Go to one place in history, where?

I'd like to go back and meet Buddha, and simply talk to him. I bet he is an amazing presence to be around.

Plain and simply, thats my highest wish xP

well i think it was the 70s or 80s when some guy interviewed bin laden, well id like to take his ak shove it up his behind and fire off a few rounds, then kill him if hes still alive, a couple other places id go to would be to see the titanic and tell the captain not to go so fast in the ice burg fields, tell them why, witness d-day, tell people not to go to work on 9-11-01 and not to fly and tell them why, and id like to see the library in alexandria as well, oh and id like to see if atlantis is actually real, and a whole lot of other places, oh and i would have like to have seen hitlers eagle's nest when the americans first got there and possibly watch hitler kill him self in his underground bunker, just curl up on a nice recliner with a camcorder and sit back and enjoy lol

originally posted by lianna
Maybe the actual Last Supper. Would be fun to witness and see how it all really went down, even the details like did anyone spill any of the of wine? Or who dropped their fork?

Forks weren't invented for another 1400 years or so, I think. Do chopsticks decompose too quickly to leave an archaeological trace.

I dunno Lianna, I've been reading Herodotus' "the histories." He talks about the nubian empire at it's height. It might be quite an adventure to visit that time and place, if you could "pass" for someone in authority.

Don't discount the Roman Empire, either. By the time Hadrian's wall was built, the Empire had seen 4 Emperors that Americans would call either black or mixed-race. We can see this from looking at their coins and names. "Niger" and "Africanus" were titles worn with pride by a couple of famous roman citizens.

The Greeks were quite racist, even looking down on "ionians" and "doric" Greeks (Dorks?)), although I'd give you a dollar if you could tell the difference by looking at 'em. These elitist Greeks were shocked to find the Egyptians to be completely indifferent to matters of race. Herodotus says the Egyptians are made up of at least 4 distinct races, 'although they claim to be one people.'

As far as sexism goes, Herodotus believed that the people along the West Coast of the Black sea (modern Bulgaria) in 500 BC "let" their women come hunting and fighting with them. He records a tribe of "Amazons," where a woman wasn't allowed to marry until she'd brought home an enemy scalp, the same as a man. He talks about the older women who were anxious for battle so they could kill the enemy and get married.

Sexism, is, in my opinion, more of a function of population and economic pressure than it is of inherent attitudes. The best example of this is among plains indians. Before the introduction of the horse, the north plains tribes were matriarchal (women ran the govt), and traced land ownership through the women. A bride had to be "purchased" from her family, because of the loss of the work for her family.

A hundred years later, the same tribes had a dowry that came with the bride, to offset the costs of an additional mouth to feed for the groom's family. This change coincides with the tribes' ceasing all farming and beginning to follow buffalo. Women's economic value plummeted in tandem with their status.

Probably more than anyone cares to know about ancient mores. My point, though, is that not all ancient peoples were as brutish (or sexist) as we give them credit for.



[edit on 25-4-2006 by dr_strangecraft]

[edit on 25-4-2006 by dr_strangecraft]

That's pretty interesting strangecraft and thank you. I wasn't aware of how far Western culture had fallen backwards from its higher origins to the slaveowner bigots just a few generation back.

I will stand by my statement about progress in medical science (but I'd enjoy if you proved me wrong here, too!) I figure that in many ways, I have a better life than some Roman emperors may have simply because doctors today can much more effectively treat many ailments and injuries. Heck, I can even get good dental care. Would have been hell to have been suffering from a tooth che for a prolonged period a few hundred years ago. Instead, I may die with my pearly whites when I am 105.

And back to the thread, I may also would like to have witnessed when the UFO's built the pyramids....(just teasing but if something like that ever did happen, would be fun to be the only one who knows it for certain!)

Originally posted by Lianna

I will stand by my statement about progress in medical science (but I'd enjoy if you proved me wrong here, too!)

Challenge accepted.

Originally posted by Lianna

I figure that in many ways, I have a better life than some Roman emperors may have simply because doctors today can much more effectively treat many ailments and injuries.

Marcus Aurelius = 70 years

Vespasian = 70 years

Julia Antonia Cretica Minor (daughter of Marc Antony) = 73

There's three I found in a few minutes.

A couple of things to remember about the classical Romans. They had horrible infant mortality rate. Scholars once said that life expectancy at birth was about 25 years. But if you lived to be age 5, your odds went up into your 50's. I doubt that was really true, but it does give you a picture.

It also varied with time, place, and birth. A lot of Emperors may have been poisoned, and had their bodies weakened by years of military campaigns in the field. But obviously, the could live into their 70's, as the above examples show.

The three modern improvements in medicine since their time are 1) anaesthetics, 2) antibiotics, and 3) medical imaging, beginning with the microscope.

There were competing bodies of doctors you could go to: The Dogmatti were studius followers of Hippocrates, and never questioned his teaching. The Impiricii learned solely by experimentation. (The two groups probably stole ideas from each other without admitting it.)

Galen was the surgeon par excellance, and his rules applied down to the 1700's. With reason. He pioneered brain surgery(!) Suturing bleeding arteries, cauterizing individual arteries and veins, even practiced eye surgery like cataract removal, only really improved on his techniques with the introduction of lasers.

