NationStates Jolt Archive

I often think about how awesome it would be to have lived in the late 19th/early 20th century. World War I, Victorian Britain, American industry and growth was in full swing, and colonialism was still in style...

Nah, I like where I am now. There's nothing more exciting than seeing technology advance by leaps and bounds every day and being able to communicate around the world for fractions of a cent.

We're able to do more and more things that would've been either impossible or magical only a century ago, and they're being developed faster and more powerful to boot. Modern science is deciphering the deepest, most hidden laws of the universe, curing diseases once though unconquerable, discovering new ways to power our economy, developing more and more advanced AI and robotics technologies and enabling us to wield matter at the atomic level...it's simply mindblowing.

I often think about how awesome it would be to have lived in the late 19th/early 20th century. World War I, Victorian Britain, American industry and growth was in full swing, and colonialism was still in style...

I'd want to be in future where you dont age older than 19, 20 for decades and where space travel is possible....

I wish I was born in the 40's.

Nah, I like where I am now. There's nothing more exciting than seeing technology advance by leaps and bounds every day and being able to communicate around the world for fractions of a cent.Funny, I feel like arrived several centuries early for the exact same reasons... And of course, I'm pretty confident most of the peoples of this planet will eventually become anarchists & I'm sorta pissed about missing that too.

I wish I was born in the 40's.

:confused:

I often think about how awesome it would be to have lived in the late 19th/early 20th century. World War I, Victorian Britain, American industry and growth was in full swing, and colonialism was still in style...

Yes, I would love to be without electricity and running water as well. Not to mention any of the useful modern day appliances and convinces we now have. Is it true that you can't catch dysentery twice?

In short, no. I like having the internet and air conditioning.

:confused:

Yep.

I often think about how awesome it would be to have lived in the late 19th/early 20th century. World War I, Victorian Britain, American industry and growth was in full swing, and colonialism was still in style...

Yeah, that would have been fantastic - racism, atrocious working conditions, millions killed in a stupid war...

Yeah, I wish I had been born ten years or so after the anarchist revolution. All the really hard work already done, but still lots of room to develop and experiment.

But barring that, while the present time sucks, I hardly see much better alternatives in the last few millenia or so, so I'll stick to it.

NO PLACE IN HISTORY CAN HOLD ME!!!!

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/7446/deathknightmt0.jpg

And of course, I'm pretty confident most of the peoples of this planet will eventually become anarchists & I'm sorta pissed about missing that too.

We think alike, it seems.

Funny, I feel like arrived several centuries early for the exact same reasons... And of course, I'm pretty confident most of the peoples of this planet will eventually become anarchists & I'm sorta pissed about missing that too.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind being born about 100-150 years in the future.

However, if medicine and biotechnology keep advancing at their current rates or faster, I definitely wouldn't rule out the possibility of us living for a very, very long time. Science is already unraveling the mechanisms behind aging and degenerative diseases, and once we can find ways to halt or reverse these conditions, we'll be able to achieve massive leaps in lifespan and quality of life.

So, stay alive for another decade or two and you'll be able to benefit immensely.

I often think about how awesome it would be to have lived in the late 19th/early 20th century. World War I, Victorian Britain, American industry and growth was in full swing, and colonialism was still in style...

Low living standards, two world wars that killed tens of millions, flu epidemic that also killed tens of millions, and few if any rights unless you are rich and white. Hmm, no.

Yeah, that would have been fantastic - racism, atrocious working conditions, millions killed in a stupid war...

These things still exist mind you.

I often think about how awesome it would be to have lived in the late 19th/early 20th century. World War I, Victorian Britain, American industry and growth was in full swing, and colonialism was still in style...
...epidemics were common, polio was rampant, it'd take months to travel anywhere, contact with other countries was almost non-existant, power was in the hands of a few obscenely rich white guys (ok that bit hasn't changed much), segregation and apartheid was the norm, the rich-poor divide was extreme, the class system was in full force so woe betide anyone not born into the right family and, prob most importantly, no-one knew how to make a decent cup of joe.

