my sister posed an interesting question at thanksgiving dinner: if you suddenly time-traveled to the past (~200 years) and were stripped of your modern day possessions, how would you prove you were from the future? note - you don’t wanted to be convicted of being a witch and hung.

my immediate answer: i would tell them that in the future, you can talk into your tiny hand computer and it will answer your every question on command. i would be hung. also, this is so far removed from their current state reality, that it would prove nothing. what is a tiny hand computer? how does it work? i don’t know - is steve jobs around yet? can i phone a friend? does the phone exist yet? nope - that comes in the late 1800s. 

so if you had to prove you were from the future, but needed to make it real for 1811, what would you do? i realize that i am completely useless. i don’t know how to make anything electronic or even basic mechanic things. i wouldn’t be able to make big improvements to protect people from natural disasters. i don’t know medicine. i don’t really know how weapons work. the one suggestion my sister had is to teach basic sanitation skills. i think i could convince people to wash their hands, but that is so not exciting at all. hi, i’m from 200 years in the future, use this soap (how do you make soap?) and you’ll live longer. boring. maybe i’d teach them to cook more exciting food than they ate then. that would be satisfying. but i don’t know how to grow any food. when does trader joe come into the picture?

maybe i could give them really cool modern haircuts? or haircuts from the 90s. that’s progressive - right? 

i think my best idea is writing plays based on today’s movies and tv shows that are based on the past. game of thrones, anyone? i think that would be a hit in the 1800s.

so what have i figured out? unless you are a engineer with the fundamental knowledge of how things are made or someone with clinical knowledge, you may not survive. we are products of our generations. and we don’t have that much advantage over people who lived 200 years ago without our gadgets. isn’t that an upsetting thought? 

other great ideas from family and friends:

1. start a democracy in the time of monarchies. you would be hung.
2. draw maps of land that has not yet been discovered. a good idea.
3. invest in apple. going back to the past does not ensure that you survive until 2011. unless you also invent time travel using materials in the 1800s.
4. ‘predict’ the future. you would be hung.

anyone else have any good ideas? would you be able to prove you’re from the future?