What knowledge could YOU bring to the dark ages

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The Funslinger

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Sep 12, 2010
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Well, aside from the basic stuff, like reading and writing, maths etc. I could teach drystone walling, although that would probably be being used. Basic medicine? Swimming wasn't too common an ability then, either.
 

crudus

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Oct 20, 2008
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I am gonna go with "the earth revolves around the sun". Granted I would like to go earlier (Aristotle's time), but 100-300 years before Kepler would still be good. Also, I could teach Newtonian physics.

Splyth said:
I know where to find penicillan
That would screw us over in the long run. That is unless you teach them not to abuse it.

Gardenia said:
"There is no god."
I'm sorry if this ignites a flamewar, but I had to.
You can't just say that, especially in the middle ages. You need people to come to that conclusion on their own.

A Weakgeek said:
Well I don't know... If you went through the proper channels any sientifically provable fact ( and i know this technically applies to god aswell) could be recieved well. But in medieval times (in europe) god was a pretty big guy even among scientists.
Too bad everything we have today was be considered "magic" in the middle ages.
 

Maeta

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Jun 8, 2011
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I basically perfected A-level physics, albeit 3 years ago now, and am also good at biology and maths, but I'm a masters chemistry student, so I can teach them how to bore each other to tears/sleep/death...
Also, geography! tell them where America is, why they should forget about the Northwest Passage and Cape Horn, and that the building of the Panama canal will also cause massive trouble due to malaria...
And that identical irish singing twins should never start a pop group named by using a portmanteau of their fornames
 

SckizoBoy

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Jan 6, 2011
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Splyth said:
I also know enough about steel to probably help invent damascus.
Sorry to burst your bubble there, old boy, but in the dark ages many European cultures already knew patterning techniques, so that one's a bit iffy...

OT: Basic float-glass production techniques probably... *shrug*
 

ccggenius12

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Sep 30, 2010
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Don't know too much sciency stuff, but, I'd write down enough about their futures to make Nostradamus look like a chump by comparison.
 

Splyth

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SckizoBoy said:
Splyth said:
I also know enough about steel to probably help invent damascus.
Sorry to burst your bubble there, old boy, but in the dark ages many European cultures already knew patterning techniques, so that one's a bit iffy...
quote]

It's all about where you land. Knowledge was not distributed evenly.

EDIT:

um yeah so I've been informed by history friend of mine that the term "Dark Ages" is not to be used in academia. So um sorry about that.
 

TheRightToArmBears

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Dec 13, 2008
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I'd probably take back knowledge of making paper and bookmaking, and spread the idea of writing down stuff. The dark ages weren't really 'dark' (in fact, 'the dark ages' isn't really used anymore, at least in terms of UK history), it's just that no one wrote very much.
 

Esotera

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May 5, 2011
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Basic biochemistry/biomedical sciences. And of course the scientific method, that'd probably help a lot, assuming I wouldn't be burnt at the stake for heresy.
 

Buzz Killington_v1legacy

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Aug 8, 2009
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I sort of remember enough to recreate at least a crude form of movable type. I'm sure the monks would thank me...at least until I told them they'd still have to do the illumination by hand.
 

chstens

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Apr 14, 2009
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Absolutely nothing. My "Millenium Man" knowledge would be a surefire way to get me burned on a stake. Or... I guess I could find some people that I could trust, and ease them into the idea that I am from the future, and start some kind of underground society... Uh... I think I have a novel to draft.
 

TheTurtleMan

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Mar 2, 2010
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I would tell them how to prevent the spread of disease. Maybe bring some penicillan if I could. That may save a couple million deaths from the plague. If I could get the blueprints for the printing press, that could help spread a lot of information too.
 

The Gatherer

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Jul 7, 2011
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The knowledge that one day Nintendo will break your heart. Don't trust it.
That and batmans real identity
 

Bluntman1138

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Aug 12, 2011
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Well, if it is during the dark ages 500 AD to 1100 AD

First thing first. MOVE TO THE MIDDLE EAST! Get OUT of Europe. During these times specifically, To speak Heresey in Europe is immediate death. In Bahgadad you could say there is no God to your Hearts content and be safe. (As long as it i before 1100 AD)

To to the Technology ad Information:
The "Age of Sail" would come up 600 years early. Time to get to the Americas before 1000 AD
Screws
Basic knowledge of anatomy would make you one of the greatest "Doctors" of the time.
Pennicilan
Wheelbarrows (didnt come to Europe till the 1100's)
Irrigation
Firearms
Cannons
Knowledge of the solar system
Bluntmans Theory of Relativity and Gravity
Algebra and Calculas
The Earth is Round
Longbows
Lighters
Food preservation, cooking, and prepartion
Hygene (this encompasses a lot, gotta stop the Plague somehow)
Knowledge of weather patterns
Concrete (Unless i can find the recipe for Roman Concrete, which is vastly superior to what we use today)


Honestly, there is a lot that could be done with what we consider common knowledge, in the past. The simplest of things, would make you a VERY intelligent man. And the simplest of technologies would advance human society a thousand years.

I always like to wonder what our world would be like if Christianity hadnt stifled the growth of Europe during what we call the "Dark Ages". And it is an apt description as well. We could quite possibly be 100's of years more advanced technologically. We could have landed men on the moon 300 years ago instead of 50. But the "Christian Age", i mean "Dark Age", really isnt a time i would like to travel back into time to.

now, Get me around 60 BC, and in Rome, and i will change the world. But most likely in the Dark Ages, you would be put to death few hours after arriving. (Depending on where you were sent)
 

Mafoobula

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Sep 30, 2009
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I'm working off the assumption that if I start talking god and religion and yada yada I'll immediately be set on fire for heresy. Thus, I'll have to walk on eggshells until I can gain the good faith of most of the people.
Sanitation alone is going to improve a LOT of lives. I don't know a lot about medicine, but I do at least know that drilling holes in the skull to let demons out is a bad thing, so maybe I can at least get people to stop doing that. And somewhere in the middle of it all, I'll do what I can to influence the arts, particularly music and theater.
 

johnnyLupine

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Nov 19, 2008
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Heh..kind of off topic since i havent got a clue what i would share with the world but...

My sister and i were watching tv a while back and we got to talking about what we would do if we could go back in time. she came up with a plan to make her life complete during the course of the discussion.

1) Go back in time
2) Kidnap lancelot, have tea in the tardis.
3)life complete.
 

Not G. Ivingname

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Nov 18, 2009
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Me: Hello people of the past, I am here to bring knowledge of the future to make your lives better, healthier, and longer! :D

People of the past:...

Me: First off, the Earth is round, and we can find north by putting a magnet in water to see which way it points!

People of the Past: WITCH! WITCH! BURN THE WITCH!

Me: D: