

Traveling back into the past to trade for present gain - tptacek
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/05/traveling-back-into-the-past-to-trade-for-present-gain.html?repost=from-3-days-ago

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OrwellianChild
Really interesting thought experiment... At first I was disappointed that the
first major comment threads covered bringing back pieces of art. Is that all
that we can think of that has value from the past?

Then things got more interesting - variations on taking knowledge from the
present and applying it to the past: buying successful stocks, investing in
successful companies, etc.

Finally, comments hit upon my favorite definition of "present gain" \- making
the world a better place by saving lives, curing diseases, etc. Someone
mentioned teaching the Mayans to repel the Spanish, bringing medicine to help
American natives cure smallpox, etc. How many wars could be prevented,
injustices righted, and inequalities balanced with a bit of know-how and
modern biology, chemistry, and tactics?

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euroclydon
Were the Mayans an especially just society?

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tptacek
I feel like somehow the answer will involve penicillin.

