Time Travel

[andrewducker]

Chipuni asked if "If you could travel back in time and see any historical event (24 hours only), what event would it be?"

I've actually thought about this a lot (although not in a few years).

I'm not terribly interested in history - or rather, I'm interested in the general flow of history, but very few individual events hold any meaning for me - it's more the general texture that's appealing.

I wouldn't want to go and see something just to say "I was there when X happened, how cool am I?" and I assume that I'm not going to be allowed to change things, so it's going to have to be an experience I could enjoy in and of itself.

Which leaves one of two events:
U2, live in Sydney for the Zoo TV tour.
Pink Floyd, The Wall tour (not sure which venue).

I get shivers thinking about either one.

Comments

[kpollock.livejournal.com]

That clinches it. Andrew Ducker - you are offically weird.

(for reference I like U2 but can't understand the attraction of Pink Floyd. I also don't go for concerts much, at least not big ones. Did it when younger but I really dislike crowds.)

Me, erm (struggles). There is some slight attraction to being at any major event mentioned in any holy book just so that I could annoy religious people by saying "but I was there and it was actually like this....."

I wouldn't mind seeing an atomic bomb go off first hand if I didn't come back all radioactively dismantled.

Probably I'd go for a Moon landing from the Moon (with suitable gear, of course). Actually can i have a Mars landing form Mars (or because there were no people there, does it not count)?

[andrewducker]

The moon landing or atom bomb would both be good, but I discounted them both as 'would need all sorts of special kit.' a few moments after I discounted 'the Big Bang'

And while I like bits and pieces of Pink Floyd are great, I'm truly in love with The Wall, largely because of the film.

[tisme.livejournal.com]

Kirsty is right, there's all kinds of cool things you could go back and watch. How about the shooting of JFK? The Berlin Wall coming down? The coronation of King Arthur? The cruxificion of Christ?

Tch

[gnomatron.livejournal.com]

We've all seen jfk being shot, though, and the berlin wall falling; sure, it was on tv, but it won't be that much better in person. King Arthur didn't exist, at least not the fairytale hollywood version. The person he's based on was probably a rather uninteresting local monarch.

The crucifixion(sp?) would be interesting, though. I'm not too sure about jesus in historical terms, though; iirc think there's pretty good evidence that he did exist, but I get the feeling that the actual event would be a bit of a let-down...

[andrewducker]

I don't care abou JFK getting shot. What would seeing it do for me?

I saw the Berlin Wall before it came down, I don't really feel the need to see it actually come down.

I don't believe either of the other two actually happened. Given a time machine with unlimited uses, I could happily spend a year or two tracking down the origins of the Arthur and Christ legends tho.

[kpollock.livejournal.com]

bizzarely enough, most folks that I know that are film buffs (and like the album) disdain the film.

I can see that point.

maybe with the right drugs.

[andrewducker]

Oh good lord no. I watched The Wall on LSD once. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that doesn't like staring into the inside of someone's mind while they have a nervous breakdown.

It's definitely one of my top 5 films. wonderfully put together and manages to get across the structure of someone's life fantastically considering there's about 6 lines of dialogue in the whole film.

[cleodhna.livejournal.com]

I'd like to go back to the day Stonehenge was completed. I want to know what the bloody thing is for.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, there's lots of things I'm curious about throughout history. But most of them would take far longer than 24 hours.

Isn't Stonehenge generally accepted to eb a great big calendar type of thing?

[cleodhna.livejournal.com]

Well, that's generally accepted to be an aspect of its functionality, but frankly, there are lots of easier ways to make calendars. Also, why in tarnation would you need lots of them within walking distance of each other? Mystifying. Stone circles are just bizarre.

[andrewducker]

Well, you know how it is. Nobody wants to go and use a different calendar if there's on near by.

Hmm, if they became worship sites, you'd presumably want them to be all over the shop, like churches.

But yes, I'd love to know why.

[aberbotimue.livejournal.com]

the first thing that sprang to my mind was what Cryton said in one of the red dwarf eposodes, where he would stand on the grassy null, and sout duck...

so, I guess I am the only money grabbing git, and would zap back to most of the grand nationals, and get the winner, or maybe go back a year before bill wrote DOS and release my version, or maybe go streight to my version of doors, then doors 94, doors 1999 and eventuly doors FP..

maybe release the bord modle T - and make cool stetments like, avalable in any colour as long as its blue.. cos suzy likes blue, and I guess if I was off on a time trip, she'd wana come too

[andrewducker]

The original question concerned 24 hours in one place and _viewing_ not changing...

[aberbotimue.livejournal.com]

rouen all my fun...

[tisme.livejournal.com]

But by the same arguement, we've all seen Pink Floyd or U2 on tv. Indeed, we can buy the dvds and watch them over and over again, with camera angles and possibly sound that we wouldn't have had were we there in person. I agree that the atmosphere would have been something else, but then that's exactly the same reasons why I would want to witness the Berlin Wall coming down...to feel the surge of energy and united passion that must have been filling the air at the time.

As for JFK, I'd want to be there because the 'mystery' has always intruiged me, and I trust my own perceptions more than ten thousand sober witnesses. The fairytale King Arthur doesn't exist, certainly, but that's why it appeals so much. Nobody knows who he _really_ was, so if you told the time machine to take you to his coronation, you could actually soak up as much info as possible, and perhaps put paid to many false theories and have a unique persepective. Plus, seeing a world where the sun was younger, the people were much smellier, and the clothes were much nicer (heh) would be something in itself.

Plus, yes, they have pretty much proved that _someone_ called Jesus Christ existed, so for the same reasons as King Arthur, I would like to be there at his cruxifiction (*giggle*), to see what _actually_ happened. Seeing someone actually nailed to a cross would be pretty horrendous in itself (I'm surprised you wouldn't be interested in _that_ alone, quite frankly), but would his mother be there? Would Mary Magdalene? Would this man, whoever he was, really shout out to God? Or would it all be very mundane, just another madman being forced to shunt off his mortal coil, people wandering past to do their shopping, guards hanging out playing dice. When you weigh that up against a musical concert of many, that you can replay any time....

[tisme.livejournal.com]

Fair enough on JFK. Must be a me thing.

Ah, but you've also seen U2 in person before. Why do you feel the need to see that particular concert? It's all relative. Plus, see my answer to Gnomatron about atmosphere, King Arthur or Christ.

[andrewducker]

Because the reason I got into U2 was that concert. I want to see it live to see what it was actually like.

I'm not convinced that King Arthur or Christ actually existed. Last time I checked they'd traced King Arthur back as far as a 7th century french fairy tale, and I've yet to hear of any mention of Christ in historical documents of the time.

If I had months to play around with a time machine, sure there's plenty of things I'd be interested in investigating, but for single occasions I'd rather go to something uplifting and the most uplifting experiences I've been to were concerts.

[tisme.livejournal.com]

But you can go to concerts _now_. You could spend the rest of your adult life going to as many concerts as possible, searching for that feeling, and probably finding it a few times.

But at Time Machine? For ANY time, EVER? Dude.

[andrewducker]

That particular concert was pretty much the pinnacle of their concerts. Nobody else does (or has ever done) concerts like the U2 Zoo tour.

Similarly, Pink Floyd will never perform The Wall Live ever again.

And there really isn't that much in history I want to be there for. I wanna see the future, the past mostly sucked.

[tisme.livejournal.com]

*giggle* And you _know_ that, do you? Point is, you can see/meet/go to many similar concerts of these people. That particular incident will never be replicated no, and perhaps I'm underestimating how important these things are to you, but with the opportunity to see something that is completely impossible otherwise, that you could never replicate, or hope to come close to experiencing without the help of a Time Machine...it seems a waste.

[andrewducker]

Watching JFK get shot seems like a waste to me. The Berlin Wall slightly less so, but it doesn't really interest me that much.

There is very, very little in the past that interests me. If I could think of anything better to do with 24 hours than go to concerts, sure. But I really can't.

[tisme.livejournal.com]

Hence why I suggested some. None of which you like. Which I found incomprehensible. Hence the above discussion.

[gnomatron.livejournal.com]

hmm, yeah, fair points. I'd go for the crucifixion out of that lot, given your arguments; it sounds rather intriguing now, and at least you'd be able to clear up a lot of arguments. Only in your own head, of course; start going on about being at the crucifixion and you'll find yourself in a mental institution pretty quickly.