History Tea Time

[Euryalus]

If you could sit any two historical figures down and listen to their conversations, who would they be?

I think Socrates and Muhammed or Alexander the Great and Ghandi would be pretty interesting.

Socrates would just sit there trolling the prophet the whole time while Alexander the Great and Ghandi would probably awkwardly try avoiding the subject of war... unless we're talking civ Ghandi.

If that's the case, then Alexander the Great would be sitting terrified of the bloodthirsty crazed asshat sitting in front of him.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Jesus - I'd take a notepad and ask him to write some stuff down so we could be clear so that people later on couldn't just make shit up and pretend that that's what he would have meant, seriously a whole book about his life and teachings but not a word penned by the man himself? What's up with that.

Albert Einstein - he was supposed to be quite witty and funny so at least tea time wouldn't be boring.

 

[JoJo]

I'd put Stalin and Hitler in a room together, just to see how they'd react and how long it'd take before they'd come to blows with each other. I'm betting under 15 minutes, with Hitler throwing the first punch, he's always struck me as the more unstable one. I might have to put a translator in there too, I'm not sure if they spoke any common languages or not.

 

[JupiterBase]

Einstein and Tesla. It would be entertaining as hell. I think that Einstein would be tempted to play jokes on Tesla since he was so neurotic about things for some reason.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Theodore Roosevelt and Blackbeard. That would be a riot, quite possibly a literal one.

 

[BunnyMomiji]

I like the idea of putting all of The Beatles (right before they broke up, before anyone passed away)(yes yes, that's four not two) in a room and watching the awkwardness that would just happen. And the probable fist fight between John and Paul.

 

[Euryalus]

Jesus - I'd take a notepad and ask him to write some stuff down so we could be clear so that people later on couldn't just make shit up and pretend that that's what he would have meant, seriously a whole book about his life and teachings but not a word penned by the man himself? What's up with that.

Albert Einstein - he was supposed to be quite witty and funny so at least tea time wouldn't be boring.

I genuinely wonder if Jesus could read and write... maybe?

Though I guess if he couldn't we'd have proof of the not being God thing yeah?

I'd put Stalin and Hitler in a room together, just to see how they'd react and how long it'd take before they'd come to blows with each other. I'm betting under 15 minutes, with Hitler throwing the first punch, he's always struck me as the more unstable one. I might have to put a translator in there too, I'm not sure if they spoke any common languages or not.

Honestly, Stalin and Hitler had a lot in common. Put them in a room and tell them not to talk about economics or race and you'd be surprised at how much they agree on.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Julius Ceasar and Cleopatra. I'm absolutely fascinated by both of those people and the fact that they were once a famous couple would help ensure frank conversation. Caesar for example is a man who saw a system generations in decline and after his famous luck began to run out decided he wasn't going to take such nonsense lying down and went for the proverbial crown defeating in the process an army far more massive than his own lead by a man with at least as much military acclaim as he had won. This is a man with a literal death sentence hanging over his head with few powerful friends to look to for support who walked up to the Rubicon and and decided, if you believe the story, that given no good options that the most insane option would be the best choice. This wasn't Sulla's invasion decades prior - a man who had widespread support not to mention a massive army that far outclassed his opposition but an Invasion where Ceasar would have literally no margin for error.

As for Cleopatra, a woman who manages to navigate the politics of the ancient world and do well is remarkable. There are few instances of particular things I'd want to talk to her about as she, like other powerful women before and sense are less notable for the things they did but rather that they managed to do anything that history remembers at all.

Also, considering how the whole Cleopatra/Antony/Octavian thing worked out in the long run, it would probably we wise to have tea in a place where nothing could readily be turned into a weapon.

 

[JoJo]

I'd put Stalin and Hitler in a room together, just to see how they'd react and how long it'd take before they'd come to blows with each other. I'm betting under 15 minutes, with Hitler throwing the first punch, he's always struck me as the more unstable one. I might have to put a translator in there too, I'm not sure if they spoke any common languages or not.

Honestly, Stalin and Hitler had a lot in common. Put them in a room and tell them not to talk about economics or race and you'd be surprised at how much they agree on.

Heh, on the division of Poland maybe, economics and race would be the elephant in the room though and there'd be no avoiding that. Besides, why would I ban them from talking about all the interesting things ;-)

 

[Dies Irae]

I'd put some of the big U.S. presidents( Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, TR, Wilson, FDR, Reagan, Clinton, etc), and just see their responses to how their government has changed over the years.

 

[Aris Khandr]

Julius Ceasar and Cleopatra. I'm absolutely fascinated by both of those people and the fact that they were once a famous couple would help ensure frank conversation. Caesar for example is a man who saw a system generations in decline and after his famous luck began to run out decided he wasn't going to take such nonsense lying down and went for the proverbial crown defeating in the process an army far more massive than his own lead by a man with at least as much military acclaim as he had won. This is a man with a literal death sentence hanging over his head with few powerful friends to look to for support who walked up to the Rubicon and and decided, if you believe the story, that given no good options that the most insane option would be the best choice. This wasn't Sulla's invasion decades prior - a man who had widespread support not to mention a massive army that far outclassed his opposition but an Invasion where Ceasar would have literally no margin for error.

