What if you ended up back in the early 1930s; what would you do survive? What technology would you introduce in order to make money to survive?

You may want to consider the possibility that you do not want to change the time line, or you may decide to try and change things for the better. You might even want to become El Supremo!

You’re going to end up in your new time with nothing; no devices, no books, just what’s in your head.

What devices or technology would you introduce? You just can’t suddenly introduce advanced nuclear physics because:

a) You have no background; no-one knows who you are; and
b) You don’t have any money to get from where you start to somewhere where you can establish yourself as a credible person.

What could you do to start small, get a foothold? Introduce Velco (as per Start Trek: Enterprise)? How would you survive?

Would you do anything to introduce your knowledge or just stay silent?

Oh – I picked the 1930s because you could start to play with technology, there was a scientific base.

If you turned up in the 1700s you’d have to start from scratch, developing all your components, etc. You’d also be facing disease, the people of the time, etc.

Let’s keep it simple for now.

I’d try to get into writing novels or movie scripts. I’d simply plagarise the plot from all the films I know were very successful commercially.

Thing is that if you were raised on xBox you might be good as useless.

party_pants said:

I’d try to get into writing novels or movie scripts. I’d simply plagarise the plot from all the films I know were very successful commercially.

That’s a pretty smart move. You’d have to be careful to avoid the ones that face a ‘difficult birth’ but rather pick ones that were quick hits. Even so, you still have to get yourself accepted as a writer, get your scripts looked at, etc. Still means getting established somehow.

i’d become a seer.

Obviousman said:

party_pants said:

I’d try to get into writing novels or movie scripts. I’d simply plagarise the plot from all the films I know were very successful commercially.

That’s a pretty smart move. You’d have to be careful to avoid the ones that face a ‘difficult birth’ but rather pick ones that were quick hits. Even so, you still have to get yourself accepted as a writer, get your scripts looked at, etc. Still means getting established somehow.

Yeah, won’t be easy. Will need to take a regular job in the meantime.

I’d become a jazz musician, and then invent bebop.

transition said:

Thing is that if you were raised on xBox you might be good as useless.

I don’t know; even if you are of the Xbox generation, you probably still have some education. Let’s say you were a person who didn’t have much education; is there anything they could do? Perhaps something they know and can build / introduce that would be of value in the 1930?

I’d put as much money as I could on Peter Pan in the Melbourne Cup.

if only I had a book in my pocket that listed all the sports results for a couple of decades, like in the Back To The Fuutre series.

party_pants said:

Yeah, won’t be easy. Will need to take a regular job in the meantime.

Actually, that is a great point. “A regular job”; what job do you think you could get? Remember that you can’t aim too high because you can’t prove you have a higher education… but you probably ARE smarter; in the right job you could advance rapidly.

morrie said:

I’d put as much money as I could on Peter Pan in the Melbourne Cup.

That’s an area I’d capitalise as well…. but I still need to raise a stake (and know what to bet on where!).

Obviousman said:

morrie said:

I’d put as much money as I could on Peter Pan in the Melbourne Cup.

That’s an area I’d capitalise as well…. but I still need to raise a stake (and know what to bet on where!).

It won twice, so you could re-invest the winnings.

Obviousman said:

party_pants said:

Yeah, won’t be easy. Will need to take a regular job in the meantime.

Actually, that is a great point. “A regular job”; what job do you think you could get? Remember that you can’t aim too high because you can’t prove you have a higher education… but you probably ARE smarter; in the right job you could advance rapidly.

They had all sorts of useless non-jobs in those days; lift operators, petrol station attendants, all sorts of labouring jobs loading and unloading trucks, trains, ships before the days of palletised and containerised cargo.

What were literacy rates like back then?

morrie said:

Obviousman said:

morrie said:

I’d put as much money as I could on Peter Pan in the Melbourne Cup.

That’s an area I’d capitalise as well…. but I still need to raise a stake (and know what to bet on where!).

It won twice, so you could re-invest the winnings.

Okay, but how much could you bet first? Could you raise one pound? How much did it pay? How much of that would be left after a year?

You could run around pointing to the heat waves and exceptional weather events and gather a doomsday cult following….

party_pants said:

They had all sorts of useless non-jobs in those days; lift operators, petrol station attendants, all sorts of labouring jobs loading and unloading trucks, trains, ships before the days of palletised and containerised cargo.

What job would be best, so as to allow you to advance? Using your knowledge?

Wonder what a single person could have done or do to avert the war with Germany, and, well, would I be here to contemplate going back to do such a thing, probably not, no I wouldn’t be, my grandma would have copulated at different times with grandpa (both were in england in the war, she worked in th spitfire factories, he a trained killer), not sure about dad’s side, that grandpa too was in the forces.

I need a headache tab.

>You could run around pointing to the heat waves and exceptional weather events and gather a doomsday cult following….

Well the nineteen-thirties weather would have been on your side here in Australia, but you probably still would have been institutionalized.

transition said:

Wonder what a single person could have done or do to avert the war with Germany, and, well, would I be here to contemplate going back to do such a thing, probably not, no I wouldn’t be, my grandma would have copulated at different times with grandpa (both were in england in the war, she worked in th spitfire factories, he a trained killer), not sure about dad’s side, that grandpa too was in the forces.

I need a headache tab.

That’s why I said you could disregard the Grandfather Paradox, if you want. Let’s say you avert WWII but suddenly you are not born!

Obviousman said:

party_pants said:

They had all sorts of useless non-jobs in those days; lift operators, petrol station attendants, all sorts of labouring jobs loading and unloading trucks, trains, ships before the days of palletised and containerised cargo.

What job would be best, so as to allow you to advance? Using your knowledge?

Don’t know. Starting completely from scratch I’d find a job doing whatever so I can rent a house or a room somewhere and set up a base. Then work on the longer term plan.

morrie said:

You could run around pointing to the heat waves and exceptional weather events and gather a doomsday cult following….

Dear oh dear, Pepy’s diary entry for today.

Monday 21 January 1660/61

This morning Sir W. Batten, the Comptroller and I to Westminster, to the Commissioners for paying off the Army and Navy, where the Duke of Albemarle was; and we sat with our hats on, and did discourse about paying off the ships and do find that they do intend to undertake it without our help; and we are glad of it, for it is a work that will much displease the poor seamen, and so we are glad to have no hand in it.

From thence to the Exchequer, and took 200l. and carried it home, and so to the office till night, and then to see Sir W. Pen, whither came my Lady Batten and her daughter, and then I sent for my wife, and so we sat talking till it was late. So home to supper and then to bed, having eat no dinner to-day.

It is strange what weather we have had all this winter; no cold at all; but the ways are dusty, and the flyes fly up and down, and the rose-bushes are full of leaves, such a time of the year as was never known in this world before here. This day many more of the Fifth Monarchy men were hanged.

I’d buy shares in Gestapo in 1938 and sell them about 1944.

party_pants said:

Obviousman said:

party_pants said:

They had all sorts of useless non-jobs in those days; lift operators, petrol station attendants, all sorts of labouring jobs loading and unloading trucks, trains, ships before the days of palletised and containerised cargo.

What job would be best, so as to allow you to advance? Using your knowledge?

Don’t know. Starting completely from scratch I’d find a job doing whatever so I can rent a house or a room somewhere and set up a base. Then work on the longer term plan.

This is what I’m facing; I’m trying to think of what I could ‘invent’ to make money! And even before that, I have to get a job where I can use my advanced knowledge.

Mind you, my advanced knowledge may even be a drawback…. I could lack “common knowledge” or skills for the era.

>They had all sorts of useless non-jobs in those days;

That’s a bit rude.

I think they would have had of had typing pools back then.

Obviousman said:

This is what I’m facing; I’m trying to think of what I could ‘invent’ to make money! And even before that, I have to get a job where I can use my advanced knowledge.

Mind you, my advanced knowledge may even be a drawback…. I could lack “common knowledge” or skills for the era.

That’s why I was thinking about obsolete jobs or labouring. Things we take for granted as being self-service these days like filling your car with petrol would have been done by an employee in those days. I’ve probably done it a thousand times over the years. Same with labouring, before they adopted standard pallets and containers from shipping there was an huge amount of labouring jobs loading and unloading stuff by hand. As long as you could lift heavy things you could get a job.

Peak Warming Man said:

morrie said:

You could run around pointing to the heat waves and exceptional weather events and gather a doomsday cult following….

Dear oh dear, Pepy’s diary entry for today.

Monday 21 January 1660/61

This morning Sir W. Batten, the Comptroller and I to Westminster, to the Commissioners for paying off the Army and Navy, where the Duke of Albemarle was; and we sat with our hats on, and did discourse about paying off the ships and do find that they do intend to undertake it without our help; and we are glad of it, for it is a work that will much displease the poor seamen, and so we are glad to have no hand in it.

From thence to the Exchequer, and took 200l. and carried it home, and so to the office till night, and then to see Sir W. Pen, whither came my Lady Batten and her daughter, and then I sent for my wife, and so we sat talking till it was late. So home to supper and then to bed, having eat no dinner to-day.

It is strange what weather we have had all this winter; no cold at all; but the ways are dusty, and the flyes fly up and down, and the rose-bushes are full of leaves, such a time of the year as was never known in this world before here. This day many more of the Fifth Monarchy men were hanged.

You could become a comedian PWM and morrie could be your straight man.

transition said:

>They had all sorts of useless non-jobs in those days;

That’s a bit rude.

I am never rude you stupid stinking git!

party_pants said:

Obviousman said:

This is what I’m facing; I’m trying to think of what I could ‘invent’ to make money! And even before that, I have to get a job where I can use my advanced knowledge.

Mind you, my advanced knowledge may even be a drawback…. I could lack “common knowledge” or skills for the era.

That’s why I was thinking about obsolete jobs or labouring. Things we take for granted as being self-service these days like filling your car with petrol would have been done by an employee in those days. I’ve probably done it a thousand times over the years. Same with labouring, before they adopted standard pallets and containers from shipping there was an huge amount of labouring jobs loading and unloading stuff by hand. As long as you could lift heavy things you could get a job.

Chances are your physical fitness would be nowhere near up to scratch for the labourers of the day.

transition said:

Wonder what a single person could have done or do to avert the war with Germany

http://www.abyssapexzine.com/wikihistory/

For a non history buff, I think a menial job and play the stock market investing in familiar company names would be the best strategy.

I am not sure there would be much ability to “change the world” as most of us do not know enough about current technologies to even build the tools required to prove them, but I am sure a patent or two could prove to be very profitable.

> What if you ended up back in the early 1930s; what would you do survive?

I’d be hopeless as a time traveller. I wouldn’t even know how to shit in the street.

All Australian states had one university before 1930, so that would be my first place to visit.

Back then life expectancy was much shorter, steer clear of unsanitary conditions.

If I could, I’d go into penicillin manufacture.

I suppose if I landed in 1930 I could bet of Phar Lap for the Melbourne Cup.

the 1930s is not all that long ago, the basic theories of science and maths have not changed much.
The basic trades haven’t changed that much.
Don’t become a blacksmith.

Angus Prune said:

Chances are your physical fitness would be nowhere near up to scratch for the labourers of the day.

Probably true for someone like me, but for people like you or Obviousman it would be a doddle.

Angus Prune said:

Chances are your physical fitness would be nowhere near up to scratch for the labourers of the day.

Irish navvies moved incredible amounts of dirt. Not sure now of the exact amount but it was a lot.

