Which historical culture would you want to live in?

[AENeuman]

So last night wife and I are watching a Frontline on Afghanistan. She asked me why anyone would want to live as 12th century community. Then she asked me what culture I would want to live in (no America at any time). In thinking about the question I realized how little I know of other cultures. For example, what were the golden age of Japan and India like?

It's hard to think of a culture that a) was not without war for a few generations b) where being anything but royal would suck

So far I am leaning towards Greece and hanging with So-Crates.

Anyway, what culture would you pick? Assume you were not the richest or poorest. Also, if you know of any books that would go a long with your pick, please share.

Finally, I still miss our historical/pop drafts.

[molson]

Being a Viking would be a lot of fun, as long as you survived anyway. Booze, broads, war, and traveling.

[Coffee Warlord]

Rome under Augustus or during the "Five Good Emperors" era.

Failing that, I'd do Renaissance era....probably Venice or France.

[DaddyTorgo]

A Roman?

or...a pre-contact Native American.

[DaddyTorgo]

Rome under Augustus or during the "Five Good Emperors" era.

Trajan/Hadrian were always my pick.

In a lot of ways you can probably make the argument that that was the "high water mark" of the Roman Empire. Not necessarily in the territorial sense, but in totality.

[Coffee Warlord]

Though, this question would be better suited split into two:

1) What historical culture/era would you want to be a sort of passive observer to, to watch history truly unfold before you? (Sort of a Doctor Who scenario...without aliens fucking everything up. You're there, you can interact, but it's history to you, and you're not getting involved, just being there.)

and

2) The actual "where would you want to be living, working, breathing, part of day to day life as an person ignorant of what the future will bring?"

[Crapshoot]

Without being pedantic, I'd say the answer is none. We forget the advantages we have now - hell, plumbing is one, air conditioning is another, cars are a third, basic sanitation and hygine as a whole. Even a 100 years ago, you couldn't take most of this for granted. :D

[jbergey22]

Rome prior to The Colosseum. They were so far advanced for the time. Its too bad the Dark Ages stalled much of this progress.

[jbergey22]

Without being pedantic, I'd say the answer is none. We forget the advantages we have now - hell, plumbing is one, air conditioning is another, cars are a third, basic sanitation and hygine as a whole. Even a 100 years ago, you couldn't take most of this for granted. :D


Im sure the majority feel this way;) With the mindset that you dont miss what you dont have/know about what culture would you have chosen?

[spleen1015]

Which ever one encouraged men being allowed to spend their time with multiple women and those women do what they were told.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I think what screws me over in answering this one is that I'm assuming that history then runs its course from wherever you're plopped down.

At that point I'm just swapping one set of eventual problems for the ones I've got now, so it's probably just as well to sit tight.

[jbergey22]

Which ever one encouraged men being allowed to spend their time with multiple women and those women do what they were told.

Isnt that the Middle East in todays world?

[JediKooter]

There's not one place I can think of where I'd actually want to live there. Visit? Now that would be different. There's lots of times and historical cultures I'd like to visit.

[Chief Rum]

Without being pedantic, I'd say the answer is none. We forget the advantages we have now - hell, plumbing is one, air conditioning is another, cars are a third, basic sanitation and hygine as a whole. Even a 100 years ago, you couldn't take most of this for granted. :D

There are parts of Alabama where this still can't be taken for granted, although I suspect hygiene issues are a matter of local choice.

[Suburban Rhythm]

So last night wife and I are watching a Frontline on Afghanistan. She asked me why anyone would want to live as 12th century community. Then she asked me what culture I would want to live in (no America at any time). In thinking about the question I realized how little I know of other cultures. For example, what were the golden age of Japan and India like?

It's hard to think of a culture that a) was not without war for a few generations b) where being anything but royal would suck

So far I am leaning towards Greece and hanging with So-Crates.

Anyway, what culture would you pick? Assume you were not the richest or poorest. Also, if you know of any books that would go a long with your pick, please share.

Finally, I still miss our historical/pop drafts.

Before I even opened the thread, I had this image in my head

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ5qI18O6cFfIZ_uVdTkukM6AW5Kwgp1urtigmB-m68fAF7UuJD7hLSMMaGsg

[Abe Sargent]

Though, this question would be better suited split into two:

1) What historical culture/era would you want to be a sort of passive observer to, to watch history truly unfold before you? (Sort of a Doctor Who scenario...without aliens fucking everything up. You're there, you can interact, but it's history to you, and you're not getting involved, just being there.)

and

2) The actual "where would you want to be living, working, breathing, part of day to day life as an person ignorant of what the future will bring?"



1). Without question or hesitation, the era of Christ.

2). 1880's Australia. The only major war coming up (WW1) isn't fought on your soil, and only takes volunteers. You're past most of the anti-colonial stuff and the anti-miner stuff. You are a democracy, largely westernized, you won't have a lot of the unrest others have in the 20's. The depression of 1930s hits you hard too, but it's difficult to find a nation that isn't hit roughly after WW1 and it's free and Westernizied. By then, I'd be in my high 70's or 80s, if alive at all. However, Australia is one of the quickest nations to recover from it, and by the mid 30s is back in business. (Edit: WW2 is nasty in the Pacific Theater, but by then, it's 55-60 ish years later, and you aren;t hit as hard as other nations either).

