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

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Sea Moose said:
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
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You can't warn about the birth of some one that has been dead for 1500 years...AD means after death. And he already was killed so your idea wouldn't even make sense if it was 1500BC.
 
Sea Moose said:
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
Click to expand...

AD, not BC... /wrist
 
DisgruntledVirus said:
You would immediately be outed from your language and dialect. Modern English is vastly different from 1500 AD English.

I would most likely modernize weaponry to the mini-ball (all the tech was available, just not in use). In 1500's firearms were known and used, which means you can't invent them. Bullets (as we know them) wouldn't be easily made due to lack of precision machines (or mechanization to automate it). That would kind of rule out the gatling gun.

I would most likely attempt to work on the steam engine. It's about the only thing that could be done in that time frame with material/tools available, isn't that advanced, and was the start of the industrial revolution which happened ~400 laters.
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You are about 50 early before coal become common. You must find a source of coal to make steam engine, or prepare to harvest and burn a lot of wood.
 
If I wasn't killed by illness and was able to forge myself enough of a back story, I could probably survive well enough. I have enough knowledge of ancient military tactics, history, weaponry, martial arts, art, math, language, reading, science etc to live off teaching noble children.

However, I'd probably try to use my knowledge of sailing to hop the first boat to america and use my knowledge of new world history, farming, and basic first aid to carve out a nice place to live and become a baron.

Worst case, I'm a good bow hunter, marksmen, and woodworker....
 
JimKiler said:
The real question is are you strong and tough enough to survive that you could have opportunity to use future knowledge?

I would need to learn how to fight. Not knowing the customs of the people could get you into a fight pretty easily back then.
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Not to mention even in England you'd be lucky if the people can sort of understand you.
 
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Cogman said:
Wire manufacturing literally dates back to the BC era. It would be semi-expensive, but not impossible to do.
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Yeah but you don't have any money or commonly bartered skills that can be used to get money. And you probably sound like a moron to everyone. You'd be lucky not to starve!

I'm not even sure I could successfully sell my idea of dumping booze on wounds to treat infections without being a prominent enough position to actually be able to implement it. And of course it would be immediately stolen.

I might have better luck betting money on the outcomes of the few historical events I know of during that era...assuming I even got the damn dates right! 😛
 
sourceninja said:
If I wasn't killed by illness and was able to forge myself enough of a back story, I could probably survive well enough. I have enough knowledge of ancient military tactics, history, weaponry, martial arts, art, math, language, reading, science etc to live off teaching noble children.

However, I'd probably try to use my knowledge of sailing to hop the first boat to america and use my knowledge of new world history, farming, and basic first aid to carve out a nice place to live and become a baron.

Worst case, I'm a good bow hunter, marksmen, and woodworker....
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Pst... Just load up on vaccines before going.
 
This has been done already..

army-of-darkness.jpg
 
After thinking about this for a bit, I'm fairly convinced realistically, the easist way I or anyone can make a name for ourselves is to become a chef. While we're unlikely to reinvent most of modern technology, you can still be the person who invented hot dogs, or pizzas, or hamburgers, etc.
 
I would live simple while watching for a cultural need. Then I would "fill it" Invent it or provide it anyway I could.
 
I work metal now. I'd immediately go to work as the blacksmith's apprentice. Instant roof over my head and food, and access to the best tech of the day with the ability to use that to build modern tech.
 
I would become a "doctor". Even a layman's knowledge of medicine would be far in advance of anything they knew in the 1500's regarding bacteria and the importance of a sterile environment in dealing with common injuries.
 
I'd change a musket to a rifled barrel and tell them that rats are spreading plauge. This would make me a rich and well known man. Lastly I would introduce the idea of shaving the beaver; I am sure those medieval broads had some seriously thick, fibrous bush going on down there. Since I'd use my celebrity status to bang so many of those ladies, I'd want that taken care of.
 
PingSpike said:
You can't warn about the birth of some one that has been dead for 1500 years...AD means after death. And he already was killed so your idea wouldn't even make sense if it was 1500BC.
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Quoting this for stupidity and ignorance. AD does NOT mean "after death" lol.
 
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