3d ago

Let's hear it, little lemmings.

230 comments

Can I pick 2 and have them talk to each other instead? Would love to watch Hawking get Newton up to speed on some stuff.

Are they time traveling to see me, or am I time traveling to see them?
Because if it's the latter, Hawking on June 28, 2009.
- Was that his famous time travel party?
  
  Yes. Would be rude to turn down an invitation.
- Lol

To make it fair you should get extra time with hawking
- To ask him what he saw on the island
  
  I am by no means excusing anything. In fact, Feynman, Einstein and Edison have their issues too.
  Bohr, was Dutch…
  Leonardo was left handed?
  Anyway Marie Curie would be at least as interesting to talk to as any of them, just maybe bring personal dosimeter for peace of mind.

"So, did you ever have any plans to build that helicopter thing you drew?"
"Chi sei? Dove sono? Come sono arrivato qui?"
"Sorry, what?"
- You could use a phone to translate what people who speak in modern languages are saying, but I don't know how well it would translate to and from 15th century Italian.

Tesla. I feel there's so much we don't know, let alone understand, about his ideas. Have we overly sane/crazy washed him?
- He was probably a bit crazy.
  
  True, but probably more interesting than Newton, who would just keep talking about god the whole time.
- Apparently he didn't trust patents etc. He would come up with fanciful ideas, that sounded vaguely plausible, as cover for what he was actually working on.
  At this point picking apart the Good, the bad and the cover is an ...interesting exercise.
  
  Look what Edison did. I don't blame him for not trusting how the business world works.
- both, i think. also, wasnt he a big showman who made up a lot of bullshit? i feel like his actual working inventions are all well understood
- coo coo 🕊️

None. I give my spot to someone who wouldn't waste it.
I can't speak on their level, and I'm okay with that. I've worked around some absolutely amazing geniuses in my career and I'm happy to be the worker bees in the arrangement. I'm no slouch, and I've done my own share of really cool stuff, but I wouldn't waste such an opportunity on me.
Give it to the Steve Baumels, the Tomas Bartas and the Jeff Linds of the world, the unsung bright spots in our tech march forward.
I'll save everyone a spot at lunch and try to get in on the group photo.
- This was my first thought as well, sadly I'm probably not clever enough to fully appreciate and understand any of these people. If I'm not allowed to transfer my place then at least I can have some fun telling Da Vinci about planes and stuff
  
  I spoke with Mr Baumel, socially for instance, on a few occasions.
  He carries on two conversations actively, about completely unrelated subjects, and can speak with authority on any of them in turn. And he's listening to another conversation so if economics of late Sumeria or gauges of railways in Europe vs China get boring to him, he can ditch one and talk about artwork of early Iceland as vikings adapted their style with the change in local materials; or something.
  It's dizzying to hear. He's just not on our level.

Edison. For 3 hours, in a padded room, where no-one can hear his screams.
- The irony is at least three of these people would make you want to do this to them by the end while Edison was able to do what he did because he could hold a conversation
  
  Very true.

Feynman, over a beer, at a strip club.
- I'll be the dancer. Just make sure I can hear your conversation.
  
  Can I be the bartender also in earshot?

Hawking was probably way more familiar with the works, achievements and maybe even personal anecdotes of everyone in this post than I could ever hope to be. Thus, sitting down with him feels like the best deal.
- He could give lectures, but the computer massively slowed conversations. He also apparently had a bit of a temper. Some of his colleagues took to wearing steel toe cap shoes because of him (electric wheelchairs are heavy).
- Exactly what I was thinking. Plus he seemed to have a good sense of humor too. But on the other hand, it would take him much longer to respond to questions on the spot (usually he'd prepare answers ahead of time for interviews and such).
  
  He had a good sense of humour when it was about how great he was. A bit of a notorious asshole in other regards.

Probably Edison but only to tell him how much of a fuckhead he will be remembered as.

Feynman, mainly because he was an amazing professor and knows how to talk to people.
Einstein and Newton disliked people, so they would be terrible conversationslists outside their areas of expertise. I think that was true of Leonardo as well. Edison is also out because he was a dick.
- I was going to say Feynman for the same reason. Outside his classes it sounds like the guy was a lot of fun to be around.
  
