this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
44 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

33238 readers
1241 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] bobs_monkey@lemmy.zip 24 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Look up last week's lottery numbers, then head back to last week.

I don't wanna play the make money game anymore.

Clever, clever πŸ˜‚

[–] PonyOfWar@pawb.social 14 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Assuming I could go back at some point, ancient Rome in its heyday would be a sight to see. I'd love to go sightseeing to almost any ancient civilization really. At least the ones where I wouldn't immediately get killed.

[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

To see the original 7 wonders

[–] Houseofoliviereu@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Nice trip. And why the 'immediately get killed'?

[–] PonyOfWar@pawb.social 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I guess I was thinking about civilizations that practiced human sacrifice (e.g. in Mesoamerica) and generally civilizations where outsiders were not welcome (e.g. Edo-era Japan).

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

look different enough? depending on the civilization and time period, believe it or not straight to [the pointy end of the nearest guy's weapon]

[–] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I would go back about 40 years ago and stop my parents from meeting.

[–] bizarroland@fedia.io 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If your parents didn't meet and make you, then it is likely they would have met other people and made other people. Don't put the curse of your existence off on some other poor sap. Stand up and drink your cup.

[–] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

No, I'd rather shift the responsibility. There's nothing in my cup and the cup is crumbling.

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I hope your cup gets filled with some Aztec style chocolate in the near future (or modern style, or something else, whatever you like having in a cup)

[–] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I'm extremely depressed, but I'm going to give a gold star sticker for accurately knowing chocolate in its original form was consumed as a beverage.

collapsed inline media

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 days ago

⭐😊 ty

[–] Houseofoliviereu@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

That's how bad things are. I wouldn't even go see my beloved Aztecs.

[–] Houseofoliviereu@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (4 children)

If you can, pick up one afternoon in the week, call someone you know, go outside, in the park or in a pub. It helps to disconnect πŸ™‚

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] bizarroland@fedia.io 10 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Assuming it's a one way trip, I'd probably go to the year 1998, Impersonate my dad, Rescue child me from some shit, Win the lottery, Stop 9/11, and then die and leave my younger self with more money and power than he could reasonably cope with.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 5 points 3 days ago

Calling a bomb threat on the plane just before takeoff. That'll really confuse things but it'll get the job done.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] VinesNFluff@pawb.social 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I'm going to 1450 and giving the natives guns before the Spaniards and the Portuguese arrive.

Without them, anglos probably won't bother either.

[–] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Bring books on crossbow manufacturing. It's documented that Chichimeca obsidian tipped arrows could pierce through chainmail. Most areas practicing agriculture in the Americas will either have or have access to raw materials required for the manufacturing of crossbows.

[–] scytale@lemmy.zip 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Are are we applying butterfly effect mechanics here? If yes, the farthest I’ll probably go is the previous 24 hours to have the least impact on the things I don’t want to lose/change. Then I’ll probably bet on the lottery.

[–] Houseofoliviereu@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

butterfly effect mechanics And if there is no butterfly effect mechanics ?

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Going back in time creates the butterfly effect mechanics!

[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

To the middle of the carboniferous to check if it is true the hypothesis of the delayed fungal evolution. Forests growing for millions of years and wood not decaying? The mountains of dead trees is something I want to see.

[–] Tracaine@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

To the point when humanity's earliest ancestor dared leave the ocean. I'd kick it back into the sea. Civilization was a mistake.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I'd like to witness the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ

[–] serpineslair@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago (3 children)

You might be a tad disappointed...

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Chainweasel@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (4 children)

This timeline is already fucked so I really can't make it any worse, so I'd go back just to fuck with the timeline.
Take written volumes on mathmatics, science, and engineering and hand them out in Greece and Arabia a few thousand years ago and see what kind of world we end up with instead.

[–] idealotus@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Monkey's Paw answer is the same world we have today because the books are in English and/or the math symbols were not standardized back then.

[–] palordrolap@fedia.io 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

This. The modern mathematical symbols, at least in their current use, are no older than 550 years. Heck, the numerals we use are about as old as that. The Arabic world had a head start with early versions of those numerals, but even then, those are only twice as old as the oldest mathematical symbols still in use.

Prior to that, people wrote things out in words, or, as you suggest, invented their own symbologies and shorthands.

I have a book around here somewhere that shows how Diophantus wrote a particular polynomial equation and it's all Greek letters, some with macrons (overlines), some superscripts that don't mean what we'd use superscripts to mean, and one large upturned capital psi in the middle of it. Mind-boggling.

And they'd be more mystified by our notation than we are by theirs because at least we (or some of us) know what Greek letters and numerals are. They'd have no such head start.

load more comments (1 replies)

Approved πŸ˜€

load more comments (2 replies)

Beginning of high school, drop out, get a job, invest in Microsoft.

[–] cloudless@piefed.social 5 points 3 days ago

I nearly killed my new lawn because I didn't water it enough.

Just go back a few days and let me water it well.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 5 points 3 days ago (4 children)

I'd go back to the Precambrian era around the time of the "explosion" to see what caused it. Though I may need a space suit. Was the atmosphere habitable at that time? πŸ€”

[–] palordrolap@fedia.io 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Information paradox detected. You'll somehow die and your own advanced biology will become the trigger you went there to seek.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

So you going to head back to like a random Wednesday and be like nope not happening yet, let's try tomorrow, nope. Maybe next week?

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 3 points 3 days ago

I have a time machine. I'll have all the time I need to figure it out.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] peteyestee@feddit.org 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

All the way back. With the knowledge that I shouldn't trust or put faith in people.

Instead of seeking out truth I would just be an average person.

I would leave home asap and not stick around a town of hate and crime.

[–] lIlIllIlIIIllIlIlII@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Cheops pyramid construction.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] kalkulat@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

10-cent bitcoins

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago (3 children)
  1. Check the top meme on lemmy of all time.

  2. Go back to 1 minute before they posted that and post it before they do.

  3. I am now the person who posted the highest upvoted meme ever!

  4. The Original OP in the original timeline would be so confused while I stand in the spotlight of GLORY! 😎

Also:

  • I ask c/asklemmy questions in which the OP didn't answer their own question, right before they conceive the idea of asking that question, in order to see if they would answer their question that they originally posted in the original timeline to what they would answer. Basically use jedi-timetravel tricks to make people ask themselves questions from a different timeline.

  • Register a domain of a popular sites before they get registered

I love time-trolling.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] wabafee@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Go back where about to transition to homosepians and give ourselves a favor by eliminating every single one and give way to lizard people.

Jokes on you. You’ll be suffocating in space, bruh

2007 since that's when I began properly using the internet socially. man the SHOOP DA WHOOP memes and image macro threads. fckin nostalgia!!!

load more comments
view more: next β€Ί