You're Immortal - Must Travel Back in Time 1 Million Year - Would You?

[Doctor Amadeus]

Yes, I would have to thin out a lot of humanity before it got started down the wrong path.

[ranzino]

Float in nothingness, till the end of time.

end of time is frightening and also interesting.... also a prediction: the age of life in the universe will be so short it is totally irrelevant some planets harboured life in whatever form. a short hot period in the beginning and then most of its time cold and empty.

"the rest is silence" Hamlet's last words

[avitush]

Bring as much construction equipent as possible and start building weird pyramids across the globe much to next generations' confusion. Then laugh horrendously at various theories why these were built

I'm imagining some show like Ancient Aliens.

"Archaeologists have uncovered a 400 foot tall dick in Egypt, but then there's also one in Mexico and even Canada! Must be aliens!"

[breadisfunny]

Thought exercise - have some fun! (see the "ask" below)

You are granted immortality. The caveat is you must travel back 1,000,000 years in your own time line. You can bring things/people back with you.


Details:

Immortality
Nothing kills you.
You can "un-stick" if trapped somewhere.
Despite the above, your body works "normally" - eat, sleep, procreate (see below), etc.
You can reproduce, but your offspring will not be immortal.

Equipment & Resources
You can bring back any equipment that currently exists - must fit within a 100m² area (100 meters by 100 meters). Go wild with this - the measurements are just to have some general restrictions (i.e. bring back NYC is not allowed, lol).
You will have to provide your own power.

Personnel
You can bring back a total of 50 people.
None will be immortal - they will age and die normally. They will be susceptible to all normal ailments (one exception*).
*Exception - assume no one will die from any immediate biological/viral disease (they can still be killed by wildlife) - during their lifetimes.
They will know you are immortal - assume they are "ok" with it. You are their opportunity, etc.


The ASK
1. Would you do it?
If not - why not?
If yes:
2. What would you bring back with you and why?
3. Who would you bring back with you and why?
4. What plans would you have for the future?


Footnote: I basically stole this idea from another poster from awhile back. I loved their original idea so much I wanted to build on it and put it out as a thought exercise.

but immortality just means you cant die of old age. it has nothing to do with dying of anything else.

i could not do it.

[Masark]

but immortality just means you cant die of old age.

No, that's "biological immortality", not immortality.

[Egomaniac]

I imagine there's no oxygen in nothingness. So how would you breathe?

You wouldn't. But you are, according to the OP, you literally cannot die...so you just float there, not breathing, forever.

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but immortality just means you cant die of old age. it has nothing to do with dying of anything else.

i could not do it.

Says right in the OP "Nothing kills you".

[Jotaux]

Will I age or stay the same?

Can I kill myself?

[ranzino]

Will I age or stay the same?

Can I kill myself?

no on both terms IMHO. with age you would die of heart insufficiency or other malfunctions. therefore no age, no cancer, nothing.
immortality also means you cannot die at all, because every cause of your voluntary demise would be possible by accident too.

[the game]

You wouldn't. But you are, according to the OP, you literally cannot die...so you just float there, not breathing, forever.

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Says right in the OP "Nothing kills you".

I mean I'm not sure I want to be immortal. I mean if floating around in nothingness is my ultimate destination.

[shadowmouse]

Would you do it?

Nope. I suppose in some weird plot twist of B movie writing I might be the only person who could be given this form of immortality and sent back to save the world, but I'd consider it pretty much a suicide mission. My body would, by the conditions of the question, survive -- I doubt my sanity would, and whatever was "in there" after a few thousand years wouldn't be recognizable as bungee.

If not - why not?

Evolution. La Braña 1 is only 7,000 years old.


He looks recognizable enough if the reconstruction is at all close, but consider:

The Mesolithic, a period that lasted from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago (between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic), ends with the advent of agriculture and livestock farming, coming from the Middle-East. The arrival of the Neolithic, with a carbohydrate-based diet and new pathogens transmitted by domesticated animals, entailed metabolic and immunological challenges that were reflected in genetic adaptations of post-Mesolithic populations. Among these is the ability to digest lactose, which La Braña individual could not do.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0126134643.htm

That's just going back a few thousand years.