  I liked the part from his autobio where he recounts cracking safes open. Pretty fun stuff indeed. Less so the ones where he invents modern plastic and helps with the atom bomb
- Yeah I was just reading a book that mentioned something Feynman said and it’s something I feel is true for me as well.
  Don’t remember word for word but it was something like “Any subject is interesting if you look deep enough.”
  I feel like Feynman and I could have a riveting conversation about knitting for 3 hours even though neither of us are passionate about it.
  Those are the people I want to talk to.
  
  Interesting that he supposedly said that, given how much he dunks on philosophers.
- You could absolutely blow leonardo's mind away with modern knowledge such as "washing hands before performing surgery is good actually"
- Feynman's way overrated, though. Sure, he was a smart enough guy to land a job on Manhattan project and university prof afterwards, but the only reason people know him are the books written by batshit crazy groupies (he didn't write any) and based on his elderly ramblings, so none of the stories in those are even remotely true.
  
  While not exactly on par with Einstein, Newton or Tesla, he did win a Nobel prize and is considered a luminary quantum physicist.
- Yep, this is the guy who might be able to teach me something. The rest of then would be used to talking to their peers, which I am not.

Marie Curie three times and Imma sit real close to her so I can check out early and miss a whole lot of what's currently going on.
- "I have spare pockets if you want me to help carry your tubes"
  
  sounds like 10/10 workplace harassment

Edison but instead of talking to him, I Rick Roll him for three hours.
- Same, but it'd be 3 hours of punching him in the dick.

I would need like a decade of prep to have any meaningful discussion with any of them 😅
- See, I'd pick Feynman, and have him teach me bongos.
  
  He’d teach you sex, the man was a walking hardon.
- "Hey, I just raised you from the dead to talk to you. Fuck your physics, who's the smart one now, huh??"

How, they're all dead.
- Gonna be a one sided conversation for sure.
  
  You'll be the smartest person in the room (graveyard) as their brains have rotted away and you will win any discussion. They'll have nothing to challenge your arguments. I don't think this will have any scientific value though. Except maybe from a psychological perspective, as you're an idiot trying to argue with a grave.

Davinci for sure because of the breadth of genius and imagination seems more approachable to a casual conversation, plus history has less on him.
Other's have so much depth in their fields that I wouldn't be able to converse intelligently on anything they are famous for. Having a chat with Feynman would be my second choice because his talks to laymen audiences are quite good.
A pint or five with either would be fun.
- I don't speak medieval Italian so sadly he's off my list
  
  Presumably if we figured out how to bring back the dead and thoroughly decomposed, we could solve the language barrier.
- Also he's the oldest and not much of his ideas are retained.

Einstein.
He was a generally great guy and had very progressive social views, so it would be fun to talk to him about the current state of the world.
Also a lot of his theories around relativity and theories of quantum physics have been proven recently. It would be amazing to see his mind be blown when he realises both sides were right and what that means for how a theory of everything needs to look like.
- To say he was a generally great guy really overlooks how awful he was to women. He was no doubt brilliant, but he had some very serious character flaws. And unfortunately, he had an echo chamber of peers and a rockstar celebrity status that only worked to reinforce his shitty behavior and backwards views. It's not super uncommon for brilliant people to be absolutely nightmares on a personal level. Imagine being an absolutely brilliant scientist that gets married only to be completely forbidden from science and the things you love, and then reduced to being a maid for a madman with tons of insanely particular demands.
- Yeah I'd love to discuss just the world and life with him.
  Curie would be fun too.
  Keep Newton away from me. And wasn't hawking on the epstein island?
  
  As far as ones who actually did things there I'm not sure that Hawking would have even been physically capable at a point where he was famous.

Feynman. Dude must have some crazy stories. Seriously, who cares about science?
- Why? He was relatively contemporary and lived a pretty normal life relative to most of us compared to the historical figures.
  That and he was a mega sexist who made the lives of women in science much worse for literal decades.
  https://youtu.be/TwKpj2ISQAc
  
  To be frank, if you put Angela on this list my answer would be her a thousand times over. Shes just so damn engaging, love her content.
  
