The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

David Walker — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:29:10 GMT

"The crusification of Christ is my favorite" ??

Favorite? In a sort of macabre way, maybe. It's like saying the Plague is my favorite disease.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Cody — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:44:06 GMT

I've always been partial to the rack and typhoid fever, myself.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Ben Ryves — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:49:10 GMT

It's good to see that geography is still being taught to a high standard in the US.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

BeefEater — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:49:33 GMT

"I would tell him that people today are morons... "

Are you sure this is a grade 7 kid? This sounds like the wisdom of a much older person.

This kid wins my essay vote, hands down. Live by this motto and the world is an easier place to live in.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Roger Lipscombe — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:10:24 GMT

I was thinking about this yesterday, while on the phone, in the queue to a call centre.

It occurs to me that a time machine might not need to send people or things backwards and forwards in time.

It might be more valuable simply as a way to spread call centre load, so that everyone can call up during their lunch break, but the call centre agents receive the calls spread evenly over their working day.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

James — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:28:27 GMT

Ben Ryves: I am glad that your internet education has taught you that bashing the US education system is quick way to forum popularity. Well done!

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

BryanK — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:36:48 GMT

> Our whole plant could explode,

Not likely:

http://qntm.org/destroy

> and that might be bad.

Well, um, yeah? ;-)

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Mike — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:13:00 GMT

"I'd like to meet [my future self] to see if I've made my lifelong dream of being a doctor/actress a reality."

Imagine her disappointment when she finds out she did, in fact, acheive her life-long dream.

An remake of the famous "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" commercial.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Jonathan — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:16:52 GMT

> I would go to grease.

I actually thought he meant to see the famous musical.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

dakirw — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:23:56 GMT

That last kid who wanted to know how to get back to the present is pretty smart. It's a rare 7th grader that actually thinks about the whole issue like that.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

DavidE — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:42:34 GMT

Sheesh, don't you know anything? You prank call yourself in the past and convince yourself not to go into the future in the first place.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Brian — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:47:38 GMT

"A trip to the future could just as well be a trip to an asylum."

That's my favorite, how true it is.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Hamilton Lovecraft — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:52:28 GMT

"My target would be Colorado. At a time of 115 mya (million years ago)"

What's funny about this? mya ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mya_%28unit%29 ) is a fairly standard abbreviation among paleontologists, and avoids the BC vs. BCE crap. I assume the kid is looking for dinosaurs, and has read a book on the subject.

[Actually I happen to know the answer to this one. "mya" was a one-shot abbreviation the school's science teacher invented simply in order to save blackboard time. That it matches an official abbreviation is coincidence. -Raymond]

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Ben Cooke — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:28:31 GMT

Out of interest, Raymond, how did these essays come into your posession? Are you a teacher's assistant in your spare time? :)

[There are often volunteer opportunities at your local school if you know the right people. -Raymond]

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Jim — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:06:36 GMT

I thank Ray for spending the time to find the material to entertain us.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Cooney — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:32:18 GMT

[There are often volunteer opportunities at your local school if you know the right people. -Raymond]

There are also tutor programs available around here - stpseattle.com or something like that is advertised on the radio. I suppose this is one way of meeting the right people.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Martial Development — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 02:32:52 GMT

What is funnier: the spelling mistakes, or the fact that us readers apparently need them underlined?

[The underlining is to help non-native English speakers. -Raymond]

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Brian — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 03:50:33 GMT

You're probably helping the native speakers more.

What do you think?

Igor — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 04:12:40 GMT

Someone said that going back in time is like rewinding and I believe that is the most plausible option.

However, I need your opinions on the following (my opinion is in the square brackets):

1. When you go to the past you cease to exist in the present. Yes or No? [Yes]

2. If you cease to exist in the present because you went to the past, then it is impossible to meet yourself in the past because you weren't there -- you were in the present before taking the trip. Yes or No? [Yes]

3. If going back in time is like rewinding the video tape you just watched, then by going back in time you take your knowledge with you, and by fast forwarding into the future you don't have any knowledge about what happened in the meantime. Yes or No? [Yes]

4. Assuming that even sitting at our desk doing nothing we move both through time and space at constant velocity, moving backward/forward through time at will would also require moving in other three dimensions. Yes or No?

5. If the tape analogy is correct, then it would be also possible to pause time for everyone except you. Yes or No? [Yes]

Anyway, I think that people already have the ability to travel through time -- in their mind.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Matt — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 05:25:21 GMT

Wow, I totally thought the underlines were added by Firefox 2.0. Nice CSS skillz :-).

I guess FF only spell-checks form inputs entered by the user, not HTML from the server.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

SM — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 21:11:20 GMT

># I want to take it out for a spin in the fucher.

Boy, I was totally pronouncing this one wrong when I read it. Took me a minute.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Neil — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 19:11:25 GMT

Matt, SeaMonkey 1.1 will be able to do this; just edit the page and turn on inline spellchecking.

re: The wisdom of seventh graders: What to do with a time machine (part 3)

Jeff — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:12:34 GMT

Having read through all three parts plus comments, I must say I find it sad that (for the most part) they appeared to have no knowledge of the truly significant events of history... and those few that did appeared to be ridiculed the most, or have comments made on how it was done in television episodes.

The assinations of Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and Abraham Lincoln have always made me wonder... what if they hadn't been killed?

The space program setbacks - Challenger, Columbia, and the infamous "Huston, we have a problem" Apollo 11 - if those hadn't happened, where would be be today? Would we have had worse incidents?

Events such as the attack on the World Trade Center... those needed to occur. They have had ripples throughout the world since, and continue to do so. If you don't look at the war in Iraq, and ignore that for the time being, think of the other echoes of that day... without the event, we'd be worse off.

Then there are those who would go back in time and kill the dictators - such as Hitler, Napolean, Mussolini, Castro, ... - but would the world truly have been better off... or would someone worse have taken their place?

For me, personally, I'd like to go back and see Woodstock, '69 - the only one that was truly peaceful. The common belief is that it was because of all the drugs - I don't think so... even if everyone'd carried in a bag of marijuana, it'd have all been smoked by the beginning of the third day. (Or lost in the mud.) I've always had the belief that humanity showed its true colors there.

Sure, I'd like to go back and view dinosaurs... see what color they really were; but without the chance of getting eaten myself. I'd like to know the truth about the assination of J.F.K.; but know that the truth of that is still known by enough people - it will some day come out.

The idea is intriguing -- where would you go, and when? I wonder what different groups of our society would choose... businessmen, politicians, convicted felons. Would a stockbroker go to warn himself to not buy a particular stock? Or would he pick something more significant tham him/herself? Would the politician go back to fix a wrong they made, or woudl they be more likely to warn themselves to stay out of something that turned against them? Would a convicted felon go back and warn himself not to commit the crime, or make it so he didn't get caught in the first place by changing something... such as flattening the tire of the officer that caught him before they arrived at the scene?

It'd be interesting to find the answers to other questions... what was life really like in Medievil times? Did Newton really have an apple fall on his head? Would Einstein still create the bomb if he saw the future, and where it was used? (And if he didn't, who would finish it first in his stead?)

Questions that make you think... that's what I like about philosophy. We will probably never be able to answer them... but the thought process can be just as educational.