As for Cleopatra, a woman who manages to navigate the politics of the ancient world and do well is remarkable. There are few instances of particular things I'd want to talk to her about as she, like other powerful women before and sense are less notable for the things they did but rather that they managed to do anything that history remembers at all.

Also, considering how the whole Cleopatra/Antony/Octavian thing worked out in the long run, it would probably we wise to have tea in a place where nothing could readily be turned into a weapon.

Depending on which point in history you plucked them from, the conversation would likely turn to their son, Caesarion, and possibly hurtful comparisons between Caesar and Antony's "gladii".

Just out of pure morbid curiosity, I'd love to see a conversation between Muhammad himself, or possibly Salah ad-Din, and Osama bin Laden. Similarly, the discussion between one of the disciples of Jesus the Nazarene and modern hatemongers like Jerry Falwell or Fred Phelps. I'd be interested to see how those conversations play out, as the fanatic tries to justify himself to someone he reveres so highly.

If I could have a third person, I think it would be a wonderful social experiment to bring in King Solomon to represent the Jews, Jesus the Nazarene to represent the Christians, and Muhammad to represent the Muslims, give them a map of the Levant, and tell them to sort out the Middle East fairly. Then step back, see what happens, and see how many of their followers can go along with whatever they agree to.

 

[shootthebandit]

John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald. "John meet Lee, Lee meet John". First item on todays agenda Justin Beiber

 

[Euryalus]

Honestly, Stalin and Hitler had a lot in common. Put them in a room and tell them not to talk about economics or race and you'd be surprised at how much they agree on.

You got that from Political Compass [http://www.politicalcompass.org/analysis2].

Nonetheless, it?s completely false. Truth be told they were polar opposites in virtually all areas.

Politically speaking (even if we follow the absurd notion of avoiding matters of economics and race) they differed in all areas regarding the role, purpose and composition of the party and the state and the methods in which the party and state is to be used. Philosophically they were polar opposites with Hitler?s worldview being rooted in an idealism, utopianism and quasi-mysticism; whereas Stalin?s was firmly rooted in materialist Marxism.

Hell, even personality wise they were total opposites with Hitler having explosive movements, being overtly emotional and (truth be told) being a bit of a stick in the mud. In contrast Stalin was mostly stiff, cold, calculating (and as noted by Churchill) had a wicked sense of humour.

Yeah I guess then. Didn't remember where I read it. I stand corrected

 

[Cerebrawl]

Newton and Einstein. I mean really. Two of the brightest to ever live, and both instrumental to our understanding of the world, and especially of gravity(Newton laid most of the groundwork, and Einstein fine-tuned it).

Aristotle and Darwin. Aristotle was one of, if not the first known and recorded to use scientific principles to try and understand the world, including biology, where he did many experiments, but he was an eternalist(believing everything has always existed as they do now in their current form), imagine how stunned and quite possibly intrigued he'd be to learn about evolution!

For war stories though, imagine putting Ceasar and Patton together to trade stories?

 

[Euryalus]

Wait, is this thread asking who you'd like to sit down and have a relaxing tea assisted conversation with? Or am I missing the joke of it?

Anywhoo, if it's the former, I'd like to have tea with Hitler. I just think it'd be interesting to hear about his opinions, his side of things, his logic and reasoning behind everything etc.

And assuming that language barriers wouldn't be a problem, the other person would be maybe Vlad the Impaler. Don't ask about my fascination with 'evil' historical figures. I just think that they'd have more interesting things to say than the good kind.

No joke, though I meant which two historical figures would you like to hear have a conversation, not who would you like to talk with.

And I agree to some extent. Ghengis Khan and Jack the Ripper would seem slightly more interesting to listen to than Mother Theresa or Ghandi.

Maybe that's just me though xD

 

[Foolery]

Jesus - I'd take a notepad and ask him to write some stuff down so we could be clear so that people later on couldn't just make shit up and pretend that that's what he would have meant, seriously a whole book about his life and teachings but not a word penned by the man himself? What's up with that.

You ever hear of the Christ myth theory? The idea is that the gospels were written many decades or even a century after the death of Jesus by individuals who likely never met him and then were edited or forged over the centuries by unknown scribes with their own agendas. I feel it has some merit. Many stories of Jesus are quite similar to older myths about other holy figures such as Mithras, Dionysus, Osirus, and others. So all in all, decent chance that he was just another mythical sun god in a long line of sun gods.

Anyway, I'd choose Obama and Lincoln. Would be interesting.