Sam and I were caucusing in my living room solving the problems of the world. We were doing quite well at brainstorming brilliant solutions that would work miracles if only we could convince someone of power and influence about our ingenious ideas.
Sam sipped from his coffee mug and said, “I guess we should have been born in a different era than this one.”
“So, are we going to play the ‘What Era Do You Belong In?’ game”, I asked. The informal game is a fun, insightful way to engage our friends when we want to go beyond small talk. People have enjoyed this mental exercise about the ages for ages. Yesterday, I asked Sam to go first.
He said he always wished he could visit the Renaissance period of Europe. The explosion of knowledge and creativity brought increased scientific inquiry plus the amazing art. Sam mentioned that he would like to spend time with Michelangelo, and da Vinci to find out what they were like. My friend is fluent in Italian, so he figures verbal communication would only be a minor problem.
I said it would be interesting to live in pre-British India. I’ve been an 
Indophile much of my life so it almost seems like a perfect time and place for me. Presumably, I’d be fluent in one of the dialects if I was born and raised then, so talking with and learning from some “advanced” gurus and philosophers would be my interests. It would be interesting to understand the world-view of people in that part of the world at that particular time period.
Sam said that although it’s fun to imagine living a life in a different time period, even into the future. In order to remain sane, we should be ignorant of our mental framework of living in the 21st century. If we were alive in some distant era, our minds would be socialized and conditioned according to those times. We would be fundamentally different.
I mentioned that if we somehow reincarnated backwards, basic needs like food and sanitation might seem disgusting by today’s western standards. Add to these, the social and political norms would certainly seem oppressive and limiting.
My friend mentioned that if we were born in the distant future, there would be a lot of educational catching up to do so as to avoid being ignorant and stupid. Again, we’d have to be unaware of our 21st century status to avoid severe “future shock”. Sam said, “Maybe we should stay right here and now.”
I agreed, adding that there is still a lot of uncertainty and mystery about the present world and the Universe. We were either blessed or cursed to be born in interesting times. Somehow we need to make the most of our current situations.
Sam seemed satisfied with our short time travel game. We needed to solve a more relevant problem. “Where will we eat lunch at noon?”
Ciao
The Blue Jay of Happiness ponders a question asked by William Shatner. “I find the whole time travel question very unsettling if you take it to its logical extension. I think it might eventually be possible, but then what happens?”
bluejayblog 