SaturnVengeance
Lieutenant
If you had to go back in time and invent/discover one thing, what would you invent?
If you could go back in time and invent one thing...
- Thread starter SaturnVengeance
- Start date
Uff, with my current knowledge and abilities? I guess I could manage to "invent" the disposable ballpoint pen, that should be doable.
SaturnVengeance
Lieutenant
I would go back and invent space/rocket ships.
Except for the wheel I wouldn't know how to invent any of the things in this list.
I'll interpret "could" very broadly to mean both "could go back in time" and "could invent". Since Mark Zuckerberg is quite wealthy these days, I'll invent facebook.
Then I can stop constantly changing it by adding stupid things.
Then I can stop constantly changing it by adding stupid things.
I voted facebook, but I think if you're going to both to go back in time, you go back and invent Aqueducts, name them after yourself. Get however many ancient denar you get for inventing aqueducts.
Bring those denar back to the present adjust for inflation and exchange for whatever currency you like.
Bring those denar back to the present adjust for inflation and exchange for whatever currency you like.
I rather like the idea of inventing firearms and becoming a mediaeval warlord. 
More generally, I don't think you need to know all the details of how an invention works in order to invent it. What I mean is that if you go to a point in time a 5 or so years before the invention is due to occur, and have a rough idea of how it's supposed to work, you could then go into business with someone with a right range of technical skills and knowledge, and give them the extra insight you DO have, to help them "invent" the details. Most inventions are evolutionary rather than revolutionary, after all.
That may not work with complex modern inventions, but it's certainly true for anything up to the start of the 20th century. You'd need to make sure you have some seed capital to take back with you, however.
Of course, if you can take back money, there's really no need to invent anything anyway...
More generally, I don't think you need to know all the details of how an invention works in order to invent it. What I mean is that if you go to a point in time a 5 or so years before the invention is due to occur, and have a rough idea of how it's supposed to work, you could then go into business with someone with a right range of technical skills and knowledge, and give them the extra insight you DO have, to help them "invent" the details. Most inventions are evolutionary rather than revolutionary, after all.
That may not work with complex modern inventions, but it's certainly true for anything up to the start of the 20th century. You'd need to make sure you have some seed capital to take back with you, however.
Of course, if you can take back money, there's really no need to invent anything anyway...
Rupert Murdoch?
Wish I had his cash, but sadly no, just too lazy to figure out the keyboard shortcut to type out a proper ash instead of ae.
Alt+145 = æ
Invention? Maybe a solar-powered beer cooler.
When? That might even be the more interesting part of the question, speculating what effect upon the course of history the introduction of such a device might have had at this or that time and place.
Bah, can't get it to work on my keyboard. Wonder if there's a difference between UK/US keyboards on this, or whether it's because I'm typing on a laptop. However by related key-bashing, I did find out that AltGr+14 = €, which is probably a more useful discovery. Or not, if the Euro ends up imploding soon...
I said Google, that would make me a whole heap of money. However the software behind eBay might be quite profitable as well. Better still Microsoft Windows and then I could give away 100s of millions to help people.
