If you traveled back 100 years

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Ive always wondered if I were to be able to go back in time 100 years what changes I could effect by my mere knowledge of technology and what is indeed possible. I mean the industrial revolution was in full swing. All it needed was ideas. Im sure any of us could be rich if we could go back then never mind someone with a enginering degree or the like. You could be an advisor to your government. So what would you guys do if thiss were possible? How would you try to change the world and what benifit would you like to get from it if any?

[King of Atlantis]

Try to stop the formation of communism......

oh yea, and tell the red sox not to trade babe ruth.

[Don Corleone]

Well, you could make a fortune if you went around betting on 'a priori knowledge'. Let alone sporting events, you could bet on the Titanic going down (which would be 9 years away), and the like.

I'd be very afraid to be alive 100 years ago though. Typhus and typhoid, scarlett fever, polio, malaria, all those things we take for granted as wicked footnotes would still be alive and kicking back then.

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

Don,

just make sure that you are vaccinated up to the gills before going.

[King of Atlantis]

and then you could teach all of them how to make those vaccines.

[t1master]

i'd prolly just be sippin porter like i am now :)

as a qualfier, would i be able to travel forward after i effected change and enjoy it, or is it a one shot deal, you just go back and get the smug satisfacition of having seen the future?

[71-hour Ahmed]

Change the course of World War 1 by giving the British and French army the necessary knowledge. To get their respect I'd need to do something first, but once you have that...

Tanks, motorised columns, fast moving infantry. And the whole german plan known in advance, as well as the best ways to stop it. End the war in 1914 and save millions of lives and prevent WW2. No nazis, no communists, no balkanisation, no sudden collapse of the European empires, America remains relatively isolationist.

The fun part then is seeing how differently things develop and if they really could be better or if the 20th century is doomed to go badly.

[Marcellus]

Ive always wondered if I were to be able to go back in time 100 years what changes I could effect by my mere knowledge of technology and what is indeed possible

The trouble is that many inventions require a lot of background knowledge and development that they wouldn't have had 100 years ago. For example, you might tell them how to make the computer chip, but they wouldn't have any of the technology required to actually make a computer chip (i.e. they would not have machinery capable of producing things so small).

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

that's why you teach them how to make cards and peg boards and such or possibly even tubes and transistors.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

The trouble is that many inventions require a lot of background knowledge and development that they wouldn't have had 100 years ago. For example, you might tell them how to make the computer chip, but they wouldn't have any of the technology required to actually make a computer chip (i.e. they would not have machinery capable of producing things so small).

You dont tell them how to make anything. You find inventors like the wright bros and tell them what works. They already have the technology. You just cut down on the R and D . You know more than you imagine that would be very useful. Even knowing that its possible for a computer to be made would advance its invention by many years. You would know all the problems of urban sprawl and traffic congestion and help stop these things from ever happening. Again anyone with an engineering or physics degree could preform miracles.

[Lemur]

Even knowing that its possible for a computer to be made would advance its invention by many years.

You could go back more than a hundred years to make that jump. 1835 would be on the money, I beleive. All you'd have to do is look up Charles Babbage in London, buy him a cup of tea to help him get over being rejected by the British Government, and offer to fund his wacky idea of a "difference engine."

They actually built his machine in the 1990s, using nothing but tech and industrial processes available in the early 1800s, and the darn thing worked. You'd be way ahead of the curve.

[Taffy_is_a_Taff]

I thought Babbage's machine could not be made to work in the 19th century because of a lack of a few essential technical developments. Since then it's definitely known that it would have worked if it could have been completed.

If I recall correctly I read that he hired a very interesting woman to act as his, well his programmer. I can't remember who she was though. Someone remind me.

[Marcellus]

I thought Babbage's machine could not be made to work in the 19th century because of a lack of a few essential technical developments. Since then it's definitely known that it would have worked if it could have been completed.

No, it was because Babbage acted like a bit of a fool. First, he fell out with the only person in the world capable of producing the very quality components he needed. Then, halfway through development, he completely changed his design for no apparent reason, so that the money ran out and Babbage's machine had to be scrapped.

[Kagemusha]

I would try not to stirr up history.Who knows how much more horrible things would happend if i would chance something.

[Marcellus]

I suppose there are some things that you could quite easily do. For example, you could discover penicillin decades before it was discovered by Flemming and put it to use. Think how many lives you could save!

[Ianofsmeg16]

Paradox, sweet sweet paradox! the best thing to do if you'd travell back in time is to say something insignificant like Haha god the french smell of garlic (not a crack at france) because one small thing in the past changes one big thing in the future, watch butterfly effect to understand me. Plus i'd make the wright brothers english somehow and then we can claim THAT as us aswell