If you had a time machine, would you...

[Robert]

If you had a time machine, which of the following centuries would you most like to visit?

Why?

If you pick "other", please mention which century and why you picked it. :pancake:

[Jimi75]

I'd be right down there in Israel with Jesus and I'd check out what it is all about him and what he did. I'd enjoy the Sermon on the Mount and I'd be right there in Golgotha. I'd try to become a disciple.

Alternatively, I'd travel with apostle Paul.


NO THIS IS NOT A RELIGIOUS THREAD NOR SHOULD THIS MOTIVATE YOU TO DISCUSS MY CHOICE IN ANY RELIGIOUS WAY.


:master:

[Bloozcat]

I think I'd just wait until the Powerball Lottery was worth about 200 million, go forward just enough to see the winning numbers, then come back play those numbers for that week...;)

Hey, you gotta have some source of income if you're going to be a leisurely time traveler...:D

[Spudman]

I posted 18th century but only if I could take my skills that I currently possess. Otherwise I thought going back before Christ would be cool too but it would be probably 1500 years before...and I'd like to have my current skills.:)

[street music]

I would just choose to be part of the 20th. I haven't seen a lot to sway me to any other time.

[tot_Ou_tard]

I picked 24th century so I can visit my great great grandfather. He was a sweet soul & I miss him.

[R_of_G]

I chose other. I'd either want to go to somewhere around 500 BC to learn directly from the Buddha, or I'd be happy to visit some parts of last century from slightly before my time to see Miles and Coltrane and George Harrison.

[tjcurtin1]

I posted 18th century but only if I could take my skills that I currently possess. Otherwise I thought going back before Christ would be cool too but it would be probably 1500 years before...and I'd like to have my current skills.:)

Hmmm... Spud, what skills are you referring to? They didn't have guitars back then, but you mention your skills twice so I'm curious...

And Robert, what on earth made you put the 9th and 10th centuries among the few options?! A frightening time to be about, I should think...

There's no time like the present; from my knowledge of history, we're pretty fortunate to live where and when we do - if we're just talking a VISIT, any time period has its fascinations for me and amazing personalities to meet - hard to choose! I wouldn't mind going with Tot to the 24th; it's always nice to go somewhere where you know someone you can visit...

[sumitomo]

I think it would be cool to meet up with Tot and Duck Dogers in the 24 1/2 century.Sumi:D

[sunvalleylaw]

I say either the 19th century, beginning with the trapper era before Lewis and Clark, or the first half of the 20th century. I am fascinated by American history, and both those periods interest me very much. Jimi's answer is also very compelling though.

[Tone2TheBone]

I'd be right down there in Israel with Jesus and I'd check out what it is all about him and what he did. I'd enjoy the Sermon on the Mount and I'd be right there in Golgotha. I'd try to become a disciple.

Alternatively, I'd travel with apostle Paul.


NO THIS IS NOT A RELIGIOUS THREAD NOR SHOULD THIS MOTIVATE YOU TO DISCUSS MY CHOICE IN ANY RELIGIOUS WAY.


:master:

Paul was a convert after the fact so I'd probably want to chill with Peter. ;)

[SuperSwede]

I would go back to 1959 and buy a couple of then brand new Les Pauls.
Perhaps a couple of strats as well..

[Guitar-Chris]

I wouldn't go that far back. For me, it would be a great pleasure to be part of the hippie subculture around 1967-69. Ok, I was born in 1967 so I'm allready a children of that culture :) But beeing around 20-25 that time would be great.

Look what 1967 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_in_music) was in music :rockon:

[just strum]

Hmm, a thread of religion and greed.

I would go forward to see how all of this turned out.

[oldguy]

Hmm, a thread of religion and greed.

I would go forward to see how all of this turned out.


:eek: :eek: :eek: :saw: :punch: :beavisnbutthead:

[just strum]

:eek: :eek: :eek: :saw: :punch: :beavisnbutthead:

The glass is half full. :D :beer:

[oldguy]

The glass is half full. :D :beer:

That reminds me............ if I had a time machine, I'd try and find out who first said..........
"An optimist says 'The glass is half full'
A pessimist says 'The glass is half empty'
A realist says 'That glass is twice as large as it needs to be'. "

[just strum]

That reminds me............ if I had a time machine, I'd try and find out who first said..........
"An optimist says 'The glass is half full'
A pessimist says 'The glass is half empty'
A realist says 'That glass is twice as large as it needs to be'. "

Well, we know they weren't sitting in a bar when they said it.

