so ancient history, if I could travel to a different location also instantaneously (guess that'dhave to be possible or else it'dbe pretty boring or hard work!). Ancient Egypt, Greece, Central America Mayans... but then, are WE immune from consequences also?! Free from contracting diseases, free from being sacrficed to a god or getting enslaved?! Can we communicate with them?! Dinosaurs would also be awesome, if immunity was guaranteed....chomp!

Or perhaps just see my dad again :)

[–] [email protected] 9 points 19 hours ago (7 children)

Prevent myself from being born.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 18 hours ago

I wanna see Carthage

[–] [email protected] 4 points 16 hours ago

See Jimi Hendrix live.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)
  • Go to Teotihuacan to see how non/hierarchical it was, maybe trip balls if the opportunity presents itself.

  • Go to Harappa or Mahenjo Daro and see how indus seals were used.

  • Kindly ask the Minoans if that topless lady holding the snakes is in charge.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Tired: obsessing over the roman empire

Wired: obsessing over other ancient civilizations

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