I think about this all the time. What benefits could I bring to an old civilization, like the Romans? Something that would make me valuable to them. I only have two things I could think of. I could run a school for kids. Teach them about places value. But in a few months those with mathematical minds would overtake my knowledge of math. I could tell them to wash their hands, but i don't know how to make soap. Besides, that just a bit of information. The only thing i can think of would to be a playwright. I'd just rip off TV shows and movies. How could you be of value?
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9 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Build a steam engine and boiler, make gun powder, make strong acids and with them chemical fertilizer, bring modern farming technologies, the magnetic compass, how to make steel, hot air bolos, gliders, electrical generation, electric motors, batteries, etc. I could with the knowledge in my brain rewrite history or be burned as a witch.
HeathenFarmer
Level 8
Oct 18, 2018
0
I think teaching them about germs and hygiene and that rats and mosquitoes carry disease ( plague) would be helpful even if you couldn’t make the necessary medicines. Probably just telling people that these things were possible would be enough to get the ball rolling. I know the first anti biotic was found in bread mold and I know that insulin can be excreted by the pancreas. I have all kinds of knowledge that will get me burned at the stake as a heretic or witch!
Lyndie
Level 4
Oct 14, 2018
1
Exactly. You have to be believed. That's why I think I would get sold in to slavery. I have in knowledge, but no way to prove it or to make it happen
A second simple invention that would change their world is the horse collar.
Druvius
Level 8
Oct 14, 2018
1
I love that game
Well I think gun powder could be very useful and I know how to make that, perhaps I could only show them the useful parts that didn't involve guns. (charcoal, potassium nitrate and sulfur for the curious but it's getting the ratios that is important)
Surfpirate
Level 9
Oct 14, 2018
2
I'm an executive chef --for over 3 decades now.
I would offer advanced food preservation techniques as well as cooking innovations and sanitation knowledge.
I also know how to make soap. 
...and I'm a master gardener and can make beer, wine, and kombucha.
They would love me.
SkotlandSkye
Level 8
Oct 14, 2018
4
Could you get the stuff? Like the lye? I know about lye, but wouldn't know how to get it or make it.
@weelittleone Yes, lye is made from the ashes of hardwoods. Of course I would use vegetable oils in soap making and NOT animal fat.
@SkotlandSkye of course. They didn't have much to work with in food. No tomatoes, potatoes, cane sugar, so much more. Just sardines and olives
The stirrup would come in handy too, easy concept to build and grasp. And Arabic numbers, they would love those, their engineers would go nuts. A simple telescope would be easy and obviously incredibly useful.
Druvius
Level 8
Oct 14, 2018
1
Yeah. That's what I would teach in my kids school. But I would only be useful for about a week until some ancient math geeks take it way past my basic math skills.
Could you instruct Roman glass makers to be able to make the lenses?
@weelittleone Oh yes, they would take arabic numerals and run with them. The lens could be polished out of glass blanks. Would take some experimentation to get the shapes correct, but again, their geniuses could grasp the basics and run with it. All predicated on me learning Latin and getting someone wealthy to set up shop.
@Druvius that's the rub. I go back in time with nothing but my knowledge. I could tell them about all sorts of stuff. But I couldn't make things happen. Whatever useful knowledge i had would just be good sense. eventually I'd become irrelevant.
Basic germ theory would be incredibly valuable. I could build a crude steam engine and pump to pull water out of mines, that's what basically jump started the industrial revolution. Or if I was feeling particularly generous I'm sure the Romans could find a use for gun powder and bronze cannons. 
Druvius
Level 8
Oct 14, 2018
2
Could you make gun powder? Like I know it needs nitre, but heck if iknow how to get some. Did the romans have the technology to allow you fabricate an engine? That would be cool.
@weelittleone Requires saltpetre, charcoal, sulphur in the right proportions. Saltpetre is found associated with animal droppings, in caves and mines. It would be the trickiest. Yeah, a steam engine is possible, but again, all predicated on learning Latin and getting a backer.
Herbology - various herbs , were the forerunner of today's pharmacuitical medications . Asprin , for instance comes from the underbark of the white willow tree , a heart medication, digitalis , comes from the foxglove flowers , valerine , econazia , and multiple others have known benefits to the human body .
Cast1es
Level 9
Oct 14, 2018
0
Could you make it happen? Could you distill the ingredients to make the medicine?
In many instances , a simple tea is all it requires . Was just reading this morning , on here , about lemon grass tea . The woman had divided a large clump of lemon grass into multiple plants , and when I asked her about the tea , she told me she drank a cup every morning . Among other things, she replied , it also helps with digestion .
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