  Good video, knew what it was before clicking haha
  
  @mholiv Feynman was a smart theoretical physicist, but popular he was in "public" for being an asshole, unfortunately.
  Meaning: Feynman was surely popular among physicists, he did a lot of important work, but among public he was famous not for his work, but for normal stories like StreepClub :ablobcatpopcorn:
- Have you ever read his non science books like Surely You're Joking Mr Feinman? They're fun.
- 100%. Not only can he explain all this physics to an idiot like me, he's got more stories than anybody there
- Agreed, not the person I respect the most or believe is going to reveal the most truth. But he’s the best one on the list to keep you engaged and entertained for 3 hours.
- Feynman 100% as a man of the scientific community, I love having someone draw ridiculous diagrams to teach even crazier things.

With Marie Curie but perhaps via zoom.
- I was about to say one of them should be allowed 30h but hell yes

Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science. I'd also probably s his d because he's technically a dilf. 🫦
- Seeing your answer made me go "oh damn, yeah, I can't believe I didn't say Turing in my answer (I chose Einstein), because he would definitely be my choice. I must've missed that he was on there. After going back up to check the image, I conclude that you cheated, because Turing wasn't an option :P
  I'll allow it though, because it's a good answer
  
  Oh, shoot, I forgot to check the image and went straight into horny goblin mode. Whoops. 😅

I'd let DaVinci hit my vape
- I'd share a blunt with Sagan.
  
  With how blitzed he always seemed, I don't know that any mere mortal could handle what he was rolling...
  But also, me too

Tesla. Gotta know about the death ray.
- And the pidgeon too!
  
  Tell me more about this pigeon.
- He also had an earthquake machine iirc

Bohr, for sure.
I've read Feynman's biography, which, for the record, I would not recommend to everyone.
But he's witnessed Einstein and all of these early physics luminaries, and by his memorable account, everybody was in awe of Bohr, and Bohr only.
So I'd like to hear what the ruckus was about.
- Why wouldn't you recommend it to everyone?

The answer is Feynman

Consent?
As if any of these people want to talk to ME for 3 hours?
- Maybe Hawkings wheelchair battery died, and you are at the bus stop. What's he going to do? Say no? See, he would never say no.....because of the implication.

As a biologist, I'm offended that there isn't Darwin, nor Mayr, nor Lesquereux, nor Jay Gould nor Margulis.
So I take Leonardo. I also like to draw and paint. I would like to say Marie, but unfortunately I'm not immune to radiation.
- My first thought was Marie pre or post radiation?
  Lol

Leonardo to blow his mind and maybe make a time paradox
Tesla to explain to him that he really needs to take some financial advice because it's not about him, it's about people using his techniques.
Edison to punch in the face repeatedly for an hour

Probably Einstein, because he seems like an interesting dude beyond his physics. He liked philosophy, for example, and is one of the examples that I invoke when I argue that university level science education should involve more philosophy — Einstein wasn't an anomaly in this respect, but a good symbol for discussing how the practice of scientists doing philosophy seems to have waned over the 20th century.
He was also pro-socialism, and had sensible takes about how science isn't a universal solution to stuff, but a specialised tool that is good for some problems but not for others.
Related: those who enjoy long video essays may enjoy this one from an awesome ex-astrophysicist: Einstein Was a Socialist; Should We Care? (1h16m)
- pro-socialism
  Some people really can't say the C-word.
  
  I mean, Socialism and Communism are different things. Regardless of one's own personal perspective on the matter, it's certainly plausible that someone could be in favour of socialism, but not communism (I can't speak to Einstein's views on communism specifically, given that much of what I know of his political views in this vein comes from his essay "Why Socialism?". He may well have been a raging commie, but chose Socialism because he was aiming his piece at a particular audience.)
  Edit: forgot to close my parentheses

I'd ask nikola tesla three times what he thinks about Tesla using his name for an inferior car that shouldn't even be a thing.
- "This guy put my name on his shitty car company??"

Curie looks tired. If I'm gonna embarrass myself with anyone anyway, I'll invite her and we'll have a relaxing cup of herb tea at least.

