You would still have the same age, gender, personality, skin color, etc. and you would be able to speak at least one local language and would know basic information of the era and place. Your family, social standing, and such would be randomly picked.

  • bstix@feddit.dkEnglish
    51·
    10 months ago

    New Zealand 800 years ago. The rest of the question doesn’t matter because there were no other humans there.

    • IIII@lemmy.world
      6·
      10 months ago

      That means you would doom yourself to die alone…

      Or you have to spend your whole life building a boat, collecting food and being able to navigate, just to rejoin civilisation

    • BlueÆther@no.lastname.nz
      3·
      10 months ago

      As I’m from NZ atm I would choose here about 800 years ago as well - 800 years ago is about when the first Maori arrived - give or take a few

    • MrsDoyle@lemmy.world
      2·
      10 months ago

      With my luck I’d die of a katipo spider bite in the first month lol. Also, I’m minded of the scene in the film Boy, where said boy is cooking tea for the family. “Ah no, not crayfish again!” whines his sister. (Though I can’t imagine getting sick of crayfish.) Ask yourself why the Māori started eating tītī/muttonbird…. that smacks of desperation. Pack a few kūmara in your bag, maybe an axe and a box of matches?

  • esc27@lemmy.world
    24·
    10 months ago

    Lincoln’s booth in Ford’s theater on the night of the assassination right before it happens. Saving the president will immediately give me some credibility and influence, and it could improve reconstruction of the south to an extent that positively impacts modern America.

  • IninewCrow@lemmy.caEnglish
    15·
    10 months ago

    The location, geography and placement is randomly picked?

    Then like the other guy said December 31, 1949 11:59 pm

    To be born before this time randomly anywhere in the world means that there is a high chance you’d be dropped into an impoverished hell hole with nothing, no chance and no help … God help you if you are female.

    • navigatron@beehaw.org
      7·
      10 months ago

      I have a whole rant on this topic, but the short version:

      It’s dentists.

      The gnarliest mountain man, who hunts bears with his bear hands, can be brought to his knees with a toothache. The toothache never sleeps, can’t be fought, and always eventually wins. Even basic dentistry is life saving - even another human with a pair of pliers and some moonshine - but I’d much rather have novocaine.

      • IninewCrow@lemmy.caEnglish
        3·
        10 months ago

        Dental problems a hundred years ago were not as problematic as we think. I’m Indigenous Canadian and my parents were born and raised in the bush and judging from family photos I’ve seen from a hundred years ago … most people had decent teeth. I have photos of my grandmothers parents who must have been in the 60s or 70s and they all had full teeth, probably not the best but they had obvious white teeth.

        Cavities and tooth problems are a modern problem from wealth … we eat too much starch and sugar and generally just eat way too much of everything. Before the modern era, up to about the mid 1800s, the average person ate about five pounds of refined sugar a year - today the average person consumes about 100 lbs of sugar a year. … and those are the averages! Back a hundred years ago, you were wealthy if you could get sugar … most people just couldn’t afford to eat it … most people couldn’t afford to eat! And they ate more simple diets and less often.

        The biggest fear I have about going back to the past is just getting a flesh wound, a hang nail or a scratch that could fester into an infection and either take a limb or kill me.

  • Quik@infosec.pub
    11·
    10 months ago

    1940, as there are crazy things that will be going on in the world of computer science (and science in general) over the course of the next few decades and that would be really cool to experience. Kind of sad though to not be alive once we achieve human-level artificial intelligence, would be interested in seeing how that will turn out. I would probably chose America, as I wouldn’t want to spend WW2 in Germany where I live in the present.

    Alternatively I think I would very much enjoy visiting Ancient Greek, although I’m not too sure when would be the best time for that; maybe at the peak of Athen.

    • shish_mish@lemmy.world
      171·
      10 months ago

      The only correct answer, the past, was the worst. I like having antibiotics, not dying in childbirth, hot running water e.t.

      • andrewta@lemmy.world
        6·
        10 months ago

        Can always take the knowledge with you. Memorize how to do critical parts of plumbing. The antibiotics part yeah that would suck.

          • andrewta@lemmy.world
            2·
            10 months ago

            Exactly. Although a person can really only retain so much info, but yeah if you can figure out how to memorize both anti biotics and plumbing you’d be a very popular person and potentially be an excellent leader.

      • zero_gravitas@aussie.zoneEnglish
        2·
        10 months ago

        Yeah, antibiotics is a big one. Plus, some of my skills might actually still be useful in the 40s.

        But life did suck in a lot of places for a lot of people in the 40s. WW2, the devastation left behind by WW2, and horrible social attitudes. Good luck in ‘the west’ if you’re not a straight white cis man.

  • SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    124·
    10 months ago

    1600 India. I’m royalty and get to meet my ancestor and favorite historical figure Akbar. And yes the mughal empire is my roman empire

    • edric@lemm.ee
      10·
      10 months ago

      Social standing is random though based on OP’s rules. It would be terrible to end up as part of the lowest caste.

  • rwhitisissle@lemmy.ml
    92·
    10 months ago

    1870s in the Southeastern United States. I’m gonna make goddamn sure Reconstruction doesn’t just end and Jim Crow functionally re-invents slavery.

  • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
    7·
    10 months ago

    Yikes. Uhh. 1950. Cause you’re really pushing your luck before that if your background is random.

  • rothaine@beehaw.orgEnglish
    71·
    10 months ago

    Maybe ancient Athens? Just sit around eating grapes and talking about triangles and shit. And even if I get rng’d into slavery, I could draw the Pythagorean theorem in the dirt, and a passing scholar would be like “holy shit, come with me dude”

  • mke_geek@lemm.ee
    61·
    10 months ago

    Back in time if you’re gay? Or trans? Or a woman? Or a person of color?

    No thanks.