Have you ever wondered...

[Slim Trashman]

How someone from a couple hundred years in the past, would react to seeing the modern world? From cars, planes, rockets/space shuttles, weapons, computers and other technology, science and medicine, clothing, art, all of the little things, ETC ETC, so much has changed over time!

Personally it would be so cool to see how they would react to all we have accomplished in such a relatively short period of time. Would be really interesting to see how they question even the smallest things that are so simple to us.

What are your thoughts on something like this? How would they react? What would "impress" them the most?

[PS3_dude]

Well if some of them came to see.... I think tey would be pretty amazed.... They will see thinks they thought were impossible. If the Wright brothers come and see how much the Air travel has been developed for less than 100 years i think this will blow their mind. The first flight in 1903 and 50 years later everybody was flying. Also the internet... It was unthinkable for people in the past to communicate with someone in the other part of the world effectively.Cars... i want to see how Hitler would react to VW. Seeing it transform from a Simple cheap bug into one of the biggest car maker. also games.. 15 years ago games were very small... The first NFS was 8MB. Storage space. From 1.44 MB floppys to tiny 8GB flash. I think scientists from the past would be pretty amazed. But thank god it won't happen because the natural human development will be disrupted. People from the 1950 will try to make a PSP. LOL imagine.... Franklin D. Roosvelt playing PSP. LOL Nice question and i am glad that i wrote my opinion. How do you guys think?

[Yam Trigger]

Imagine if the Wright Brothers were to come back today and see an A380 flying through the skies. For them it would be unbelievable.

[guilty.by.association]

I often think of this :)

[The Shy Child.]

I often don't but it would be cool.

[lillb]

i think some people wouldn't be able to handle it, like uneducated people but those that were like visionaries of their time would most likely be fascinated by how much of what they thought about the future is true
most common people would probably be overwhelmed

[Tyler]

I thought of someone born today, but staying away from all the technologies that America, China, and other rich/in debt countries have.
Like a child born in jhjajfjhasrhwebabwa(?), and bringing him to America when he is around 21.
How would he react?

I also think sometimes of how WE would live back in the 1800's.

[lillb]

yea if it was the opposite way and we went back 200 years some of us would have trouble since we're so reliant on modern technology

[Staffybull97]

I sometimes think about this, and I think they'd kind of be in shock. I couldn't even begin to imagine how impressed they'd be.

[Johnny-Z]

I think that someone from 200 years ago would be amazed and shocked by what we have acheived in the past 200 years, from everything from all the technolagy, artificial lighting, and even from the modern houses as oppose to the stone houses that they would've lived in back then. If they were an inventor that came to the year 2009, saw what they saw and went back in time, wouldn't you think that in 200 years ahed of their time (1800's to 2000's) be very different? More advanced? ect?

Something else that you could also think about, say if someone (an inventor or someone like that) was born today rather than 200 years ago, wouldn't you think the people would of evolved without the inventions of that "someone" (whoever he/she may be) made or do you think that someone else would of invented what they would've in their time? Sorry if this is off topic but it was just something else that came to mind after reading through this topic.

[guilty.by.association]

I don't just think of how impressed with the technology they'd be, but also how disappointed in how we've severely fucked up the planet and continue to do so despite the dangerous future ahead.

[†[Diagon-Blix]†]

I would think that they would kill themselves... There whole world would be turned upside down... scary

[behzad_sol]

They won't because at this moment and future moments they see what we have made and make and will make, that's my opinion

[†[Diagon-Blix]†]

well... "technically" it would screw up history... but it would be funny as hell... "ben franklin jumped off a building today because he found out we have cars" o_o

[Pablo Escobar Jr.]

Not that long ago me and some friends were talking about the newly discovered Amazonian tribes, whilst enjoying our tetrahydrocannabinol. I mean, those natives have never seen a white person and what they have bought to the "new world". They have no idea that they share a planet with other humans who are technologically much more advanced. Those guys must've been scared to death when they saw that plane, from which the discoveres made pictures, flying over. They probably had no idea that it was piloted by humans, actually they probably thought it was a huge shiny roaring bird or something.

I doubt someone from a couple of hundreds of years ago finds our present day world that interesting, infact I think the culture shock would simply be to great.

[Vortigern]

The British writer L.P. Hartley did a great job summarizing these feelings: 'the past is a foreign country'.

[Kodo]

In my communications class we talk a lot about how the medium evolves but the messages are the same. Today's news is yesterday's content. So basically we have better technology (that we become dependent on, technology shapes us) as well and a higher population but life would have the same kinds of journeys. Very interesting topic though. Man think of how flipping on a lightswitch is witchcraft to ancient people. Old kings dreamed of flying in the sky on a chariot or something, and we have everyday nobodies who can ride in a plane.

[flint.44]

Honestly, I think that certain people brought back from the past (like religious figures, for example) would probably think that this is all evil, and would become hostile. Of course, other people, like scientists or philosophers, would find it fascinating. One could spend some quality time thinking about this.

[Superman]

My own opinions...

Positive:

He would like it

Technology:
1) computers
2) cars
3) iPod/mp3
4) video games
5) cotton/silk clothes for even the homeless and slumdogs

Government:
1) Black president

Science:
1) Intelligence of outer space
2) Man on moon

Negative:

If someone from the past saw our world, he would kill himself...

Government:
1) corruption
2) terrorism
3) discrimination
4) racism
5) fascism
6) genocide
7) concentration camps
8) Holocaust
9) Slaughter of Animals

Nature:
1) Gasoline/pollution
2) test bombs on mother nature and its animals

People:
1) obesity
2) hatred (KKK, al-Qaida, people who commit abortion people who blow up abortion clinics
3) Freedom of speech=false
4) Guantanamo Bay scarcity
5) Area 51

Others:
1) violence
2) gangsters
3) corrupt cops


Nevertheless, corruption of government and pollution of cars altogether would drive that guy nuts.

[baleent]

To them, wouldn't the black president be a negative?

I can see the headlines now..."Klan Member from the Past Assasinates First Black President!"

[JC]

They'd go back to where they came from, the recession would probably freak them out.

[Tyler]

Imagine slave traders from ATL in 1840 in ATL present day.
OH GOD, AKWAARD. lol

[Algonquin]

All i can think about is how they'd try to describe it when they got back, it would almost sound like some of the stuff we see in UFO encounters and writings from far back, even biblical writings. jet fighters could be described as "Huge birds which emit a piercing scream and spit flame and metal" if they had never seen a plane before. actually there was a comedy like this a while back "Just Visiting", a knight and his servant are transported into modern times, they battle with a car calling it a dragon. the servant takes the urinal pucks out of the urinals and eats them, they get motion sick in there first car ride, screaming at the speed of it at 20 Mph.

so, they'd be fascinated, frighted, and if they got back people would dismiss them as a quack.