You could stop WW2.
That would largely be a good thing.

party_pants said:

Angus Prune said:

Chances are your physical fitness would be nowhere near up to scratch for the labourers of the day.

Probably true for someone like me, but for people like you or Obviousman it would be a doddle.

Don’t forget in the early 1930’s you had the Depression with little or no work available.

Alternatively, you could find an office job. Find an employer that hired people through exams – like the public service, banks, insurance companies etc. As long as you were clever enough to pass the test you might get a job.

If you wrote to John Maynard Keynes, you could formulate his economic theories before he had thought of them himself. He would be so grateful for clarifying his thoughts that he would most likely lift you into a position of importance.

You could stop WW2. That would largely be a good thing.

Invite Herr Hitler on a shooting trip and use him as the target.

Probably the best chance is to start a newspaper and get dirt on people who you know deserve it. Expose a lot of scandals, improve your power and influence over the heirarchy of the day, foretell coming events and your reputation and empire will flourish. Refer Hearst and Murdoch.

>I am never rude you stupid stinking git!

Just be warned that sort of talk tends to give me an erection.

I wonder how much a modern physicist would know how to do using 1930s equipment. How quick would they be on the slide rule? If you knew a bit about radar the timing might be good for you.

Wouldn’t even know what to invest in during those years. Radio? Rubber?

>You’re going to end up in your new time with nothing; no devices, no books, just what’s in your head.

Not quite.

Fortunately the physics of the world has a reliable consistency about it, which is shared, has been historically, in-great-part is what tended or contributed to human biological evolution it may be presumed, so it probably can be concluded these reliable factors contribute to ‘the future’ and cultural evolution (technical evolution too). Nature too in a broader sense has been a great teacher. The ‘mechanisms’ that perform functions that sustain living creatures, for example.

So, not quite “with nothing”, no, quite a lot more in fact. It’s a bit of a contemporary view you have, sort of has hints of humans being a contemporary social construct about it.

I often wonder if there are any time travellers living with us, and how would we know?

I often wonder if there are any time travellers living with us, and how would we know?

they are the ones that really care for their grandparents.

JudgeMental said:

I often wonder if there are any time travellers living with us, and how would we know?

they are the ones that really care for their grandparents.

More likely they are the ones without grandparents? infact they would have no family members. Perhaps that’s why when a stranger rode into town in cowboy fillums, it was regarded as highly suss.

I very much doubt time travellers are coming and going and turning the events of the world around for the good of man kind..

they, more likely, are just giving some almanac to their distant rellos to secure a personal future..

it was a reference to the Grandfather Paradox

I was reading this fellow for a while, it was an amusing and interesting read. Some people got really riled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Titor

write down notes

party_pants said:

I’d try to get into writing novels or movie scripts. I’d simply plagarise the plot from all the films I know were very successful commercially.

Timing is everything with those things. Erotic fiction has been around forever but it took some shite like Fifty Shades of Grey for it to become massively successful. Given another time, it would probably be seen for what it is: pure rubbish.

Divine Angel said:

party_pants said:

I’d try to get into writing novels or movie scripts. I’d simply plagarise the plot from all the films I know were very successful commercially.

Timing is everything with those things. Erotic fiction has been around forever but it took some shite like Fifty Shades of Grey for it to become *commercially successful. Given another time, it would probably be seen for what it is: pure rubbish.

fixed

I think humans – that consciousness itself – are in a sense about time travelling anyway, we project now of the past courtesy of the past, we project now of the future courtesy of there being a past. Bit more mundane than science fiction, practical-every-day-necessity, involved in anticipating of much what is likely, probable, or possible, even of others we know (pre mobile phones and social media how did we cope).

We bring to the now of the past to then to be future to then be the past too. To anticipate that involved of this is time travel of a practical every day every moment kind. And of kind it is the kindredness of relations amongst conscious souls.