If you could live anywhere and anytime in history, where/when would you live and why?

[marcusuk63]

i think , be a millionaire aged 30 in the late 40`s , no stupid tech and holidaying on my yacht in monaco and the south of France etc plus you would witness the invention of colour as everything was black and white in those days plus i`d be dead now

 

[been_there]

We agree on this bit then..... so many people suffering purely cos society's full of self-righteous cunts who have religion, or morality, or whatever other faux-value set, but wouldn't know what empathy was until it had a breakdown and went on a shooting spree.

I was asking about this bit.... People don't analyze how bullshit everything is and improve it.

I don't see anyone doing that.

 

[262653]

"Singularity" as it's presented in the Futurist context is usually just 'snake oil', a phony techno-religious movement for rich people who think they can buy immortality, who knows, maybe they can.
To me it is my own conception of the universe, technology and time as an organic system with the Earth being equivalent to a brain or cell, with humans functioning like neurons, building an artificial neural net that spans Earth, and populating it with our thoughts and algorithms for learning about us and itself, the same way a human brains develop
consciousness. The earth being part of a larger Singular organism that we are unaware of yet, which is not fully conscious yet.
And a bunch of other stuff.

Have you read any Neal Stephenson? I would skip right past Kurzweil (or take all of his stuff with a huge grain of salt)and go straight to Stephenson's fiction, and maybe Vinge (but he's not really necessary) if you want a little more background.
You will probably really like Stephenson. He rarely if ever addresses the concept of Singularity but gives great conceptual overviews human connections creating technology, technology creating more human connections, more human connections making more technology, until everything is connected in a network that seems conscious. I recommend the easiest ones first, Diamond Age, Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon. They're more fun to read.

Very interesting... I don't know from which angle is the best to start... I think it requires more spontaneous approach. Diamond Age sound like fun to read but I don't think I have the prerequisite "building blocks" to hit the fun plank. When you read about characters in a story, do you form a mental picture from parts of people you've seen in RL, pictures, movies? Sort of Frankenstein's creation? No blocks --> no decent image to build --> story isn't exciting enough. If I wasn't compared to artificial neural network as some sort of a mockery a month ago, I probably wouldn't have even the slightest idea of what you're talking about... And in turn they would make fun of me if not for my way of communicationg and my post about improving social skills and broaden our percspective on the world, which in turn was inspired by... a newly formed concept when I was taking a shower... when the last piece of puzzle was put into place and the picture was finally vibrating from wholeness... And that picture was unconsciously cultivated with god knows how much time and effort...

I think what I want to say is... you don't study linear algebra before you've become familiar with basic math operations. Hell, even giving examples requires prerequisite knowledge! I think I need more cartoons and movies before I'm ready for fictional books, but thank you so much for sharing your perspective. It may as well become a starting point... reference point for a new concept and hopefully a better understanding of what's going on inside and around us. What makes me anxious is that someone most likely already done all the work, expressed in a text or a picture or a picture in motion... and I lack the capability or interest to make an extensive research and learn about it from others... But I do enjoy reading your commentaries on different topics, changing fast enough so I don't get bored. Thank you again :)

 

[not_a_robot]

Diamond Age is the perfect one to start because half of it is written as if to teach a small child.
It gives you the building blocks. You can always just look stuff up.
I think Stephenson might be a bit autistic himself because his writing is much more analytical than dramatic.
Anyway, if you ever want to.

 

[RM5998]

To every point in time when a game-changing video game or car was released. So, some of them would include 1987 (Ferrari F40 released), 1996 (Pokemon Red and Green - I want to be the first person to find and show the Mew glitch to people), 2005 (Veyron), 2007 (Nissan GT-R), 2010 (Pokemon Black and White and the Lexus LFA), 2011 (The Binding of Isaac), 2013 (McLaren P1, Porsche 918, Ferrari LaFerrari and DOTA 2, despite how much I hate that last one), 2014 (Assetto Corsa, despite how much I hate it), 2016 (ICEY), 2017 (Nier Automata), near future (Aston Martin Valkriye and Mercedes AMG-ONE), slightly farther future (Automata sequel).

Well, that took longer to write than I thought. I decided to stop before it ballooned too far.

 

[Bärchen]

50-100 years from now if robots are advanced enough to mimic humans. that solve all my problems like isolation and lonelieness.

 

[Divine Trinity]

That past was riddled with disease, body parasites, death, etc. Anyone who doesn't think so doesn't know much about history.
And there have been very few times in history that women were treated better than they are treated now.

