500 years into the past, or 500 years into the future....

[Goro]

So two portals open before you; a portal to take you 500 years into the past, and the other 500 years into the future.
With your modern knowledge of math, science, engineering you could set yourself up like some kind of proto-industrialist god, but not having a 50' LED and X-Box would suck...
Otherwise you'd be an enormously displaced anachronism good for a few rounds of whatever the future equivalent of morning talk shows are. But there'd be some cool stuff.
Which way would you go?
and before folks get querulous, you're being transported to alternate timelines that do whatever is necessary to make causality a non-issue. So there.

 

[Shock and Awe]

Shit thats pretty hard, it kind of depends if I had prep time or not. If I did I would go to the past because I'd be sure to bring some medical supplies, books, ect. If not I would go to the future because at least them I could(assumingly) be cared for by future folk.

 

[Aidinthel]

What, are you crazy? The past sucks, go to the future! It'll probably suck too, but at least you won't die of plague.

 

[Orange12345]

Future no contest

If I went to the past I COULD try to capitalize on my knowledge and become extremely wealthy, but I doubt I would be smart enough to accomplish anything. And even if I did become the richest person in the world, then what? all the stuff I want wouldn't exist.

 

[RemoteControlRox]

Future, easy. Gender equality was kind of non-existant 500 years ago... Heck, most equality was pretty non-existant. So were medicine and sanitation.

 

[Fatboy_41]

Past, but I'd want to go a little further than 500 years. I'm not too sure how well I would handle the tights of the 1500s. Between 1000 and 1200 would be fine thanks.

 

[FalloutJack]

The 1500s would suck. Even if I stand out strangely in the future, it's the FUTURE, dammit. I'm smarter than a certain delivery boy from a certain future-themed show, so I think I'll cope.

 

[Vault101]

eather way would suck

in the past...well your in the past...ummm 1500...well thats almost renicanse isnt it? depending on where you are that isnt so bad..except everything will make you sick

the future..could possiably be beyond your comprehension

 

[uzo]

Yeah .. 1512 .. let's assess that ...

Henry VIII was ready to start re-appropriation of Catholic holdings in England (never though about it before, but he reminds me a bit of Mugabe...), Martin Luther was not too far from sparking a little thing called the Reformation (and the wars, thereof), terrible child mortality and childbirth was an extremely dangerous event, there was little to no understanding of medicine nor scientific process, and to top it off the English of the 16th Century was quite different to the English of the 21st. Even if I was a master at the dialect, you'd still find hundreds of words extremely obscure to modern people simply because we don't use them anymore (consider 'distaff', an item that I believe was used in the processing of flax, a household thing - and most of us have never heard of it before). Then there's the risk of dying from a minor infection of a cut due to crappy hygiene. Oh, not to mention that most of us would probably contract a hideous dose of dysentry or cholera on arrival simply because our 1st world digestive systems would pack it in from drinking water mixed with shit and dead rats. Oh, and then there's the plague.

In fact, come to think of it, there's not many eras I would rather NOT live in. Europe, during this time, people were at that terrible stage of living on top of each other in the cities but not really educated enough to know the dangers of such. If I could have lived anywhere at this time, I'd choose Japan. Minus the whole Sengoku Jidai which would be fucking horrible.

So, long story short, gimme the future! Starship Troopers here I come!