I'd like to have been born in a couple of hundred years, where we get all the cool gadgets futurists have been promising us: Flying cars, sexbots, trips to Mars, virtual reality, jetpacks, robobutlers, space-cities, and so on.

I often think about how awesome it would be to have lived in the late 19th/early 20th century. World War I, Victorian Britain, American industry and growth was in full swing, and colonialism was still in style...

Yeah. I sometimes wish I lived before the sixties or in medieval times.

These things still exist mind you.

Wars don't generally kill tens of millions now....

These things still exist mind you.

Wars don't generally kill tens of millions now....

Yeah, I wouldn't mind being born about 100-150 years in the future.

However, if medicine and biotechnology keep advancing at their current rates or faster, I definitely wouldn't rule out the possibility of us living for a very, very long time. Science is already unraveling the mechanisms behind aging and degenerative diseases, and once we can find ways to halt or reverse these conditions, we'll be able to achieve massive leaps in lifespan and quality of life.

So, stay alive for another decade or two and you'll be able to benefit immensely.

I can't believe you left out nanotechnology.

I can't believe you left out nanotechnology.

I edited my original post to include it. :)

Nanotechnology is even more exciting because it pretty much appeared within the last 7 years and has made massive strides in a very short period of time. So much potential there, and a lot of it is happening right before our eyes.

Wars don't generally kill tens of millions now....

To be fair we haven't had a real war (in the classic sense) in quite a while. I'm sure if things got serious nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons would make the Somme look like childs play.

Some people say that having an affinity for a certain place or time in the past shows that you had a past life, then. Some people beleive its proof of reincarnation. I am a member of some people:D

I think my last form was a musician in France, because I actually went to Paris and got some major deja vu feelings. The musician part is probably because I've always been interested in music and musicians, so I'm guessing. Of course, there are some people who pinpointed their past lives down to names and pictures, but I haven't gotten to that point yet.

To be fair we haven't had a real war (in the classic sense) in quite a while. I'm sure if things got serious nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons would make the Somme look like childs play.

I would say the very potential of those weapons to kill like that is the main reason why we have not had another world war since the development of the atomic bomb. Nobody on any side wants to inflict that on their people or the people of another country...it's just too damaging.

I wouldn't want to have been born in any time that didn't have antibiotics or vaccinations for things like polio, smallpox, measles, mumps, etc. I'm also very fond of hot and cold running water, women having the vote, indoor toilets, dishwashers, washers and dryers... I think I would like to have space travel, a solution to the environmental problems we have, an end to ethnic and religious tensions and so forth, so I would like to live about 250-300 years from now in a perfect Star Trek universe. (not likely, but I can dream, can't I?)

...epidemics were common, polio was rampant, it'd take months to travel anywhere, contact with other countries was almost non-existant, power was in the hands of a few obscenely rich white guys (ok that bit hasn't changed much), segregation and apartheid was the norm, the rich-poor divide was extreme, the class system was in full force so woe betide anyone not born into the right family and, prob most importantly, no-one knew how to make a decent cup of joe.
The main appeal for me is living in a world that still has a bit of mystery.

I'd like to have been born in a couple of hundred years, where we get all the cool gadgets futurists have been promising us: Flying cars, sexbots, trips to Mars, virtual reality, jetpacks, robobutlers, space-cities, and so on.
I expect to see this in at least 50 years. If nanotechnology really takes off then the limits are endless to what we could accomplish.

These things still exist mind you.

Sure. But speaking as the citizen of a western country in particular, we at least have more safeguards than we did 100 years ago. I can get sick and not be dismissed from my job (and I can actually see a doctor if need be), if i'm unemployed, i'm not going to starve in the streets, and so on. And at least racism is no longer (officially) state sanctioned.

The developing world is still fucked, but that's at the very least partially to blame on the 19th century anyway.

I certainly wouldn't want to regress to that era.

We think alike, it seems.Indeed, though I can't fault you for not noticing earlier. I'm sadly not famous for making coherent arguments.So, stay alive for another decade or two and you'll be able to benefit immensely.If you're right, it'll prolly be beyond both my pricerange & my desires.