[wingsdad]

I wouldn't go that far back. For me, it would be a great pleasure to be part of the hippie subculture around 1967-69. Ok, I was born in 1967 so I'm allready a children of that culture :) But beeing around 20-25 that time would be great.

Well, '67 may have had the Summer Of Love and been a great year in music, filling young heads like mine with optimism and idealism, but 1968 wasn't quite as much fun.

In 1968, my generation lost all semblance of the innocence that had spawned that subculture.

If you've got about an hour or so, watch the series of 6 vids here and imagine yourself witnessing these things at the age of 18, as your generation passes from an age of innocence to one of fear and confusion.

If you DON'T have that kind of time, then please skip past 1968 to 1970, to the last video posted here:

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I don't want to go back there.

Still think you'd want to?

Maybe if I could just cut everything off at August 1969, with Woodstock.

But if you were a college student on May 4, 1970, gathering around the TV in the dorm with your classmates to watch the evening news that night was the penultimate nightmare:

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That evening, I smoked pot for the first time in my life. I couldn't see the point of a future anymore.

The only good thing, I guess, was I also picked up a guitar again that night for the first time in 3 years, having sold all my stuff to 'get serious with life'.

Within the next week or so, the National Guard set up shop on or around campuses throughout the nation in anticipation. My college closed and sent us all home, giving everybody a "Pass" grade for all courses instead of a specific grade. Before they could though, we all tasted tear gas and pepper gas; the Guard shot that stuff off to keep us in our dorms so we wouldn't come out to hurt them with our words.

When I got home, my parents were relieved. I went out and bought my Guild D-40. I still have it, and all the emotions of those times locked into the grain of its wood.

[Guitar-Chris]

I don't want to go back there.

Still think you'd want to?


Wingsdad, I have to admit that I didn't have these pictures in mind. But there are well know. There was a long documentation about the demonstration in Ohio in the german television some weeks ago.

That's the problem of this imagination-thread. Some want to go 2000 years back, but of course the don't want to have all the deseases of that time. I would like to be in Woodstock, but would not change with other things.

Look, when I was a child, my family was not rich, not really poor at all, but life was more simple. But, sometimes, you are thinking of the past, and you get a warm feeling about all the happiness when beeing a child.

Sometimes it's a good thing, not to remember the bad things.

But - also looking at the younger german history - sometimes it is good not to forget the bad things.

[wingsdad]

Look, when I was a child, my family was not rich, not really poor at all, but life was more simple. But, sometimes, you are thinking of the past, and you get a warm feeling about all the happiness when beeing a child.
:) Oh, yes, Chris, indeed.


Sometimes it's a good thing, not to remember the bad things.

But - also looking at the younger german history - sometimes it is good not to forget the bad things.

If I were 1-3 yrs. old instead of 18-20 in 1968-70, the memories wouldn't be as vivid.

[just strum]

Wingsdad, I have to admit that I didn't have these pictures in mind. But there are well know. There was a long documentation about the demonstration in Ohio in the german television some weeks ago.


We live 12 miles from that college and my son is a full-time student there. I can remember when it happened and the mood and the divide that was present. I was a junior in high school, just started wearing long hair and against the establishment. My step fathers brother was a career soldier, several tours in Vietnam, and he was home on leave when a local news station approached him to ask him about Kent State, his response "they should have killed more of them".


Look, when I was a child, my family was not rich, not really poor at all, but life was more simple. But, sometimes, you are thinking of the past, and you get a warm feeling about all the happiness when beeing a child.

If I look further back I initially think of it as "easier times" or a "simpler life", but that would be for me, not my parents. It's easy to think of those days as "simpler times" when you don't have to work, dinner is waiting for you, someone is washing your clothes, a warm bed to sleep in..."

Saying that, if I was to go forward or backwards, I would want to go into the future to see how it turns out.

However, my real answer is - I would stay where I am at right now. I know the problems, I've learned to deal with them, and despite all of today's challenges, I am enjoying the trip.

[oldguy]

Or you could go back just far enough that Blazes wouldn't be helping you with that 335.

[tjcurtin1]

Wings - a powerful post. We often romanticize the past, especially if it wasn't ours.

[oldguy]

Wings - a powerful post. We often romanticize the past, especially if it wasn't ours.

+1.........
I was still in high school when the first local boy's body came home from 'Nam.
In a small community, a war half a world away somehow became less a noble cause and more a heartbreaking reality.

