NationStates Jolt Archive

Two scenarios for you to answer to.

1. You are transported BACK in time 500 years to the exact position you are now, with 10 things, each one weighing no more than one ton, from this time besides the clothes on your back. What 10 things will you bring? And what will you do with these things? (Note that ammo doesn't count as a "thing", so you can bring as much of it as you want).

2. You are transported FORWARD in time 500 years to the exact position you are now, with 10 things, each one weighing no more than one ton, from this time besides the clothes on your back. What 10 things will you bring? And what will you do with these things? (Note that ammo doesn't count as a "thing", so you can bring as much of it as you want).

You might want to change that to 10 things you can carry in a backpack or something, otherwise I'm taking the whole damn country with me.

And who says I have clothes on my back when I'm on nationstates?

If I went BACK I'd bring an M60 and 9 boxes of Ammo to Huayna Capac, The Inca Emperor (1493-1527) and tell him to be sure to shoot Pizarro and the rest of the Conquistadores when they came to conquer and slaughter.

If I went FORWARD I'd take recording equipment so I could document it. I'm not sure I'd want to come back but if I did I'd want video and audio of first rate quality.

*EDIT* If ammo is unlimited I'd bring 10 heavy machine guns for the Incas.

Back? Penicillin, lots of penicillin.

If I went BACK I'd bring an M60 and 9 boxes of Ammo to Huayna Capac, The Inca Emperor (1493-1527) and tell him to be sure to shoot Pizarro and the rest of the Conquistadores when they came to conquer and slaughter.

I think a few kilos of disease vaccine and the message, "Pizarro is not a God, just a prick," might be more helpful.

As I'm currently in South Australia I guess I would take a canoe, fishing gear, hunting gear, medical supplies, and the encyclopedia Britanica and work my way up to China and teach them a thing or two about technology, economics and democracy and rationality.

It would be fun to build a technological civilization in Australia 500 years ago, but that would probably be too difficult.

10 Tons? OK... I would take gold to the past. Just gold. A lot of it. I am assuming a one way trip back, and to take any sort of technology not then available would do massive amounts of damage to the time line, so I would take enough gold to live out my entire life as an extremely comfortable recluse, and attempt to do so as quietly and unobtrusively as possible.

Going forward I would assume to be a round trip, so I would take nothing (well, probably gold that direction too, just to live on, although it would be a riskier choice as we don't KNOW that gold will have any value in the future). I would be a tourist in the future, and I would just be there to observe, not to stay. I would take my time exploring as much as I could for my own sake, then come on home, and possibly not tell anyone about it.

Im guessing that if I'm in the exact position either way, I'll be buried under the ground. So one of my objects will be something to dig myself out of the ground easily, and something that lets me breathe while doing it.

Back- disposable camera and a battery powered laptop to document things, as well as a double barreled boom stick
Forward- Digital Camera, something to carry a nifty invention I could nab and bring back to the current day and say it was my own, calvin and hoobes complete collection, cd player (with offspring, modest mouse, etc cd's), and probably a couple other things as well.

back-a high-power machine gun with infinite ammo and a book containing every concieveable modern invention possible. I shall conquer the world once I build my musket-proof fleet of musket-proof tanks. I shall conquer the world. I will also have prepared for years in the Arctic since that's the route with the least manditory water crossing.

Camping gear, and a English to Native American dictionary. (I forget which tribe lived in my area.)

Back? Penicillin, lots of penicillin.
Though if going back may they not possibly have the manufacturing ability if you had just detailed discriptions and setups for the basics of creating penicillin

As I am actually in South America, close to the Jesuit Missions locations, I guess I would take back:
1. My library (the books, not the walls etc.) - teach
2. My wife and son - self explanatory really
3. A generator - to power the next few things
4. A computer - to store knowledge, and for entertainment
5. My tools (including power drills etc) - to build other things we would want.
6. Bug killers
7. Kitchen knives
8. An American football (Get the Brazilians obsessed with that and let someone else win the world cup instead)
9. A ton of paper.
10 a printer with a load of ink.
Notice I have not included a weapon, it would not be needed in this area 500 years ago. The tupi - guarani were not particularly warlike.

The future
1. My books
2. My family
3. My record player (they are not going to exist there)
4. My CDs and Records
5. Clothes - who knows what shape and size people will be.
6. My computer (I know they will have better, but I will want things that are on my HD and I have no way of knowing if this will bew accessable through their technology. How many people here can access data on a 5 1/4 inch floppy now?)
7. Spare glasses.

other than that probably just trivial stuff like my preferred beer, wine and whiskey.