[Groundhog]

I opt for whichever culture had the best broadband speeds.

[Danny]

I opt for whichever culture had the best broadband speeds.

The mongols

[CrimsonFox]

Rome although apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

[Pumpy Tudors]

I want to live in Dolemite's culture, because he had an afro and kung fu bitches.

[Groundhog]

The mongols

Sorry, I should clarify: Best broadband speeds AND no requirement to burn goat dung in my ger to keep the flies away.

[AENeuman]

Though, this question would be better suited split into two:

1) What historical culture/era would you want to be a sort of passive observer to, to watch history truly unfold before you? (Sort of a Doctor Who scenario...without aliens fucking everything up. You're there, you can interact, but it's history to you, and you're not getting involved, just being there.)

and

2) The actual "where would you want to be living, working, breathing, part of day to day life as an person ignorant of what the future will bring?"

I like number 1 better, but I was going for number 2. I think this was a rough question for me because, like others, today seems so much better than any other time, even the US in P.B.E. (Pre-Bucc Era)

As far as number 1, I think witnessing the Christological councils leading up to the Nicene Creed would be great.

[Groundhog]

I think most historical events, particularly the further you go back, would probably be quite underwhelming compared to what we would expect, given how much they have been built up over the centuries or more.

Religious events in particular, without wanting to turn the thread into one of those threads, would most probably fit that bill, with the exception of those wanting to witness Xenu's electronic ribbons capturing those thetans. :D

[DaddyTorgo]

I think if you moved back to a time where things were "rougher" by today's standards you'd adapt though. I mean sure...you might miss the internet for a couple months, but if you're hunting buffalo on the open prarie and riding bareback across the plains, eventually I think you'd have better things to do with your time when whine about not having access to all the information on the internet.

There's definitely an appeal to a "simpler life."

[JediKooter]

I'd go back and challenge Napoleon to a game of 1 on 1, first to 21 wins.

[JonInMiddleGA]

There's definitely an appeal to a "simpler life."

Not that simple.

[Groundhog]

There's definitely an appeal to a "simpler life."

...until you die of a tooth infection. :)

[Buccaneer]

Being a Viking would be a lot of fun, as long as you survived anyway. Booze, broads, war, and traveling.

You do realize that they were mostly all farmers and didn't wear horned helmets. :)

[Buccaneer]

As a passive observer, Galilee ca. 30ad.

As far as living in a culture, Ancient Egypt under Ramses II, only if I had plenty of prilosec, antibiotics of all kinds and a significant reduced sense of smell (all three would apply to any historical culture prior to the 20th century I suppose).

[molson]

You do realize that they were mostly all farmers and didn't wear horned helmets. :)

DAMN IT!

[DaddyTorgo]

...until you die of a tooth infection. :)

que sera sera

[booradley]

Hmmm ... I've often had the fantasy that I would travel back in time and record Jesus' life from start to finish, just to put an end to the whole Christian controversy once and for all. Sadly, I think I'd be murdered by church officials before I even set off. They just wouldn't want the risk of being proven wrong, methinks ...

[AENeuman]

Hmmm ... I've often had the fantasy that I would travel back in time and record Jesus' life from start to finish, just to put an end to the whole Christian controversy once and for all. Sadly, I think I'd be murdered by church officials before I even set off. They just wouldn't want the risk of being proven wrong, methinks ...

Already happened ;)

[sterlingice]

You do realize that they were mostly all farmers and didn't wear horned helmets. :)

And Bucc would know as he was there

I've been wanting to catch up on this thread for a couple of days now and the least I can contribute is a "Bucc is old" joke :D

That said, I kindof was hoping for more responses like AENeuman- I don't know much about other ancient cultures to make an informed decision and was hoping others did...

SI

[sterlingice]

The two different scenarios really are an important distinction.

For "best time to live"- boy, you'd be hard pressed to find a life as prosperous, interesting, and comfortable as the American baby boomers. Yes, there was a threat of nuclear war to worry about but no major plagues, massive technological advancement in all aspects of life, and tons of history unfolding from the Cold war to landing on the moon to the dawn of the Information age.

As for time to witness- yeah, I see the Doctor Who-esque aspect and have often thought about it. However, until the 20th century, it seems things happened so slowly that it would be like watching a glacier move. Yes, Jesus would be an obvious big marker there as a single event. However, the rise of Christianity takes centuries. Same with the rise and fall of the Roman empire. We've probably already seen it but can someone point to the single salient event that led to the fall of the American "empire" (probably 9/11 but who knows) and that's an empire that was maybe 100 years long, tops.