I would say the very potential of those weapons to kill like that is the main reason why we have not had another world war since the development of the atomic bomb. Nobody on any side wants to inflict that on their people or the people of another country...it's just too damaging.

True, and with globalization I doubt we will see another world war. But theres always the possibility...

Wrong century?
Not really, i like the 20th Century, i just feel i was born 75 years too late.

Wrong century?
Not really, i like the 20th Century, i just feel i was born 75 years too late.

Thats what I meant in the OP. Would you mind giving us a reason?

Indeed, though I can't fault you for not noticing earlier.

I noticed our broader political similarity a long ago. I was commenting on the similarity of our responses to the question.

If you're right, it'll prolly be beyond both my pricerange & my desires.

Costs fall over time...I have a feeling these kinds of treatments will be affordable by the time they hit the mass market; initially they'll be expensive, but like any technology they'll get cheaper and cheaper as time passes.

I often think about how awesome it would be to have lived in the late 19th/early 20th century. World War I, Victorian Britain, American industry and growth was in full swing, and colonialism was still in style...

i don't see a single upside there

i don't see a single upside there

You could still smoke in California... ;)

also, echoing my anarchist comrades' responses, slightly after the revolution would be nice. failing that, a decade or two before my own time is about as far as i'd go and stay part of this culture. it's all pretty well crap before then.

So, stay alive for another decade or two and you'll be able to benefit immensely.

From increased longevity?

I'm not sure that's much of a benefit.

From increased longevity?

I'm not sure that's much of a benefit.

If you like living and like being healthy, I would say it is. But then again, I also want to live longer so that I can watch our civilization change and grow on a scale far more expansive than a single generation or lifetime. The kind of knowledge and wisdom that would offer is too much for me to pass up.

If you like living and like being healthy, I would say it is. But then again, I also want to live longer so that I can watch our civilization change and grow on a scale far more expansive than a single generation or lifetime. The kind of knowledge and wisdom that would offer is too much for me to pass up.

Off topic a bit, but nice quote in your sig. Whats the source?

I think I'd feel more at home in the era between medieval and industrial. So, Renaissance or pre-Napoleonic.

If you like living and like being healthy, I would say it is.

I don't like living in and of itself. I like being happy.

I do like being healthy... but not if it means I get to work for another several decades because the economy can't handle too many retired people.

I guess it just seems pretty empty to me. Living a few decades, or even many decades, longer... so what? What's the point? I die eventually anyway, it's not like I get immortality, and without the actual quality of my life increasing, it doesn't seem like very much.

But then again, I also want to live longer so that I can watch our civilization change and grow on a scale far more expansive than a single generation or lifetime.

That might be fun... if I had a "fast forward" button.

Off topic a bit, but nice quote in your sig. Whats the source?

It's an excerpt from Gordon Gekko's speech to the shareholders of Teldar Paper in the movie Wall Street.

I don't like living in and of itself. I like being happy.

Chances are, if you're not happy you're not going to choose to extend your lifespan. Of course, being happy (and optimistic) to begin with does make you live longer and reduces stress, so they sort of go hand in hand.

I do like being healthy... but not if it means I get to work for another several decades because the economy can't handle too many retired people.

Technology has one very important benefit in that it reduces the number of people who have to work. If our productivity continues to go up and more and more of our work can be done automatically, we won't need to have as many people working in order to grow and support our economy.

So, chances are, by the time enough people are living long enough after retirement to pose a real problem to the economy, we're going to be able to support them.

I guess it just seems pretty empty to me. Living a few decades, or even many decades, longer... so what? What's the point? I die eventually anyway, it's not like I get immortality, and without the actual quality of my life increasing, it doesn't seem like very much.

Well, that assumes immortality in and of itself is impossible; it really isn't, but the question is whether or not it's desirable. I personally would prefer conditional immortality, with total control over if and when I die. Being forced to live forever would be as horrendous as an early death.

