How would you capitalize on today's knowledge if taken back to 1500AD.

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bfdd

Lifer
Feb 3, 2007
13,312
1
0
I would simply wait out the various smallpox, measles, rubella epidemics, avoid common well water, show the survivors how to sterilize their water and eradicate cholera in their tiny hamlet and then be revered as an immortal god.

at that point, I'll either be burned at the stake for warlockery, or granted land and title--then quickly work my way onto conquering the whole of existence as the throngs of believers follow me into battle after battle, happily sacrificing themselves at my immortal and omniscient bidding.

hell you just convinced me to want to go back in time just to worship you
 

Fenixgoon

Lifer
Jun 30, 2003
32,081
10,883
136
As for metalurgy, do any of you know how to forge metal?
How about find its ore or process the ore into metal?

forging: beat it with a hammer while it's hot (well you can cold forge too, but that takes way more effort)

refining: use coal to heat it hot enough. find magnesium (MgO = refractory) and maganese (reduces sulfur content). try to get pure oxygen streams to control carbon levels.

i know more about physical metallurgy than actual refining. basically if i had my way, everything would be a precipitation (air) hardenable stainless steel. very very easy to heat treat and forge :)



ok, what i really need is a shotgun, a chemistry textbook, a thermodynamics textbook, and a beat up chevrolet caprice from the 80's (not sure what the actual car was)
 
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lupi

Lifer
Apr 8, 2001
32,539
260
126
1500AD Huh??

I would warn them about the birth of a guy that is set for the year 0AD. He is gonna be visited by three wise dudes.

Kill him and spare the next 2000 years alot of backward bullshit.

Seriosly with out religion we would have been reaching the stars by now

lolololololololololololololol
 

ProfJohn

Lifer
Jul 28, 2006
18,161
7
0
I'd combine my knowledge of music of that time (I studied that back in college Music History) with today's and I'd become a musician. At least I'd eat. Maybe.
Best idea of the thread.

Someone with good musical skills would have it easy if they can get in with a decent sized church.

Just play all the stuff you learned as a kid and you'd be world famous. And every year for centuries there would be Princess Ida festivals held all over the world where people would worship your music. (although as a female you would have to find some guy and let him take all the credit)
 

Arkaign

Lifer
Oct 27, 2006
20,736
1,377
126
Hmm, honestly it'd probably be easier to go back to the height of the Roman empire than any time until at least the 1600s.
 

The-Noid

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2005
3,117
0
76
I don't think I have many useful qualities from the time. I would go back then shrivel up and die.
 

Arkaign

Lifer
Oct 27, 2006
20,736
1,377
126
Hmm, there's also the high probability that I, like most people of this era, carry a bunch of nasties that we carry immunities to that would lay waste to populations without the hereditary immunity, and perhaps vice versa (there may be bugs that abound back then that have long since dropped off of the immunity radar that would seriously affect or kill me).
 

The-Noid

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2005
3,117
0
76
Hmm, there's also the high probability that I, like most people of this era, carry a bunch of nasties that we carry immunities to that would lay waste to populations without the hereditary immunity, and perhaps vice versa (there may be bugs that abound back then that have long since dropped off of the immunity radar that would seriously affect or kill me).

Oh he makes a good point, I am sure our new super bugs would wipe out basically the whole population.
 

edro

Lifer
Apr 5, 2002
24,326
68
91
Best idea of the thread.

Someone with good musical skills would have it easy if they can get in with a decent sized church.

Just play all the stuff you learned as a kid and you'd be world famous. And every year for centuries there would be Princess Ida festivals held all over the world where people would worship your music. (although as a female you would have to find some guy and let him take all the credit)
I would think the actual musicians from that period were highly skilled.
If they weren't awesome as their craft, they starved.
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,747
579
126
I'm actually not sure how well that music thing would work. Especially since princess ida is a woman I assume. I think it'd be hard to make hay there if you were a noble woman, much less a commoner. Plus like edro said, I think you'd be competing with some crazy good musicians from the time period. I guess you could pass off some famous composers work as your own though. :p

Displace Nostradamus as a great prophet. Write down a bunch of prophecies to predict the future with uncanny accuracy. For centuries afterwards the academics wll try to explain away the uncanny accuracy of your predictions.

So you'd use your ability to travel through time to enact a epic troll on history?

This is easy. Invent human flight. All you need is this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_air_balloon

That and your knowledge of aerodynamics is all you would need.

Actually...that probably wouldn't be to hard to do would it? Just need good cloth, a basket, some coal probably and something that could contain the heat and didn't weight to much.

I often wondered why hot air balloons never really seemed to be harnessed for warfare. I know in the civil war they were sometimes used as recon...but they weren't even heavily used for that I don't think. I guess the fact you can only sort of control them doesn't make them very useful for attacking.

Edit: LOL, never mind. I just looked it up on wikipedia and shortly after the hot air balloons invention it was being used as recon in warfare.
 
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ProfJohn

Lifer
Jul 28, 2006
18,161
7
0
I would think the actual musicians from that period were highly skilled.
If they weren't awesome as their craft, they starved.
Right, but you have to understand how much music has advanced since 1500.

Opera didn't exist at the time.
Neither did the modern day Orchestra.
The piano didn't even exist at the time.

So someone with a strong understanding of classical music would be able to create pieces of music that would be far more advance than anything being created at that time. This would lead you to fame and fortune as all the royalty of Europe would want to hear your creations.
 

blackdogdeek

Lifer
Mar 14, 2003
14,453
10
81
i would wager that most of us here would immediately be mistaken for nobility for these reasons:

1. most noticeable would be our cleanliness. the peasantry of the time only bathing very seldomly would be utterly filthy. only the wealthy would be able to afford the luxury of regular bathing. we would also smell vastly better than just about everyone.