There's no media to transmit images to get a flash reaction from the populace until the last 60 or so years. And even those type of events that get that flash reaction are not ones we are so moved by the reaction so much as embarrassed, going back in time (think Rodney King trial or OJ chase or violence and discrimination against Muslims post 9/11). So I guess it needs to be about the single solitary event. I really feel bummed that I was born a few years too late for the moon landing and it will likely be decades before we again do something significant space-wise. It's really tough to top 30~33 AD, tho. A few off the top of my head would be the Reformation, maybe the building of some great structures (the pyramids or Colisseum), or the creation of some great works of art (Shakespeare's Hamlet or the Sistene Chapel, for instance).

Also, to the previous point, I've often considered that I'm a couple hundred years too early. I'd love to see what 200 or 500 years brings. I know we could very easily fall into a multitude of distopian futures but there's also such a capacity for positive change if we mature as people. It's hard to imagine a civilization with as many mile markers and advancements as the 20th century- flight to atomic energy to space travel to information age all in 100 years! But, on the other hand, can you imagine how fast science and society can advance when we, as a civilization, learn to harness the information age, as a whole?

Right now, we're all adjusting to the amount of information out there- how to process it quickly, how to build off of it- I mean, think about it: all of us who wanted to learn more than a couple of pages about a topic had to spend a couple of weeks in a library, doing a research paper, reading original sources and trying to collect information from disparate books and periodicals, microfiche, etc. Now you can find all that in a few mouse clicks. Think of the historical advancement attributed to Gutenberg. Now expand that exponentially.

As humans, our minds and teaching methods will again have to change to comprehend information quickly as our processing speed will be where the bottleneck is. But how far off are we from the Matrix scenario where you can just download a book straight into your head and not just input it as data but actually comprehend how to fly a helicopter in a matter of seconds? Now imagine doing that with physics or agriculture knowledge or biology- how fast one could advance new sources of energy or food production or medicine if one had the capacity to understand and then build off the science in an afternoon.

That will be an amazing time, beyond our comprehension, provided we also can mature as humans and not destroy ourselves in the process.

SI

[Apathetic Lurker]

Without being pedantic, I'd say the answer is none. We forget the advantages we have now - hell, plumbing is one, air conditioning is another, cars are a third, basic sanitation and hygine as a whole. Even a 100 years ago, you couldn't take most of this for granted. :D

Ancients had plumbing,basic sanitation and hygiene...Its pretty much with the advent of the "dark ages" that society took a crap, so to speak........



My choice would be ancient Sumer

[TroyF]

I understand the two questions, but when you go back in history the scary thing is what you might end up.

As a white guy, I at least have the race angle in pretty good shape historically. Growing up lower middle class? That really puts me in bad shape in a lot of historical cultures. Having health issues (Marfans, prone to severe cases of bronchitas) puts me in even worse shape. With those traits, I don't even make it through childhood in many cultures.

Make me super rich and powerful? There are a lot of places I could live.

All in all, I'll stay put. Force me to choose and I'll probably go to Greece and hope I can be Homer's seeing eye dog. :)

[ColtCrazy]

My wife is a huge Jane Austen fan and would like to live in that time period. I could do that as I like the warfare in that era, so as long as I could be Wellington, I'm good with that.

WWII tank commander would be cool too. That's probably third. I think above that I'd like to live in the age of castles, as long as I was a king and didn't have shit all over me.

[Danny]

My wife is a huge Jane Austen fan and would like to live in that time period. I could do that as I like the warfare in that era, so as long as I could be Wellington, I'm good with that.

WWII tank commander would be cool too. That's probably third. I think above that I'd like to live in the age of castles, as long as I was a king and didn't have shit all over me.

So you want to go to a time where you can be involved in warfare? I'd want to pick a time that had as much absence of warfare as possible, personally.

[ColtCrazy]

So you want to go to a time where you can be involved in warfare? I'd want to pick a time that had as much absence of warfare as possible, personally.

Guess it's the inner war gamer in me. If I wanted a more peaceful time, then the Victorian era and the height of the railway would be a favorite for me since I've always liked trains. The Age of Exploration would be neat too if I could be an explorer.

[Danny]

Guess it's the inner war gamer in me. If I wanted a more peaceful time, then the Victorian era and the height of the railway would be a favorite for me since I've always liked trains. The Age of Exploration would be neat too if I could be an explorer.

I like fantasy games, doesn't mean I really want to go into a dungeon and try to kill a dragon :D

[M GO BLUE!!!]

1970's England.

Kick-ass cop shows, comedies, music (from across the pond, mostly) and the worst thing that can happen is a gust of wind knocks my enormous plaid collar out of place.

[Groundhog]

God, the 1970s would have been music heaven for me, especially in the UK.

[bhlloy]

As a regular citizen, I would have to think the height of the Roman Empire would be the way to go. Pretty safe and you have probably more rights and live in a more civilized time (relatively) than many ages after that until the 20th century. Plus Italian women are hot and there are public baths.

WWII tank commander - ugh. Uncomfortable way to live and a horrible way to die if you get hit.

[OldGiants]

Interesting question and one which the Woody Allen movie MIDNIGHT IN PARIS answers quite well. I recommend this movie to anyone who is actually interested in this question and wants an amusing and intelligent work of art to point the way to an answer.

[OldGiants]

Also P. J. O'Roarke had a one-word response for everyone who yearns to live in a prior era:

Dentistry.