Quality of life will increase alongside our increased lifespans; after all, the main goal of life extension and anti-aging research is to make our lives better. If life didn't improve, it wouldn't be worth it to undergo these treatments.

Ideally, I'd like to "live forever" but experience different lives and different times through artificial reincarnation (presumably in a very advanced simulation).

That might be fun... if I had a "fast forward" button.

I wouldn't mind the slower pace, personally. Gives me more time to appreciate things as they are.

Chances are, if you're not happy you're not going to choose to extend your lifespan.

Or you will do it anyway in the hope that you will somehow achieve happiness later.

Always striving, always fighting, always desperate, and never getting it.

Technology has one very important benefit in that it reduces the number of people who have to work. If our productivity continues to go up and more and more of our work can be done automatically, we won't need to have as many people working in order to grow and support our economy.

This has almost never actually happened. It has always been the promise, but it hasn't been fulfilled.

Sure, there have been gains, but not only did these occur only as aspects of the industrial system that had already extended work hours for many, but they have been relatively marginal compared to the gains in productivity and economic growth. And neoliberal capitalism seems quite eager to abolish even those in the name of its variety of progress and efficiency.

So, chances are, by the time enough people are living long enough after retirement to pose a real problem to the economy, we're going to be able to support them.

Perhaps, but that doesn't mean we will.

Already people protest the "parasitic" elderly - that will get much worse, especially if life spans increase as dramatically as you predict.

Well, that assumes immortality in and of itself is impossible; it really isn't,

Yes, it is. Nothing lasts forever.

I personally would prefer conditional immortality, with total control over if and when I die.

Yeah, that's pretty much the only real benefit to immortality - the power of choice.

Quality of life will increase alongside our increased lifespans; after all, the main goal of life extension and anti-aging research is to make our lives better.

No, it's to make lives longer.

If life didn't improve, it wouldn't be worth it to undergo these treatments.

My point precisely. They are utterly useless without those improvements, and probably superfluous with them.

I wouldn't mind the slower pace, personally. Gives me more time to appreciate things as they are.

I don't appreciate things as they are, I pretty much hate things as they are.

I'd prefer to have been born either 1000 years ago...or 1000 years from now.

Doesn't really matter to me either way. :)

Or you will do it anyway in the hope that you will somehow achieve happiness later.

Always striving, always fighting, always desperate, and never getting it.

True. That is a major risk; hopefully, we'll also make sure to focus on improving quality of life and personal happiness along with extended lifespans.

I mean, I love technology and the promise it brings as much as any of its most enthusiastic proponents, but the thought of someone intentionally extending their lifespan to seek happiness and never getting it is horrible. I really hope we make the effort to address that problem, because it makes no sense to indirectly torment someone for nigh-eternity due to their ability to extend their lifespan.

This has almost never actually happened. It has always been the promise, but it hasn't been fulfilled.

It has helped somewhat. Child labor in the developed world has thankfully been eliminated, as has forcing the elderly to work; it also opened the door for women and minorities to enter the workforce.

It's far from perfect, and not exactly the most desirable situation, but it's far better than the hellish conditions of the 19th century. Of course, one of my major concerns is that those gains are being eroded by people that fail to see the benefits of those improved conditions and only see them as negatively impacting profit.

Sure, there have been gains, but not only did these occur only as aspects of the industrial system that had already extended work hours for many, but they have been relatively marginal compared to the gains in productivity and economic growth. And neoliberal capitalism seems quite eager to abolish even those in the name of its variety of progress and efficiency.

I seriously doubt that neoliberal capitalism will survive changes in technology; it was advances in technology that enabled workers to lay the foundations of labor movements and other attempts to improve their living and working conditions.

Those advances in technology brought about the decline of the laissez-faire economic system in the late 19th century, and they'll end up doing the same with our current system.

Perhaps, but that doesn't mean we will.

Already people protest the "parasitic" elderly - that will get much worse, especially if life spans increase as dramatically as you predict.

Of course, at the same time, if there are more elderly people they will be more capable of wielding political power. And, of course, if we can support people without a major increase in costs, people aren't going to complain.

