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If you went back in time 1000 years...

Posted on 04/12/2015 6:20:17 PM PDT by MNDude

If you time traveled back to 1015, would you have enough modern knowledge and education to improve your llfe?

I mean like could you invent gunpowder or serious medical advancements, etc?


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To: smokingfrog
You could invent the flush toilet, and we’d all be visiting the Vince every morning.

I would be furiously working on toilet paper first.

101 posted on 04/12/2015 7:31:21 PM PDT by Vince Ferrer
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To: __rvx86

If you had the tools, something like flasks and petri dishes, you probably COULD culture antibiotic-producing bacteria and fungi,even before 1015. A microscope would be tough, but not strictly needed.

Most antibiotics come from cultured soil bacteria. The culture media could be gelatin, I think, you’d have a hard time getting agar.

Most of the work is in observation and understanding, the tech itself is not terribly tough.


102 posted on 04/12/2015 7:31:51 PM PDT by DBrow
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

You’re funny.

I think the printing press could be something that most of us here could develop with very little help.

Something that would make the greatest impact.


103 posted on 04/12/2015 7:32:31 PM PDT by Zeneta (Thoughts in time and out of season.)
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To: Leaning Right

Looked it up. In the 1890’s, French physician Ernest Duchesne noticed that penicillium mold inhibited germ growth, but he was ignored.


104 posted on 04/12/2015 7:32:32 PM PDT by Buttons12
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To: MNDude

I’d set up a beehive with movable straight frames- a Langstroth hive. Can be done all with wood and produces lots of clean honey and wax.


105 posted on 04/12/2015 7:33:51 PM PDT by DBrow
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To: Caipirabob
Even worse potentially is that anyone who goes back in time harbors thousands of bacteria and viruses that no one in the past is immune to.

The time traveler ends up killing lots of people and eventually is hunted down and killed as well.

106 posted on 04/12/2015 7:34:00 PM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear
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To: wintertime

I know how to suture a wound and keep it clean. A mild vinegar solution is an excellent antiseptic and useful as an irrigating solution to combat many infections. I know how to make vinegar.


Contrary to popular belief, many ancient cultures used honey and wine to treat wounds. They also made poultices to treat infected wounds.

A lot of our modern medicines are simply refined herbal remedies which isolated the essential elements.


107 posted on 04/12/2015 7:36:27 PM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Nifster
"Anyone who thinks that things can just be MacGyvered into existence has NEVER spent time developing a new (or just improved) product"

You're not trying to tell us that those poor bastards back in 1015 didn't even have duct tape, are you?

How did they make it through the day?

108 posted on 04/12/2015 7:38:02 PM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear
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To: Zeneta

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/prnt/hd_prnt.htm

Work on paper first. Paper was not widely available, which was the real problem, not the availability of printing tech.

If you had an offset press or laser printer in 1015, you’d have almost nothing to feed it.


109 posted on 04/12/2015 7:38:05 PM PDT by DBrow
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To: MNDude

Nope. And most of the folks who think they do wouldn’t either. Compared to our life things 1000 years ago were an extreme survival situation, and most of us would die in a week or two. And even if you could “invent” stuff you’d quickly find you couldn’t because so many of the building blocks to make those things wouldn’t exist. You’d have a hard time making any medical advances with the glass, steel and fire technology of the day. Plus of course you wouldn’t ACTUALLY speak the language because English has changed a lot, so forget getting help from anybody.


110 posted on 04/12/2015 7:39:19 PM PDT by discostu (Bobby, I'm sorry you have a head like a potato.)
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To: MNDude

If I went back a thousand years I think I’d have my work cut out for me explaining to them why they shouldn’t have snapshots on production virtual machines.


111 posted on 04/12/2015 7:39:25 PM PDT by samtheman
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To: agrarianlady

No way! Sounds real interesting.


112 posted on 04/12/2015 7:39:52 PM PDT by MNDude
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To: yarddog
Imagine an Indian motorcycle circa 1015.

What would that be worth today?

113 posted on 04/12/2015 7:40:27 PM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear
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To: Zeneta
At that time they had the basics for making a printing press. They even did quite a bit of block printing.

The big breakthrough was the idea of movable type and the alloy to make them which had to be hard enough to keep it's shape and soft enough that it did not damage the paper.

114 posted on 04/12/2015 7:40:48 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Proud Infidel, Gun Nut, Religious Fanatic and Freedom Fiend)
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To: PAR35

Cure a thousand people, but fail to cure one who was beyond help, especially if that person was a king or lord, and you’re still toast.


115 posted on 04/12/2015 7:41:28 PM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear
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To: cardinal4

As I recall, the training for a “Medical Doctor” during the mid 19th century (1800s) took less than a year.


116 posted on 04/12/2015 7:42:02 PM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Buttons12
In the 1890’s, French physician Ernest Duchesne noticed that penicillium mold inhibited germ growth, but he was ignored.

Interesting. Thanks! Often, the credit for a discovery goes not to the earliest discoverer, but to the best self-promoter.

117 posted on 04/12/2015 7:43:09 PM PDT by Leaning Right (Why am I holding this lantern? I am looking for the next Reagan.)
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To: rockrr

Yeah buy can you imagine how cool it would have been to know then who shot JR.


118 posted on 04/12/2015 7:43:12 PM PDT by skimbell
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To: Vince Ferrer

Yep. That’s where the real money is.


119 posted on 04/12/2015 7:43:43 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: Leaning Right
You cannot go back in time and discover it in 1015. Every attempt you make to discover it in 1015 must fail.

Meh. Perhaps not fail, but become another 'lost' art...

For all we know, penicillin has been used many times before, but the knowledge of it failed to survive the ages.

120 posted on 04/12/2015 7:43:50 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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