2. assuming the average atoter is slightly overweight, myself included, it would be evident that we had access to abundant food sources, something not true of the poor.

3. our grooming (haircut, clean shaven or trimmed, clean short fingernails/toenails) would also indicate access to a luxurious lifestyle.

4. our teeth similarly would indicate a luxurious lifestyle.

5. i don't know the average atot age but, myself being 40, i would have lived beyond the average life expectancy of the time indicating again a pampered life.

i would probably try to parlay these characteristics and my schooling into an academic career or even a position as a noble for a local royalty figure.
 

WHAMPOM

Diamond Member
Feb 28, 2006
7,628
183
106
How would you capitalize on your current knowledge if you were taken back to the 1500s (or whatever time period you want)?
- You can't take books or electronics back with you (just the knowledge in your head)
- Be careful, you might be labeled a heretic and burned

Do you know enough science, mathematics, economics, medicine, etc to live richly?
Do you know enough to rule the world?
Even if you know certain things, can you prove them to the locals?

If you know medicine, chemistry, engineering, etc, are the materials available for you to use?
Is the terminology the same back then as it is today?

These are the questions I ask myself when I am bored.
I am sure this has been discussed here before, but it's fun to discuss these things.

Like any other moneyless, homeless vagrant speaking an unintelligble language, you would be thrown in prison and die there.
 

Via

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2009
4,670
4
0
Music could definitely be an avenue, but only for a highly skilled professional musician.

You couldn't just play a piece by Brahms or even Beethoven; at best you'd be laughed off of whatever stage you were on.

Today anything goes, but the rules that goverened music were much stricter in past ages. So much as a faulty cadence could get you a beating from your music instructor.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
Definitely something to do with wenches, and my knowledge of birth control. I think I know enough first aid/basic medicine to save some lives and make some money. I know enough electricity to whip up something to amaze the common folk so I would absolutely be a god.

Witchcraft! Burn him!
 

Kelvrick

Lifer
Feb 14, 2001
18,422
5
81
I don't think too many of us will be immediately burned for witchcraft. I mean, the 1500's weren't THAT far back. It was the renaissance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_early_modern_history#1500.E2.80.931509

This was the time of Michaelangelo and Leonardo, so I would guess people knowledgeable on history/arts can flourish. Regarding music, you might not even have to be able to play if you can start writing and get someone else to play for you.

Knowledge of firearms would also work. If anything, shaping a bullet instead of just a round ball and then leaving the indention in the back so that it forms along the groove of the rifle. I don't know if they were advanced enough to rifle the rifles, but add rifling to the casting of the bullets.

I wonder what would happen if you could get close enough to the catholic church to tell them what England was planning on doing.
 

thepd7

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2005
9,423
0
0
How would you capitalize on your current knowledge if you were taken back to the 1500s (or whatever time period you want)?
- You can't take books or electronics back with you (just the knowledge in your head)
- Be careful, you might be labeled a heretic and burned

Do you know enough science, mathematics, economics, medicine, etc to live richly?
Do you know enough to rule the world?
Even if you know certain things, can you prove them to the locals?

If you know medicine, chemistry, engineering, etc, are the materials available for you to use?
Is the terminology the same back then as it is today?

These are the questions I ask myself when I am bored.
I am sure this has been discussed here before, but it's fun to discuss these things.

awesome question.

1500AD Huh??

I would warn them about the birth of a guy that is set for the year 0AD. He is gonna be visited by three wise dudes.

Kill him and spare the next 2000 years alot of backward bullshit.

Seriosly with out religion we would have been reaching the stars by now

Hey did anyone point out that's 1500 years after Christ lived?

j/k. The ironing is delicious though.


Make your way to California, pan some Gold, bury it, get back into Time Machine and return to the Present, Profit.

This. I would definitely go to the "new world".
 

Sea Moose

Diamond Member
May 12, 2009
6,933
7
76
you are all kidding yourselves, not a single one of you would last a week without your cellphone, car, internets.. not to mention heat, electricity, running water

THis guy is correct.

No pron? Go fudge your idea of past time travel. I would rather go forward to the year 2200 where we have hologram pron
 

WHAMPOM

Diamond Member
Feb 28, 2006
7,628
183
106
i would wager that most of us here would immediately be mistaken for nobility for these reasons:

1. most noticeable would be our cleanliness. the peasantry of the time only bathing very seldomly would be utterly filthy. only the wealthy would be able to afford the luxury of regular bathing. we would also smell vastly better than just about everyone.

2. assuming the average atoter is slightly overweight, myself included, it would be evident that we had access to abundant food sources, something not true of the poor.

3. our grooming (haircut, clean shaven or trimmed, clean short fingernails/toenails) would also indicate access to a luxurious lifestyle.

4. our teeth similarly would indicate a luxurious lifestyle.

5. i don't know the average atot age but, myself being 40, i would have lived beyond the average life expectancy of the time indicating again a pampered life.

i would probably try to parlay these characteristics and my schooling into an academic career or even a position as a noble for a local royalty figure.

99 chances out of 100, you would be beaten and robbed. Fat, over dressed, pampered looking without weapons leaves you bloody and naked lying in the street. Also your good looking teeth woud be a sign of low class, since only the rich could afford sweets and cavities.
 

Sea Moose

Diamond Member
May 12, 2009
6,933
7
76
OK fark the ops concept. I will put a gun to the ops head as I enter the time machine. I shall be bringing my paladin tank and AUG Styer with me. And truck loads of fuel and ammo.

I would take over england (small land mass) and set myself up as king.

All bow to sea moose and his mechanical bang bang horse machine

What was that peasant? How about a 5.56mm round to the chest?


Fuck i am tired