Worst comes to worst, we raise the age at which people start receiving government benefits.

Yes, it is. Nothing lasts forever.

As far as we know; it hinges on a lot of what-ifs that are likely to support the possibility of immortality rather than reduce it. Of course, speculating about something that, at the very least, is going to be a possibility when you and I are quite old is kind of pointless.

Let's just say that I'll start thinking about it more in depth if I make it to 200. By then we should be in a better position to look at it.

Yeah, that's pretty much the only real benefit to immortality - the power of choice.

And that's one of the best in the world to have. The total freedom to decide for yourself.

No, it's to make lives longer.

Most of the things I've read from people involved in life extension also focus on quality of life as equally as important; if a person's quality of life is poor, they're not going to live as long or as well.

I mean, we can make people live for a pretty long time, but what good is that if it means being little more than a bedridden, decrepit corpse kept alive by life support? The goal is to make people live longer, and to make the lives they live better.

My point precisely. They are utterly useless without those improvements, and probably superfluous with them.

I agree. I would only extend my life if I wanted to, and if I was confident that things would get better in the future. Of course, since I'm an optimist I tend to think that is a given, but we can't be sure by any stretch of the imagination.

I don't appreciate things as they are, I pretty much hate things as they are.

But at the same time, we have to make sure that all of our decisions are weighed carefully; going in to something too hastily could have terrible consequences.

Technology has one very important benefit in that it reduces the number of people who have to work. If our productivity continues to go up and more and more of our work can be done automatically, we won't need to have as many people working in order to grow and support our economy.

So, chances are, by the time enough people are living long enough after retirement to pose a real problem to the economy, we're going to be able to support them.Hang on, this doesn't at all seem like the world I live in. But if it's really not the other way around (the wealthier we become, the greater the welfare burden becomes), then I should very much like to emigrate. Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly frowning when I pay taxes right now, but in your magic land of no capitalism, it might actually make me feel proud.

I mean, I love technology and the promise it brings as much as any of its most enthusiastic proponents, but the thought of someone intentionally extending their lifespan to seek happiness and never getting it is horrible. I really hope we make the effort to address that problem, because it makes no sense to indirectly torment someone for nigh-eternity due to their ability to extend their lifespan.

I don't know... it just seems to me that the way some of us crave longevity is more indicative of desperation than happiness.

If we really led happy lives, I don't think we would be tempted to extend our natural lives very much. Again, it just seems empty. If you get what you want out of life, why bother?

It seems to me that it's part of our societal obsession with wanting endlessly MORE - and more than anything else, I see that as indicating that we aren't really ever getting what we want, even if we think we are.

It has helped somewhat. Child labor in the developed world has thankfully been eliminated,

We no longer send children to the mines or the factories, that's true.

But it's false to say that we have really abolished child labor. We have just moved it to the school. An improvement, to be sure... but not a solution.

as has forcing the elderly to work;

That's true, but I don't believe "forcing the elderly to work" has been all that commonplace in the past... usually those incapable of work were cared for by their extended families.

it also opened the door for women and minorities to enter the workforce.

That was more social than economic.

It's far from perfect, and not exactly the most desirable situation, but it's far better than the hellish conditions of the 19th century.

Yeah, but not in the ways the theorists of progress predicted.

The most significant change is the elimination of the most horrific working conditions in the First World (except for coal miners, domestic workers, and a few others)... not a massive increase in leisure time or even in freedom. Since that change has pretty much been with us since the 1950s at the latest, I'm not persuaded that further technological progress is going to be of much aid.

I seriously doubt that neoliberal capitalism will survive changes in technology; it was advances in technology that enabled workers to lay the foundations of labor movements and other attempts to improve their living and working conditions.

Speaking of failed predictions...

The notion of increased productivity ultimately undermining capitalism is a very old one, but if it's true, why hasn't it happened yet?

Quite simply, further division of labor, increased specialization, and the obsolescence of old skills and opportunities tends not to undermine the system but rather to strengthen it. It entrenches existing hierarchies by increasing economic inequality and undermining older methods of resistance.

