• Question: If you could choose, would you rather time travel to 300 years in the future or 300 years in the past and why? Thanks!

    Asked by smurfield to Joel, Kristian, Tim, Venus, Zachary on 18 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Kristian Harder

      Kristian Harder answered on 18 Nov 2013:

      Future. Definitely.
      Here’s why: we know a lot more about the past than about the future. If curiosity is what I’d be traveling for, then the future is a lot more interesting.
      Also, I don’t think the 18th century is such a good time to be in. Life was hard, except for a few lucky people of noble birth. Hard labour, famine, oppression by monarchs and churches, diseases. No wonder people started revolutions back then (such as in France, and the soon-to-be USA). We are leading a much better life now (though fortunately still only a minority of mankind!).
      In the future, things might of course be a lot worse if something goes wrong between now and then, but at least we don’t already know it’s bad. 🙂

    • Photo: Tim Hollowood

      Tim Hollowood answered on 19 Nov 2013:

      Hi, nice question. For me, it’s the future because for sure we will know a lot more about the universe and so I will love finding out the answers to the difficult questions we have now. Also we know quite a lot about what happened 300 years ago but we know nothing about what things will be like 300 in the future. It could be a risk though, maybe humans will be in a bad way. Perhaps we will have gone backwards….it’s a risk I’ll take..

    • Photo: Zachary Williamson

      Zachary Williamson answered on 20 Nov 2013:

      Well, in 1713 there was no antibiotics, dentistry or modern medicine. Still, even if health and money and things like that weren’t a concern, I’d take my chances in the future. I already know what happens in the past! I’d love to know what we get up to in 300 years. No doubt they’d get up to a lot of stuff I’d consider weird or unpleasant (imagine yanking a person from the 1700s into the present day, what on earth would they think of us?), but I would be too curious to pass up such an opportunity.

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