[Ch0jin]

I'd take two people as crew to make the most influential documentary of all history.

"So Jesus. Having read this translation of the Bible and having spent the last couple of weeks going over a summarized version of everything thats been done in your name over the last couple of thousand years, could you give us your thoughts?"

"Stay tuned for part two where we put similar questions to Mohamed..."

Hey Jimi, you don't happen to speak ancient Aramaic do you? Maybe we could go together :)

Guitar-Chris raises an interesting point about disease though.

My gut feel is that a 21'st century guy would actually be resistant to a lot of ancient diseases. I figured it would be MUCH worse for a 2000 year old man to be brought into the present disease wise. Of course the difference is, a 2000 year old man in the 21st century could be treated for anything they caught, not so in the other direction. I mean a small med kit would stave off things that would have killed people only a few hundred years ago. Got some scurvy? Have a vitamin C tablet. Got some Plague? Here pop some amoxycillin. For my money I'd be more concerned about ancient culture than ancient disease. The chances of being killed just for looking different would be pretty high I'd think, and to that effect, I'd be going well armed ;) "Burn the witch you say? Say hello to my little friend....."

[msteeln]

If I had access to the Way-Back machine, I'd go right back to my old neighborhood in South/East LA and check out the happening scene just after WW2 and into the early 60s, in towns like Maywood, Bell, South Gate, Huntington Park, Compton, Bell Gardens, and Downey. These were the hot beds and birth places of West Coast swing and rock-a-billy, with guitarists - Merle Travis, Joe Maphis, Jimmy Bryant, Eddie Cochran, steelers - Joaquin Murphey, Noel Boggs, Marian Hall, Speedy West. Also the home/shop of Paul Bigsby (more than just his famed vibrato), and where The Town Hall Party and it's type of shin-digs were held, plus too much more to explain.

I was lucky in my own childhood to be around icons of other sorts, but those I mentioned are many of my musical hero's of today as well.

And, I'd make sure I didn't blow every chance I had to see Jimi Hendrix!

[Jimi75]

"Stay tuned for part two where we put similar questions to Mohamed..."

Hey Jimi, you don't happen to speak ancient Aramaic do you? Maybe we could go together :)

Guitar-Chris raises an interesting point about disease though.



Aramaic? Well, working on it as well as on tapped arpeggios ;)

The disease thing was a good point, but there are so many diseases that we suffer from today....

I understood the time machine thread with an option to stay for a certain time and to be able to go "back" to the future again.

I think we have to define this.
What is meant here?

1. Time Machine that you can travel once and never come back?
2. Time Machine that you can travel back with again?
3. Are you taking part in the time period you travel to.
4. Are you just able to observe?

:rotflmao:

[Bloozcat]

I think I would be more interested in the future than the past. The past has already happened, been written about, debated, rehashed, revised, and is gone..

I'd like to know first of all, if we survive as the dominant species on the planet. Assuming that we do, I'd then like to see how far we advance in medicine & science. I especially like to see if we ever master warp travel and explore the vastness of the universe.

But, I fear that just as in H.G. Wells The Time Machine, the not too distant future will be one of global ruin before a new age slowly emerges. Will it finally be the post Apocalyptic period of the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth? Or, will it be just the latest in the series of war, death, destruction, and ruin followed by yet another cycle of rebuilding after having learned nothing from the exercise yet again?

First stop...December 23, 2012.....

[msteeln]

The past has already happened, been written about, debated, rehashed, revised, and is gone.There is still plenty greats yet to be given proper print and face time.
One prime example is The Maddox Brothers And Rose, a family that not only lived Steinbeck's stirring novel 'The Grapes Of Wrath' which Henry Fonda starred superbly in the movie version of, but they then went on to post WW2 stardom as 'The Most Colorful Hillbilly Band In The Land' and produced some of the very best in country and Western swing music, and almost always included steel guitar by Bud Duncan and hot pickin' by the likes of Roy Nichols.
I'd love to get in 'the time machine' to witness their stage act.

Another sorrily unsung great in the steel and guitar world is Paul Bigsby (yes that Bigsby!), who just got some fine focus in the new and quite excellant book by Andy Babuik - The Story Of Paul Bigsby; The Father Of The Modern Electric Solid Body Guitar. www.bigsbyguitars.com/news12.html The book comes with a rare CD of Mr. Bigsby talking about his stuff.
There is also a good listen on www.npr.org about Bigsby, just type in bigsby in the searcher.