Those advances in technology brought about the decline of the laissez-faire economic system in the late 19th century, and they'll end up doing the same with our current system.

Union membership is at historic lows, economic inequality is steadily increasing, and global capitalism reigns triumphant virtually everywhere.

Technology was a crucial factor in the emergence of class society in the first place.

Of course, at the same time, if there are more elderly people they will be more capable of wielding political power.

Their voting bloc is unlikely to ever outvote that of the young.

And, of course, if we can support people without a major increase in costs, people aren't going to complain.

We can't, unless we slash benefits.

Worst comes to worst, we raise the age at which people start receiving government benefits.

Yeah, it's going to happen. And it's exactly what I objected to.

And that's one of the best in the world to have.

Next to the freedom to decide how I'm going to live my life, however long it is? Hardly.

But at the same time, we have to make sure that all of our decisions are weighed carefully; going in to something too hastily could have terrible consequences.

Yeah, and staying out of something (lots of somethings) too conservatively is already having terrible consequences.

Yeah. I sometimes wish I lived before the sixties or in medieval times.

oh yes, you're the "knight in shining armor" fellow aren't you? Yeah, I'm not surprised you have a overly romaticized version of the medieval era. Truth be told, if you did live the, you'd likely be a poor, uneducated feudal servant. You'd be up before dawn and toil through the day. You'd pray you didn't have an accident because if a limb got hurt and infected, it would likely have to be cut off before gangrean took your life.

The only book you'd have, if you could read at all, would be the bible, and whatever time you had (which was little) between working and lseeping would be spent in church.

You would work 12-14 hours a day, 6 days a week, doing exhausting hard labor, starting at the age of 10 and up until the day you died, which would likely be in your early thirties.

If you were extremely lucky enough to be considered part of the landed gentry, and could avoid a life of endless toil, you might live a life of relative comfort, living in a stone keep, lit by candle. During the winter the drafts would still be freezing and you'd sleep and a mattress of moldy feathers (better than the mattresses of straw your servants sleep on). You'd have access to the most modern medicine and science, and if you were lucky, maybe you'd live to 50.

The fact is, the average suburbanite highschooler has a higher life expectancy, better heatlh, is more literate, more knowledgeable, and lives a far more comfortable and privlidged life than the most powerful medieval european king.

Technology has one very important benefit in that it reduces the number of people who have to work. If our productivity continues to go up and more and more of our work can be done automatically, we won't need to have as many people working in order to grow and support our economy.

though only if we force such gains for the people on the elite - they like increases in productivity to translate into higher profit for themselves while making people work longer and harder if possible. technically, we in usialand could all live at our 1990 standard of living on just 27 hours of work a week if we really could go by straight productivity gains.

Do you feel like you were born in the wrong century?

Nope. Right time, wrong planet.

Thats what I meant in the OP. Would you mind giving us a reason?
My guess is that if Harls was born then, he could have had a try-out for the Invincibles.
And gone seen the Don play.
Both Dons - Clarke and Bradman.

I'd like to have been born sometime in the Paleolithic, with an extraordinary ability to travel, so that I could kind of skip over the boring bits and check out things like the Roman forum, Da Vinci's workshop, the highlights of the Enlightenment, Versailles in all its glory, Mauritius before the dodos disappeared, explore the last savannas of the Sahara, chat with Rachel Carson, visit the first Mars colony, etc. etc. That would be cool.

BTW, while the lives of the feudal serfs was undeniably not much fun, they worked about half the number of hours per year as the average white-collar American. Thanks to the miracle of mobile technology, it's virtually impossible to escape one's work these days. If I ever end up constantly wired, someone kindly shoot me. (I say this as I'm wasting time ranting on the internet ;) ) Still, it's nice to get away from it all periodically...

"Do you feel like you were born in the wrong century?"

Absolutely. I cannot believe I actually live in a century when things like racism, sexism, and homophobia still exist. I cannot believe I live in a century when superstition and anti-rationality still thrive to the extent that they do. I cannot believe that I live in a time when people actually still "debate" the supposed scientific validity of creation myths. I cannot believe I live in a time when the human status of women is still up for debate.