Equality, on average, declines with "social development" especially under capitalism. Women are treated like shit mainly by today's dominant religions, which have spent centuries genociding all other "lesser" religions around the world. The Roman Empire alone was credited with "slaying 1000 languages", what remained of those tribes became roman and the cancer grew. It's how imperialism functions, empires grow by converting diversity into uniformity, because the elite can't control a diverse populous. Then once it's grown too large it collapses under its own weight, empires are inherently feeble structures held together by brutality and deception.

"As technological development progresses, social development regresses." is my general way of seeing it. There's a rare functional anarchist/socialist society or two, but they tend to be invaded by the "great" empire of their time.


Modern science is about 300-500 years old, preceeded by 1,000s of years of unquestioned superstition and religion. One of, if not the greatest, discoveries ever made was basic sanitation practices (several concepts ik): Plumbing, chlorine, and antibiotics. Those 3 virtually wiped out deaths from infections and parasites, mainly the plumbing.

For gatherer-hunters famine, natural disasters, and child mortality were the biggest challenges. Infections and parasites were an issue, but they weren't constantly exposed to human or livestock feces. I imagine it mainly came from insects and food.

Unquestionably the 20th and 21st century have been/will be the most violent periods of human history. World War I alone secured that position for the 20th, The US will for the 21st.

 

[Life sucks]

We agree on this bit then..... so many people suffering purely cos society's full of self-righteous cunts who have religion, or morality, or whatever other faux-value set, but wouldn't know what empathy was until it had a breakdown and went on a shooting spree.

I was asking about this bit.... People don't analyze how bullshit everything is and improve it.

I don't see anyone doing that.

Take the forum people as a counterexample. Aren't some of them people who read and analyze things and saw how shitty is life and they suffer more. If we talk about an increase in percentage, yes its there. Less people will read and analyze in the previous ages because they are enslaved to harder circumstances, lack of info, hard to travel or move and much more hardnessess that will make them not think. Now people will get more time which increases the probability of knowing things.

 

[Empty Smile]

Back in the old west, cowboys and indians days.

 

[savagek]

I know its supposed to be in history. But maybe i'd pick sometime in the future.

 

[marcusuk63]

I know its supposed to be in history. But maybe i'd pick sometime in the future.

 

[savagek]

Haha thats almost what the world feels like today to me.

 

[Final Escape]

I don't know.

 

[Quinlor]

Probably in the middle ages, in a calm France village with a lot of topless girls!

 

[End_it_all]

Kind of a stupid topic, but these sort of questions intrigue me.

Definitely be born in the 70s so I could grow up in the 80s and 90s and probably in America, maybe Seattle or New York. I'm a huge 80s and 90s fan especially the music scene and the movies. I'd want it to be like an 80s movie. Grow up listening to the best of metal and then grunge, wearing flannel shirts and doc martins, going to the best of gigs and catching the greatest of movies at the cinema. Watching 80s cartoons on a Saturday morning as a kid then going out on your bike with your friends like The Goonies lol (I was born in 89. Being a kid in the 90s was good, but 80s is my favourite decade)

The answer can be long but I'll try to make it short. First, biological functions and for example when one is hungry they'll get angry and hurt others. Humans first live in a brutal life and the descendants got remnants from brutality, because of the conflicting nature of humans, fighting over resources and wealth made the brutality directed against each other.

Some toxicity though is inherent biologically . I don't know much about evolution but you can see how creatures like monkeys can troll. It is something like a default programming of the brain.

What make everything worse is the shitty ideas that got developed like religions. This on other hand is a cumulative development and not made by one person. The cumulation of error (and toxicity of course) will make absurd directions and ideas.
The absurd ideas are developed and it turned into superficial religions and the way people contact with each others does not reflect what's inside them, hence, inherently hypocrites and pretending to be cool on the surface while hurting each other on the other side.


Heirarchies also are toxic and a development of humans in which some people abuses others inherently. This is also related to biology and probably genetics. It is complicated thing that adds elements of culture and politics.

Moreover, there is the information distortion and lying, there is a clip about how info got distorted, they put hundreds on a line and told the last one to do a certain movement and tell the person on front of them to do the same movement, when the cycle finished, the first one in the line did completely different movement than the last one. If a simple experiment like this distorts info this much then what about the whole history which is nothing but lies and how some utilize lies for their benefits and ride the wave.


