Science Hypothetical: Get your time travel assignment here. - Page 4

**Rain Man** · 06-12-2017, 10:00 AM

Here's the situation: you show up for work on Monday morning, and as you're drinking your initial cup of coffee or Dr. Pepper, an e-mail arrives from your CEO with one of those red exclamation points on it. You open it up.

In a surprise move, your company is moving all operations to the Central African Republic. You can relocate there at a wage of 50 cents per day, plus the company will cover the cost of your first 100 rounds of self-protection ammo, or you can get laid off. You take the second option.

You start browsing through the job ads and come across this one:

Local community college seeks documenting historian. Must be open to new cultures, foods, and experiences.

You answer the ad and you get an interview immediately once they see your resume line item about proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite. You go to the interview and they ask questions about how much you need coffee and electricity and indoor plumbing. They seem satisfied with your answers.

A few days later, you get the nice e-mail that you’ve been accepted into the Twin Pines Community College Time Travel Project as a documenting historian. As it turns out, one of the dental technician students wired some machinery together oddly and created a time machine, so now Twin Pines is the world leader in time travel.

Your assignment will be to go back into the past, live for a year, and document what you see. You can pick your landing location anywhere on the earth. The only challenge is that the time machine picks a random year and no one can control it. You’ll arrive on January 1st according to the Gregorian calendar and depart on December 31st, but no one will know what year until you arrive. The machine overweights more recent years, so the odds are 50 percent that you’ll be more recent than the year 700 AD, and 80 percent that you’ll be more recent than 1,100 BC, but conceivably you could go all the way back to the earth’s beginning.

If you accept the job I’ll randomly assign you a year, and you’ll have to report back on where you would go and what you would try to document. Assume that you will be equipped with a translation device and that you will not change history if you interact with it. Any people or creatures will merely see you as an oddity and minor annoyance, kind of like Michael Strahan on TV shows.

Who wishes to enter the Twin Pines time machine? Volunteer in the thread and I’ll assign you a year.

**Rain Man** · 06-12-2017, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dartgod

Heck yeah, sign me up.

You will enter a time of great turmoil and bad fashion. 1973 AD. You'll be able to see the development of cars such as the Pacer, Gremlin, and Pinto unless you opt for other areas of study.

**Rain Man** · 06-12-2017, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dayze

I'm in.

...but look, if i'm gonna do this......I can't go anywhere cold. I'm bronchial.
so, whoever is in charge...., just nowhere cold, Ok?

1659 BC. I think most of the good stuff was happening in Mediterranean climates, but that's up to you to figure out.

Hammock Parties · 06-12-2017, 11:03 AM

I bet you could get a job as a cook, make the first pizza (keeping the recipe secret so as not to alter the timeline), and be making bank in ancient Rome within a week.

Just go a decent ancient Roman restaurant that serves bread, cheese, meat and tomatoes, tell the owner you'll work for free for a week and make him something amazing that will turn his restaurant into a golden goose, and make a pizza.

Then give out some free samples and watch the denarii flow. Then offer your services as pizza chef at an outrageous cost.

**Rausch** · 06-12-2017, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

Also your modern-day immune system will be much stronger compared to the diseases of that time period. Maybe. Probably. Hopefully.

Hopefully Rainman's group understands disease better than you do...

patteeu · 06-12-2017, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

You have 21st century knowledge at your disposal. Making a few denarii will be easy. Shit, you can probably find a drunk guard and steal his uniform and do whatever you want the whole year.

I'm assuming that the trip back through time will cure any diseases picked up. Like the transporter.

Also your modern-day immune system will be much stronger compared to the diseases of that time period. Maybe. Probably. Hopefully.

I think we're better off concocting tech fixes (like your transporter comment) than relying on the reality of our modern immune systems. Here's a BBC article talking about ancient bacteria being a threat to modern humans, fwiw:

There are diseases hidden in ice, and they're waking up...

BlackHelicopters · 06-12-2017, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

1827 AD. I think there was a lot of good furniture being made then, and some fun things in the American frontier if you weren't an Indian.

Furniture? I feel discriminated against.

KC_Lee · 06-12-2017, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

You almost had a gimme other than a minus sign. You get 1492 BC, which still probably has a lot going on.

Well now...this will be interesting.

**Rain Man** · 06-12-2017, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigChiefTablet

A few things.

A. I thought we were supposed to pick our location. Nobody has. Don't you have to pick that before you leave?

B. I might just take the 50 cents a day in the Central African Republic. At least they give you some ammo. The community college has made no such offer, and the chances of the conditions being worse than present day Central African Republic are high.