Hell, I can't believe people still buy in to the concept of binary gender in the first place.

I am clearly a cyborg clone ninja from the not-too-distant future, sent back in time to save you all from yourselves and teach you the true meaning of Christmas (hint: it's not Jesus).

i feel like i should have been born in the sengoku waring age of japan. That or the great era of the Roman empire. The Roman legions were magnificant armies which i would love to see in war.

Well, I really would like to be born and live between 1870-1914. That was an awesome time. The technology was developing so much, so fast, in new spheres of knowledge. The first movies, first cars, first planes, first zeppelins. The world still had some mystery to it (which was destroyed after the first picture of the earth from space was shot), and people still wondered if there were places on earth humans didnt know.

I´m pretty sure Europe was an amazing place at that time. Yes, of course it was because of imperialism and the colonies, but it probabily was quite awesome (if you were rich).

When you read stuff like Verne, Lovecraft and many other writers of the age, you see they had a kind of fascinating naivety about life that is now completely destroyed.

1870's-1914 to for me get to swank around in town in nice brightly colourful dress uniforms be member of a Gentlemans club potter about in early cars own severel first editions and get lurred away on some experdition or become whaler for a few years

I'm happy where I am today, where I came from, and where I plan on being when I die.

Proud to be American.

Sometimes I wish I was born in the 22nd century... :p

I sometimes wish I had been born in Renaissance Italy, just to watch the rebirth of Western civilization and flowering of capitalism. But I suppose, in Aristotlian fashion, that my being born now must have some sort of purpose. The Soviet republics collapsed a few years after my birth, and, judging from the drunken sailor spending and massive debt of the Western countries, I think it is safe to say that I will witness their collapse in my lifetime as well. I think that might be the reason why I was born now instead of earlier or later.

I would have loved to have been born in the medieval period. start my own kingdom and stuff, go down in history as the greatest king the world has ever known.

I feel a bit drawn to experiencing history live, but I would not survive it. Ah, the joy of diabetes... Then again, seeing the far future might also be cool. I like being based in 2007, actually, but a time machine would definitely be a great birthday gift, if anyone out there wants to get me one.

A sliders-esque device to flip between alternate universes might also be nifty, providing there were a convenient way to return here.

You know what? I honestly can't say. Unlike Vetalia I don't share his ridiculously optimistic view of the future so I'm not necessarily glad I was born in 1987, but that doesn't mean I'd like to have lived in previous eras either, as being the person I am I could not stand it. So, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see, eh?

I wish I was born long enough ago to enjoy the 1960's......but only for the music. Damn being born in 1989 is so boring......

Thats what I meant in the OP. Would you mind giving us a reason?
I was born in 1983.:)
I just feel that World War Two could have been my glory days.

I would have loved to have been born in the medieval period. start my own kingdom and stuff, go down in history as the greatest king the world has ever known.

or, you know, die horribly from the plague

I wish I was born in the 25th century.

or, you know, die horribly from the plague

Yeah, especially with income inequality that makes Brazil make look like a paradise. You'd most likely be living in a cottage slaving away on some farm as an indentured servant for the rest of your life with no chance of improvement or freedom.

Definitely - I belong in the post-apocalyptic area following World Wars 5.7 and the launch of AOL 19.9. God help us when that day happens.

I often think about how awesome it would be to have lived in the late 19th/early 20th century. World War I, Victorian Britain, American industry and growth was in full swing, and colonialism was still in style...
Are you kidding? I had asthma as a child, was allergic to the smallpox vaccine and have worn glasses since kindergarten. I'd never have lived to adulthood in most time periods.

You know what? I honestly can't say. Unlike Vetalia I don't share his ridiculously optimistic view of the future so I'm not necessarily glad I was born in 1987, but that doesn't mean I'd like to have lived in previous eras either, as being the person I am I could not stand it. So, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see, eh?Damn. You were born my senior year in high school.