It is not impossible as a human to get out of this shitty inheritance and mind control and stop hurting others but its very costly (forum people for example and how many broke barriers of society and view every wrong, some people are very nice and won't hurt anyone but everyone irl is hurting them). So yea the cost is very high and can be depression or any mental illness, it can cost one's life because not everyone can handle the harsh reality. That's what's sad in this life, if you become truly a good person you suffer more

Very well thought out and constructed argument. I enjoyed reading this :)

 

[lostangel]

Kind of a stupid topic, but these sort of questions intrigue me.

wish I could be born as a 90s baby as they didn't grow up with social media and everything was simpler then. OR maybe era of the dinosaurs as that sounded like a fun era to be in. Giant flies, bugs and T-Rexs

 

[Juggernaut]

1870s Wild West as long as I was male. The idea of being a Marshal back then is really appealing

Or

The 70s if I lived in California because Disco is the shit and California feels like home to me, and there were so many opportunities back then, I probably would have become a CHP

OR

An Australian rancher in the 70s or 80s when the land was less tainted

 

[JMB]

Right at the Big Bang and the beginning of time, i'd really like to know how this mess started.

 

[End_it_all]

Right at the Big Bang and the beginning of time, i'd really like to know how this mess started.

Loo you'd die straight away ,

Any time period whatsoever.
Edit: To answer my own question, I would probably live in Islamic Iberia, specifically during the reign of Abd al-Rahman the third. Because during this time in Spain science, art and philosophy were flourishing. Muslims, Jews and Christians lived in relative harmony. Slaves were treated quite humanely and could even rise to positions of power. And surprisingly the culture was very sexually liberal. It was only later when more fundamentalist dynasties invaded from North Africa that Islamic Iberia became more reminiscent of today's Saudi Arabia. Of course things only got worse when the reconquista took over and the inquisition was set in motion. Interestingly enough the earliest psychiatric hospitals were also founded in Islamic Iran in the middle ages, whereas if you were psychotic in Christian Europe during this time the local doctor would probably drill a hole in your head to let all the demons out lol.

Are you Muslim too may I ask?

 

[JMB]

Loo you'd die straight away ,

Of course. But it'd be a pretty fantastic and unique death, and maybe i even get a glimpse of something truly awesome. What more could i wish for?

 

[crimea_river]

Due to my health, I'd have to opt for any such time in the future where my condition was 'cured'.

Regarding bygone eras. I can't think of any particular period of history that I fancy living and most probably suffering. I've studied too much history and the drawbacks always outweigh any perceived plus points.

I wouldn't have minded being born about five or ten years earlier though, I was born in the early 1970's and didn't mind that decade really, for a variety of reasons. I was a tad too young to appreciate it that much, unfortunately.

Of course, not being born at all, would be beyond tempting!

 

[TAW122]

I would say I'd like to live in the times where suicide isn't seen as a mental illness or taboo, but tolerated and even accepted. Also, I'd like to be in a society that allows it (Greeks, Japanese, or other cultures). The only downside of that era is that I may not necessarily die peaceful or painlessly, and modern medicine didn't exist back then which results in an uncomfortable death. Furthermore, there would be no way to get instant access to information and I would left to figure things out on my own (trial and error).

 

[Rn110bg101]

it depends, i'd say.

if this world doesn't die out because of all those disasters, pollution, politics and people, i'd love to visit one of these futuristic cities like in the pictures- with technologies like configurable brain, cure to all illnesses, robots that can replicate humans (and improve upon that), etc…

if it does, then right when the universe pops out of existence. i wouldn't have to ctb, no pain, guaranteed death, and no traces.

 

[PBis]

Anywhere before the internet.

 

[Going Home]

I've always been curious about England, Africa and Ireland. I'll bet they have the best wine coolers in Ireland.

 

[rata1]

ancient rome or greece, just to look by how it was, not to stay. it sure was dirty and not easy to live but in my fantasy its all nice, full of mediterranean food, wine, sun and so on. like holidays.
but as it seems so difficult to ctb in these days (or getting n ;) , sry probably the wrong moment for this joke) i would choose the moment when the vesuvius erupted and destroyed pompeii in southern italy, dying by a pyroclastic flow in seconds and without escape (after having enjoyed a nice glass of wine and some olives on a terrace on a sunny day in pompei) :)

 

[FTL.Wanderer]

I wish I could be there when the human species finally goes extinct--me, too, of course.

 

[metalchic_74]

I wish I lived in Eastern Europe during World War 2 and the Holocaust. I would want to be part of the resistance and kill fucking Nazis

 

[Reyki6667]

Tribal eras.its simple,
lean on each other to survive, find and hunt food.
I don't mind it to be frugal and harsh.
and enjoy every gathering.
You do wathever you want, kill and get killed by those who treathen your livelihood.
No frigging religion, people watching reality as it really is, no law to fuck you over and force you to slavery.

 

[SECTS777]

Hmmmm, I think during late Iron Age in Scottish Highlands sounds appealing to me. The area between Post-Roman Empire, Pre-Christianisation era too for some reason. If I could take knowledge back with me, perhaps I'd go to 13/14th or 18th centuries to help Scotland to victory in war over the English. lol