If you could go back in time and give our modern tech to someone, would you?

[Vince278]

Re: If you could go back in time and give our modern tech to someone, would you?

Originally posted by Lancer
Consider, if you went back and gave the Roman empire the tech needed to survive the barbarians, the dark ages would have been avoided.

Rome still would have fallen. They could have handled the barbs. Rome was imploding politically and economically from corruption. The barbs just finished them. To actually prevent the fall of Rome you have to go in and really clean house across the empire but doing that would have also precipitated a fall. From about Nero's time on the fall was inevitable.

Your original question is invalid because it would create the classic paradox: If you went back you would change your future but that would mean you don't need to go back so your future did not change (so on and so on).

[Starchild]

Truly modern technology probably wouldn't by understood by anyone 100 years ago to be of any use, forget about earlier in time.

Take a care from the 50's, plonk it in the Reinessance, and given enough time the idea of an internal compustion engine and gears and axels and stuff could be understood. They might be able to even build one, just tediously longer due to the lack of the assembly line.

Hand DaVinci a laptop or GM crop and you're dealing with technology built on sciences he's never even imagined before.

[Vince278]

I believe it was Arthur C. Clarke that said "Any technology sufficiently advanced will become indistinguishable from magic". That would be how it would appear to people far enough in the past (which would usually get you burnt at the stake).

[Tattila the Hun]

Maybe give the romans the printing press?

[Vince278]

Originally posted by Tattila the Hun
Maybe give the romans the printing press?

They'd probably try to run someone's arm (or something else ) through it.
Not many of the common folk were all that literite.

[Vesayen]

I would... but I wouldn't.

I like living and doing that would undo my existance.... unless I could give it to myself in the past .


What do you mean this program is liscened to microsoft?


Edit: There is debatible evidence that the romans actually had the printing press but it was not widley used.

[Vince278]

Originally posted by Vesayen
I would... but I wouldn't.

I like living and doing that would undo my existance.... unless I could give it to myself in the past .


What do you mean this program is liscened to microsoft?


Edit: There is debatible evidence that the romans actually had the printing press but it was not widley used.

I see you get my point.

The printing press could have made the Roman Empire even more chaotic. In our timeline it had the effect of spreading the Renaissance and Reformation. It was the right tool at the right time in the right place (for us, not them).

[DAVOUT]

I would give a fire-extinguisher to Joan of Arc.

Just to annoy the Brits

[KrazyHorse]

I'd give a thousand machine guns and 10 million rounds of ammunition to Alexander the Great. That way, nobody would be impressed when he conquered the world.

[Saras]

Didn't William Golding "give" the Romans steam engine and printing press?

Also, Turtledove "gave" the Confederates AK-47's

[Vince278]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
I'd give a thousand machine guns and 10 million rounds of ammunition to Alexander the Great. That way, nobody would be impressed when he conquered the world.

A thousand machine guns in his time WOULD be impressive (just by being there). I can picture though how they would be as much a danger to each other as anyone else.

[Spiffor]

I would bring modern plants (much more nourishing than old plants), and explain farming techniques that are doable without mechanization.

[Bereta_Eder]

Sometime back not so long ago so money still buys you everything. Then something, a tech that can be hugely commercially exploited, by me of course.
there's books with that subject, a connecticut yankee in the yard of king arthur is one

[DeathByTheSword]

î would first do into the future to get all the cool stuff and then bring it back to like yesterday....and voila

[Dinner]

Stopping the bubonic plague would be nice as would stopping the fall of the Roman Empire. Those were the two biggest calamities in western history. Heck, give the Romans knowledge about industrialization and fire arms then watch them Romanize the world.