Assume that this is a "tell a good story" science fiction scenario -- that somehow I don't have to worry about my teeth wearing down or the effect of thousands of years of sun on my eyes. Let's even imagine that I somehow keep my sanity and manage to handle the problems of thousands of years of memory. In a million years, the people who went back with me will evolve, both physically and culturally. After a few thousand years, I just don't see myself picking up cute girls in the bars and in 100,000 it would probably be like having a chimp walk up to them and start trying to flirt. Dating aside, at some point their culture and bodies would diverge significantly from mine. I might be cared for like a well worn teddy bear, but I have no reason to think I'd be relevant.

I'm a few weeks short of 60 yet (if I don't let the Chinese calculate my age), but I've already seen enough changes across the years that immortality holds no interest for me.

[Stormspark]

Just ask this dude what that would be like.

[Cerilis]

Is your sanity also going to be immortal?

[Moralgy]

Sure, I would be game doing it alone. I may go crazier but I think I'll be fine.

[draynay]

One million years is just too long, no way.

[Amerissis]

The caveat is you must travel back 1,000,000 years in your own time line.

No of course I wouldn't. You'd screw up everything! And what fun is a world without dinosaurs and half a million years before Neanderthals appear? There's nothing to do, no events that I'd really like to see, nothing. The people and stuff you could bring with you, you'd have here too, so the only thing 'extra' is being immortal. I'd do it if cryosleep existed. I'd just bury myself in a frozen state, to be waken up a few thousand years in our current future. That'd be interesting, the future.

[Sunseeker]

My bigger concern is about general injury. If NOTHING can kill me, what about being dismembered? Like, could you be chopped up into Monty Python's Black Knight and still live? Can you be torn to shreds by a savage animal? Do you regenerate? Do you just respawn? Do you just live, torn to bits?

[Templar 331]

It depends. If it's the time travel where nothing changes the future then no. If the future can be changed then yes.

What I'd bring?
A lot of basic tools. Hammers, saws, axes, hoes, knives. Steel will be hard to come by since you'd have to mine for it and then smelt it. I'd also bring seeds. Today's produce is the product of thousands of years of selective breeding. Nothing back then would be on the same level of edibleness as today's food. Which seeds I'd bring I don't know since I'm not familiar with farming. I'd also bring books. Mostly survival and farming books. They wouldn't last a generation or two but I'd hope the knowledge would be absorbed and passed down before that happens.

Who would I bring?
I'd screen through people who are healthy, as little family/genetic health problems as possible, psychologically balanced, attractive(yes I'm vain like that), and willing to go. The way I see it this is a chance to start humanity early. Modern humans weren't around 1 million years ago so we wouldn't be able to reproduce with what's around. And depending on the interactions of the "future people" and the proto-humans humanity might not evolve like it did the first time, if at all.

What plans do I have?
I guess a "utopian" society. I know it wouldn't happen but I would guide it to the best of my ability. Once the society becomes sustainable I guess I'll just hang back and let it take it's course. More than likely everyone would get tired of my ass and kick me out.

[Monster Hunter]

The ASK
1. Would you do it?
Hmmm. No.
If not - why not?
That's the Calabrian period apparently, which would lead right into a major ice age.

If nothing kills you, you could skip a few thousand years getting frozen in the ice age. Temp should besivly bring you low enough to slip through happy in a coma till the big thaw.

[Twdft]

There is nothing that I could possibly bring from this era, that would not bore the tits off me. Not sure if the people I would bring with me would be very long-lived, either. I'd end up being alone. I would then have little else to do, other than to gawk at the flora and fauna (and occasional bear to wrestle with?).

You're not thinking big enough. All it takes for mankind to survive is 14 healthy genetically different couples who fuck on a schedule and their kids have to do the same, a bit cruel not allowing for love and disaster but that's the bare minimum. Can't remember exactly, was some article about how many people to send into deep space on a generation vessel. You are allowed to take 25 couples. That article said if I remember correctly 48 couples to allow for a 30% people disaster wipeout every few years.

So theoretically you could take as much knowledge as you could and start a civilisation on your own planet.

Would I do it? Nah, there's a reason I play WoW for the last 15 years

[Rozz]

If nothing kills you, you could skip a few thousand years getting frozen in the ice age. Temp should besivly bring you low enough to slip through happy in a coma till the big thaw.

See immortality makes that difficult. If your immortal body doesn't need external resources to function, then a lack of those wouldn't induce a coma. You're more likely to be in a constant state of conscious pain without any sort of release.

Unless immortality includes complete manipulation of your body and sensory, I'm good with my mortal shell.