1. You are transported BACK in time 500 years to the exact position you are now, with 10 things, each one weighing no more than one ton, from this time besides the clothes on your back. What 10 things will you bring? And what will you do with these things? (Note that ammo doesn't count as a "thing", so you can bring as much of it as you want).

BACK -
(Assuming I would be staying for a while:)
-Several sets of encyclopedias, and science books (including The Davinci Code)
-One ton of soap/shampoo
-WARM cloths
-a gun (or hatchet)
-A cement Mixer
-one ton of cement "quikcret"
-one ton of canned goods
-a bicycle
-copper wire
-a "space heater"

note: there was noone in my area of the country for another 100 years except for indians. Also, if I were to travel instantly, I would fall down about 40 feet, and land in a swamp!)

2. You are transported FORWARD in time 500 years to the exact position you are now, with 10 things, each one weighing no more than one ton, from this time besides the clothes on your back. What 10 things will you bring? And what will you do with these things? (Note that ammo doesn't count as a "thing", so you can bring as much of it as you want).

-the bible
-stocks i have boughten.
-a boilogical/chemical protection suit (never know what diseases lie in the future)

not knowing what the future holds, assuming cities grow at the rate they currently are, I am likely to be sitting in a future metropolis. If things go to waste, I would bring the stuff I brought into the past)

10 tons of frozen burritos - both scenarios.

500 years in the past, where I'm located right now?

1. A 100 lb test fishing pole, with line and lure.

2. A sturdy oar boat, though the Haida would likely have that handy anyway.

3. A zippo lighter and one ton of fuel and flints

4. My wok, and my wife

5. My copy of Ming Tsai's "Blue Ginger" cook book.

As for 500 years in the future, the only things I'd change would be the boat, because by that time the water would be up to my doorstep anyway

Backwards:
A couple of MG-11 LMGs with plenty of ammo for defense and possible distribution
Encyclopedias
English-various native american language texts

I know the area pretty well and could survive indefinately on my own without much survival gear. and I wouldn't need gold with encyclopedias because Knowledge is pretty much a universal currency, and there' nothing really I want to change in particular so I might as well just make the best of it


Forwards:
Encylopedias
Computer and assosciated peripherals
one ton of DVDs with the entirety of recorded human knowledge
One ton of DVDs with every classic movie ever
One ton of Modern weapons and ammunition (Including MG-11)
One Ton of NBC survival Gear
One Ton of Food and water filters/filtration tablets
generator and fuel
Once again, knowledge is a universal currency, and I have no guarantee that my current location won't be a smoking glow-in-the-dark crater in Five Hundred years so NBC stuff, survival gear and wepaons would be good to have just in case, if nothing else they would make good museum pieces

How do I know the Knowledge I bring would be something the futurites wanted? Well think about all the knowledge thats been lost just since even like the 1800s. In five hundred years, people will have no idea what was going on now and historians would probably give over sensitive portions of their anatomy to find out.

ALso Classic movies will almost certainly be lost so they could be a valuable pice of historical culture. or just entertainment while I try to survive in a nuclear wasteland

500 years in the past, I'd probably focus on things that I could take credit for.

1. Beatles lyrics and music sheets (beat them to it and horrify people at the same time)
2. A bicycle.
3. Penicillin
4. A ton of Marlboro cigarettes.
5. 6. 7. 3 tons canned food.
8. A gameboy with a ton of AA batteries. (Used to horrify and make me a deity. "Give to me riches! Paper Boy has spoken!" I don't know why I'd bring a handheld from the 80s.)
9. As many maps of the world and different locations as I could get my hands on. Preferably, maps which described the world 500 years ago.
10. My girlfriend and no more than a ton of her clothing.

500 years in the future:
I stand by the frozen burritos but throw out enough to make room for my girlfriend.

For those who answered about travelling back in time...


You forgot about bringing the time machine! You can never get back now! mwahaha.

Two scenarios for you to answer to.

1. You are transported BACK in time 500 years to the exact position you are now, with 10 things, each one weighing no more than one ton, from this time besides the clothes on your back. What 10 things will you bring? And what will you do with these things? (Note that ammo doesn't count as a "thing", so you can bring as much of it as you want).

2. You are transported FORWARD in time 500 years to the exact position you are now, with 10 things, each one weighing no more than one ton, from this time besides the clothes on your back. What 10 things will you bring? And what will you do with these things? (Note that ammo doesn't count as a "thing", so you can bring as much of it as you want).

both directions:

As I am in a high rise building at the moment something to get me to the ground safely. My choice would be friends to enjoy the trip with me, several books of knowledge (if in future sell them as antiques), medicine and food. Plus take some gold to buy things.