But they didn't know much about fighting infection. Or anything involving the heart and lungs. Their medicine was learned from treating battle injuries, and guys with wound in the heart or windpipe died before they made it to the surgeon's tent.

As far as health goes, most working people ate an extremely healthy diet, simply because they couldn't afford much fat, and the only form of sugar was from honey that was incredibly expensive.

Still, as a member of the elite, you could live into your seventies or so, barring political intrigue . . .

Originally posted by Lianna

Heck, I can even get good dental care. Would have been hell to have been suffering from a tooth che for a prolonged period a few hundred years ago.

The ancient mesopotamians have just been discovered to have known how to drill out cavities, and make fillings from pitch! Seriously, it was in the news recently.

But you are correct. Dentistry in the 1700's REALLY sucked. They had just learned how to refine sugar, so everyone had cavities. Yet they had no provision for making fillings. (Even the Inca seem to have used bits of gold to make soft fillings.)


Hey, I'm not trying to claim that those people led a charmed life or anything. But on the other hand, a lot of our stereotypes of the past are as rediculous as those of our present (both good and bad).

Generally, ever since Steve Martin's "Theodorus of York, Medieval Barber" people have mocked the Medievals. And yet Geoffrey Chaucer (~1300 AD) lived to be 80; his mother lived to be 83!

And look at the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. It says "the years of a man are three-score and ten ( i.e., 70); or by dint of strength, fourscore (i.e., 80 years). Not exactly the "old at 30" crap we read in college textbooks.

Actually, it has always fascinated me that the generation of Americans with the Longest life expectancy was that born between 1700 and 1725, both black and white. (78 for men, 83 for women (if I remember right?)). But think about it, they had all the medical science emerging from Cambridge, but lived on a continent with little disease and no pollution.

To be honest, Lianna, I suspect either of us will be doing QUITE well to top their feat. . . .

And back to the thread, I may also would like to have witnessed when the UFO's built the pyramids....(just teasing but if something like that ever did happen, would be fun to be the only one who knows it for certain!)

now that you mention it . . . . just kidding !!! I don't have any news on that topic!

Very interesting stuff and thanks again although I'd have to say that you haven't quite sold me. Would I really want to have my appendix removed by a Roman doctor?

Originally posted by Lianna

Would I really want to have my appendix removed by a Roman doctor?

Would you "want" your appendix removed by a contemporary one?


I know what you mean. I'm not saying they were our equals. Not even close. On the other hand, their situation wasn't exactly hopeless, either. They didn't have Lysol, on the other hand, they DID develop natural immunity. At least the ones who lived. . . .

I forgot to post that they even had "antibacterial soap." That's sort of a joke, because all soap, by its nature is antibacterial. It's the nature of glycerides to kill lots of germies.

They also used urine. Urine contains both ammonia, and salt, and is (despite the smell) essentially antiseptic.

They had condoms, too. TMI, yes I know.

No, I'm not trying to convince you that they were anywhere near where we are. The very best medicine they could offer their elites might be compared to a developing nation. Which I think was your point in the first place.

MY point was, don't think that life was so brutish and short that you couldn't go back in time and have an enjoyable existence.
.

With Guatama Buddha, listening to his teachings on enlightenment.

About 1905 in the Mississippi river Delta.

Looking for a "roadhouse" near some "crossroads."

Find out whether blues icon Robert Johnson really did sell his soul to the devil.

Dr. S.......

Your last response really grabbed me.

I'm changing my mind; I don't want to go back to the old west anymore!

I want to travel back in time to Paris in the early 40s when Django, Grappelli and Le Hot Club were making musical history.

I would like to go to the time before Big Bang begin!
Or the place where DaVinCi was painting MonaLisa.

I would join in on any of the opollo missions and keep my eyes peeled...

id go to normandy and kursk.

then to the 60's to watch the moon landings

then to gettysburg, waterloo.

Britian during the blitz.

The American Revolution.

France during the German invasion of 1940 so i could tell them the maginot line sucks and that they would get rolled in indochina!

WWII Germany so i can see how they trained their troops in the Heer (army)

Here's a couple of places I want to go.

Back to the 1920's and shoot Hitler
Back to 3 days before 9/11 and kill the hijackers
Back to when the Roman Empire was at full strength.

I would relish the opportunity to witness the creation of Britains most famous megalithic monuments from the vision to completion, although I realise that this would involve a vast timespan but what an experience to behold!

[edit on 1/5/2006 by anglosaxon]

I'd have to agree with you about Stonehenge, it would be fantastic to see it being built and exactly how they got those blue stones there, and what it was used for(summer or winter solstice)!!

But I'd also love to see Japan during the early Edo period, chat to a few Samurai, watch a couple of battles, that would be so cool!!!

Maybe whitechapel, London 1888 catch some one in the act!!!!!

But I would probably head back about 20,000 years. My reason for doing this would be simple. See all that has been destroyed and lost over the years of human de-evolution. I would like to see if the pyramids in Bosnia are there maybe others. Mostly I would like to see were human's fit into the mix. Where there advance civilzations? Maybe see things thought only to be myth.
I don't know I have too many question about life and I'm just bitter we never kept good records.