Feel like I would just disappoint 3 different people. What a cruel thing to bring someone back from the dead for.
- That's why I went to have Feynman step in for me and I'll just sit quietly in the corner listening

God, I literally cannot choose. That list is probably my perfect list of scientific figures in history. Aside from Edison, he can burn in hell.
The only ones I might add would be Goodenough and Gauss.
- Finally, someone with a good enough answer

Leonhard Euler, without a doubt.
- Ask him to help you move a sofa.

I'll take Richard Feynman for nine hours please.

Leonard Euler. He invented the basis for all of their works, besides Newton and Leonardo I guess.
- Excellent choice, would be amazing, a perfect pick. I’d toss Riemann or Ramanujan into the mix if I could pick anyone and ignore the language barrier.
  
  Didn't Ramanujan write to a Cambridge professor? His English would be great. Colonial India—a lot of elites would've had knowledge of English.

I'd go for Leonardo. The others - while I understand things at a basic level - I'd likely not be able to understand most of their fields.
Maybe Tesla but I'm not sure if the conversation would end up centered around some of the neat science stuff I could grasp or pigeons with laser-eyes ...
- while I understand things at a basic level
  ... including Italian, right? Otherwise it could be a brief chat.
  
  Ok... well we are discussing the fictive ability to speak with somebody who is dead. I'm assuming that whatever necromancy/chronomancy is involved included some sort of translation.
  Hell, if it's necromancy then the only thing we might get out of poor Leo is a "cerveeeeeeelli" before he lunges across the table :-)
  
  I mean it will be three hours either way, even if your are shouting broken Spanish at him.
- Agreed, Leonardo had that natural sense of curiosity and wonder that I can imagine being completely infectious.

Curie three times. Her work was so groundbreaking that she got name recognition on the same level as the rest of them as a woman in the late 1800s. Based on my experiences with modern women in stem, I'd expect she worked way harder to get where she did than any of the rest of them and as such I'd expect her insight to hold a lot more value. I'd pick Pierre too if he was also on the list

Tesla. From what I have heard, he was eccentric ( paranoid possibly? ) so it'd be fun to see if I could get him to think I'm some sort of government agent looking to stop him from doing what he does.

Seems like it will be a one sided conversation. They're all dead.

Edit: I misread it. I read it as "you can talk to 3 of these"
Einstein – German and English
Hawking – English
Edison – English
Tesla – Serbocroatic
Curie – Polish
Newton – English
Feynman – English
da Vinci – Italian
Bohr – Danish
I‘d love to see the Tesla, Da Vinci and Einstein - all of them being incredibly smart but no one speaks the Same Language. Heck I think they’ll just switch to Latin to understand each other lol
- Skłodowska-Curie also spoke Russian, French, English and likely German.
- Did Tesla speak no second language?
  
  Oh my bad, he spoke 7 languages. Please add Czech, Hungarian, German, Italian, French and English.
  God that man was smart

Carl Sagan
- I miss Carl

I'd happily chat with Marie Curie for 3 hours while Einstein and Bohr argue with each other in the background.
- Take some iodine pills before you talk to her.

Hedy Lamar and Mileva Marić-Einstein

I wanna talk to Isaac Newton about his wizard alchemy hobby

Me: So why did you kill the elephant
Edison: AC bad

Hmmm tough choice. I doubt I would be able to understand DaVinci or Newton. I would prefer to berate Edison. I wouldn't want Curie to irradiate me. Tesla was awesome but kind of nutty. I didn't know Enough about Bohr. So probably Feyman or Einstein. I read Feyman's book so I think I would have a lot to talk about. But I think the win would go to Einstein for me. I just have to know how he came up with it all by just sort of thinking about it. I would hope he would have the best chance of explaining it in a way I could understand. Plus I speak German, so if all else fails we can just talk about spetzle.

I think Tesla. I want to ask him about a bunch of the rumors and conspiracy theories about him. I'm sure almost all of them are bogus, but I'd love to know.
My son picked Einstein. He's curious what his last words were.

"What did you do on Epstein Island, Steven?"
- Studied young black holes.
  
  God dammit!

Really? Only one woman? Marie Curie is my choice
- 3h in a room with her might put you over your annual allowed radiation limit though.
  
  True, thanks for the heads-up

Tesla :-)

i would imagine interview with leonardo could help historians quite a lot.

230 comments