[Ch0jin]

I think I would be more interested in the future than the past. The past has already happened, been written about, debated, rehashed, revised, and is gone..

I'd like to know first of all, if we survive as the dominant species on the planet. Assuming that we do, I'd then like to see how far we advance in medicine & science. I especially like to see if we ever master warp travel and explore the vastness of the universe.

But, I fear that just as in H.G. Wells The Time Machine, the not too distant future will be one of global ruin before a new age slowly emerges. Will it finally be the post Apocalyptic period of the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth? Or, will it be just the latest in the series of war, death, destruction, and ruin followed by yet another cycle of rebuilding after having learned nothing from the exercise yet again?

First stop...December 23, 2012.....

I like that line of thinking, although the primary motivation for me to travel back to some of the key points in history is precisely because I do not believe that the past was necessarily documented accurately, or for the good of mankind as we know it today. Without going into specifics, I'd like to hold up an accurate account of historic events to try and help the world as a whole to understand the mistakes of the past and thus try and prevent them from occurring again.

Regarding man remaining the dominant species, I would be very, very keen to see what happens in the future for the same reasons you mentioned, but also I'd like to go WAY forward to see what happens to man as we know it, because at least once in history we've seen a species very similar to ours cease to exist. To explain.

It's scientifically accepted that Homo sapiens have been wandering about the place for around 200,000 years. That's certainly a long time, especially considering we've only really been documenting things for a couple of thousand years. During that time though, it's thought that Neanderthal man or Homo neanderthalensis existed as a separate species for around 100,000 years and then became extinct. So in the span of us Homo sapiens to date, we've actually already seen a species very, very similar to ours vanish off the face of the earth! Now I'm not aware of any theories that Neanderthal man was actually a dominant species, from what I've read it's more likely they were an inferior species to Homo sapien and therefore fell victim to natural selection, so that's not a great example I suppose.

However, consider my old friend Mr Homo erectus who wandered about the place for approximately 1.3 MILLION years before we Homo sapiens and the ill fated Neanderthal's rocked up on the scene. Now we can argue that erectus might not have been the top -predator- back then the way that we are now, but in human terms they were the dominant species and remained so for more than a million years, over which time they evolved so significantly they needed a new classification as a species. In scientific terms, I read that as the dominant species being replaced. So there we go. It's happened at least once before that mankind was replaced as the dominant species, it' stands to reason that if we don't destroy the earth first, it could happen again. After all, as I said, our predecessors were around for 1.3million years before we took over, and we've only really been at the helm for a brief 200,000 year stint.

All that said though, I'm pretty certain we'll render the planet unfit for habitation by humans as we know them in the near future anyway.

[just strum]

I'd take two people as crew to make the most influential documentary of all history.

"So Jesus. Having read this translation of the Bible and having spent the last couple of weeks going over a summarized version of everything thats been done in your name over the last couple of thousand years, could you give us your thoughts?"

"Stay tuned for part two where we put similar questions to Mohamed..."



Now that would be interesting, but I would pose the questions to God or Allah (one in the same). This is to address those people that view Mohammad and Jesus role in history in a different light. We must respect those people that have different beliefs.

This is now diving in too far into religion, although the thread unintentionally served as the vehicle for the discussion.

[Ch0jin]

....

This is now diving in too far into religion, although the thread unintentionally served as the vehicle for the discussion.

I hope I didn't go too far! I was trying very carefully to leave my religious views out of it. I just think, regardless of your views, that would likely be THE most important documentary ever made, and hence why I'd use the time machine for this purpose :)

[tot_Ou_tard]

I think it would be cool to meet up with Tot and Duck Dogers in the 24 1/2 century.Sumi:D So you know about my great great grandfather Duck Dodgers then?

You earth creatures continue to amaze.



But, I fear that just as in H.G. Wells The Time Machine, the not too distant future will be one of global ruin before a new age slowly emerges. Will it finally be the post Apocalyptic period of the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth? Or, will it be just the latest in the series of war, death, destruction, and ruin followed by yet another cycle of rebuilding after having learned nothing from the exercise yet again?

Or each of the above & then some in one or another of the branches of the future.


First stop...December 23, 2012.....
So two days after...just enough time to get rid of the pounding hangover...nice touch.

Judging from some of these posts it would be interesting to explore philosophical/religious concepts but that'd probably end up in a train wreck. Strum have you come back from the immediate future yet to find out if this thread derails?