C. You didn't tell us how much this job pays.

D. **** it. I'm in. The location I picked for no particular reason is New Zealand.

You can pick your location after you get your year. (There's a little time-space dissonance involved in that, but don't worry about it.) I'm assuming that people are doing their research and will soon pick their locations and research plans.

The job pays $11.37 per hour plus health care benefits. You also get entry into the pension plan but absolutely cannot make contributions in the past.

You get the year 1994 AD. No one knows anything about that year since it was before the internet was really rolling.

**Rain Man** · 06-12-2017, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugeater

I'd prefer a year where I won't be at risk of getting eaten by a dinosaur please.

927 BC. There weren't a lot of dinosaurs around then unless you're a strict creationist. You may be a little too early for Greece, but I bet there are other cool civilizations to visit.

**Rain Man** · 06-12-2017, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mizzou_8541

Good stuff. In!

You might want to bring your own fire. 45,984 BC. That one should be fun.

Steron · 06-12-2017, 11:11 AM

**Rain Man** · 06-12-2017, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cochise

Ok, I'm in for some sociological terraforming.

1482 BC. We're getting some good traffic in that century. I hope you find something interesting.

**Rain Man** · 06-12-2017, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patteeu

I need a new work challenge, so count me in.

496 AD. You missed the Fall of Rome by a short distance, but I bet you can find other stuff to keep you busy.

**Rain Man** · 06-12-2017, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by underEJ

Well, I am disappointed by the no changing history part of the deal. But I am always up for a museum and a live one sounds pretty great. A year is a long time especially if I'm in a time that my feet are my only means of changing location, but what the hell, I am very observant. I'd do a good job. Send me in!

361 AD. I don't think they had cars then, but you've got some good civilization options to choose from.

**Rain Man** · 06-12-2017, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steron

In!

1146 AD. I bet they had great chamber music to study. Maybe some knights and stuff. And god only knows what was going on in China and Japan.

06-12-2017, 10:00 AM
Rain Man NFL's #1 Ermines Fan Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $3348491 VARSITY	Hypothetical: Get your time travel assignment here. Here's the situation: you show up for work on Monday morning, and as you're drinking your initial cup of coffee or Dr. Pepper, an e-mail arrives from your CEO with one of those red exclamation points on it. You open it up. In a surprise move, your company is moving all operations to the Central African Republic. You can relocate there at a wage of 50 cents per day, plus the company will cover the cost of your first 100 rounds of self-protection ammo, or you can get laid off. You take the second option. You start browsing through the job ads and come across this one: Local community college seeks documenting historian. Must be open to new cultures, foods, and experiences. You answer the ad and you get an interview immediately once they see your resume line item about proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite. You go to the interview and they ask questions about how much you need coffee and electricity and indoor plumbing. They seem satisfied with your answers. A few days later, you get the nice e-mail that you’ve been accepted into the Twin Pines Community College Time Travel Project as a documenting historian. As it turns out, one of the dental technician students wired some machinery together oddly and created a time machine, so now Twin Pines is the world leader in time travel. Your assignment will be to go back into the past, live for a year, and document what you see. You can pick your landing location anywhere on the earth. The only challenge is that the time machine picks a random year and no one can control it. You’ll arrive on January 1st according to the Gregorian calendar and depart on December 31st, but no one will know what year until you arrive. The machine overweights more recent years, so the odds are 50 percent that you’ll be more recent than the year 700 AD, and 80 percent that you’ll be more recent than 1,100 BC, but conceivably you could go all the way back to the earth’s beginning. If you accept the job I’ll randomly assign you a year, and you’ll have to report back on where you would go and what you would try to document. Assume that you will be equipped with a translation device and that you will not change history if you interact with it. Any people or creatures will merely see you as an oddity and minor annoyance, kind of like Michael Strahan on TV shows. Who wishes to enter the Twin Pines time machine? Volunteer in the thread and I’ll assign you a year.
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06-12-2017, 11:03 AM	#48
Hammock Parties I'll be back. Join Date: Nov 2002 Casino cash: $4740478	I bet you could get a job as a cook, make the first pizza (keeping the recipe secret so as not to alter the timeline), and be making bank in ancient Rome within a week. Just go a decent ancient Roman restaurant that serves bread, cheese, meat and tomatoes, tell the owner you'll work for free for a week and make him something amazing that will turn his restaurant into a golden goose, and make a pizza. Then give out some free samples and watch the denarii flow. Then offer your services as pizza chef at an outrageous cost.
Posts: 277,685

06-12-2017, 11:11 AM	#56
Steron Texting Ms. Dobbs Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Virginia Casino cash: $9418246	In!
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