[Rx Tone]

That reminds me............ if I had a time machine, I'd try and find out who first said..........
"An optimist says 'The glass is half full'
A pessimist says 'The glass is half empty'
A realist says 'That glass is twice as large as it needs to be'. "


Depends on whether you're drinking or buying.

:beer:

[Bloozcat]

So two days after...just enough time to get rid of the pounding hangover...nice touch.


Well, it would be an awful mess to stop the time machine right in front of an oncoming tsunami or where a fizzure in the earth is opening up...:D

Interesting take, Ch0jin....

Neither Homo Erectus nor Neanderthal ever became more than masters of their environment while Homo Sapiens became the dominant species on earth in less than 200,000 years. I read of one theory that claims Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens may have co-mingled with Neanderthal being absorbed by Homo Sapiens through interbreeding. It's a theory, but one it seems with little serious support.

It would seem that for Homo Sapiens it's not a question of biological evolution, but one of intellectual evolution measured through technological advances. Perhaps it's more properly adaptation than evolution in the traditional sense. What interests me is with Homo Sapiens having long ago established himself as first, the master of his environment and then dominant over all other earth species, will he ever manage to become master of himself. With technological advances increasing an an exponential rate, will man evolve quickly enough intellectually, morally, ethically, and spiritually to prevent his own extinction? Or, will man become a victim of his own success?

Time, that illogical nuisance that binds us to the moment.

[Ch0jin]

Excellent post Bloozecat!

I can't add any more to what you said without actually using this time machine, so I'll just applaud you for putting it so succinctly :bravo: :bravo:

[tot_Ou_tard]

Well, it would be an awful mess to stop the time machine right in front of an oncoming tsunami or where a fizzure in the earth is opening up...:D
You'd think, but you know: the best laid plans...

The fissures & tsunamis start on the 23rd. What you miss are two days of the dispensation of love, oneness, profound meaning, and heartrending beauty necessary to persevere through the onslaught.

Enjoy the 23rd. :D

[Bloozcat]

The notion of time travel has always been fascinating. For me it always inevitably leads to the question, what is time, really? And how can time and infinity exist in the same plane?

It isn’t easy to grasp the concept of infinity. In the infinite existence, time is irrelevant. There is no beginning and there is no end…there only is…

We are not infinite beings, yet, so we exist on a time line where there is what has preceded now on that line (as memories), and that which will follow now on the time line (future). We are ephemeral beings in a finite existence. We can only “see” now, and “remember” the past. We cannot experience the future because that exists only in the infinite existence.

Confused? I think God intended it that way. But if you look at the finite world as a line that you’re walking on, you can see where your feet are now, and you can turn around and “see” where your feet have been – but only through your memory because the “past” no longer exists in the finite world. For just as two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time, “past” and “now” can’t occupy the same space in time. You can’t see where your feet are going next because the “line” you’re walking exists only in the now. You can’t see beyond that because in the finite world the “future” does not exist until it becomes “now”. Oh, we can imagine it based again on memories of past experience, but we cannot actually see it until it becomes the now moment. To further illustrate the concept of “now”: You cannot have a foot in the future or in the past, because you only exist now, right this nano-second where your feet are on the time line. You can only go into the “past” through memory, you can’t exist there…and you can’t go into the future and exist there either because it doesn’t exist in the finite world.

If you were in the infinite world, you would be above the time line where all of the events of time are happening all at once to you. Remember, time is irrelevant to you in the infinite world, there only is. You’re looking down at this thing called time, a finite creation being seen from the infinity that surrounds it. All points on the time line are is to you in the infinite existence.

Weird, the places my mind goes sometimes...and intellectuals say that science fiction has no place amongst true literature. I say that if it causes one to think beyond the surely bounds of their mortal existence, it deserves its place of honor with all thought provoking literature.

[just strum]

I hope I didn't go too far! I was trying very carefully to leave my religious views out of it. I just think, regardless of your views, that would likely be THE most important documentary ever made, and hence why I'd use the time machine for this purpose :)

No, I wasn't referring to you or finding fault in the thread, I was pointing out that the subject and the times selected would have to draw people to include that in their answer.

My main point is I would stay right where I am at.

[Ch0jin]

My main point is I would stay right where I am at.


.....staring into the inky blackness of that guitar :)

[just strum]

.....staring into the inky blackness of that guitar :)
:AOK:

[tot_Ou_tard]

My main point is I would stay right where I am at. Nobody mentioned where-traveling only changing the time. You are staying in Ohio, or whatever it might have been or will be called, no matter what.