View Full Version : Pick one historical figure who died too young to save from their untimely death...
...and one that you can bring back for only a few hours to have a one on one conversation with.
Save from an early death:
Alan Turing -- because I'm very interested in Artificial Intelligence and the possibility of instantiating personhood and consciousness in computers. We'd have more answers today if not for his early death.
http://hateandanger.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/alan-turing-father-of-computer-science-turing-imagined-a-machine-of-extreme-purity-and-simplicity-it-would-be-able-to-compute-anything-using-only-two-symbols-arranged-in-a-potentially-in.jpg
Have a conversation with:
Friedrich Nietzsche -- probably the most fascinating philosopher in history. Deeply misunderstood and misused. A genuine genius, but with a dangerous side. His mind was a labyrinth that I'd like a few hours to untangle.
http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1291157969p5/1938.jpg
theblackknight
05-10-13, 00:49
Jimi Hendrix bc his early death caused people to worship him more then if he were alive today. Him and Jeff Beck were friends, Jeff was and still is a monster player, by Jimi's admission way better, but the death pedestal is a powerful thing.
I wonder what Frank Zappa would say about our world now?!
sent from mah gun,using my sights
Cincinnatus
05-10-13, 01:01
Tough to pick just one.
From Civil War:
Albert Syndey Johnston. If he hadn't died at Shiloh . . .
Alternatively, Patrick Cleburne.
Above all:
Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson
Other eras:
Wild Bill Hickock
Tecumseh
Hank Williams, Sr.
Perhaps Alexander Hamilton,. . . if he could be persuaded to endorse strict construction of the Constitution.
Manilla John Basillone
Samuel Walker
And that's just America.
Other countries:
John Keats
Karl von Clausewitz
Recent figure: Chris Kyle and any of our guys who have gone down in mass chopper crashes.
Magic_Salad0892
05-10-13, 05:10
Elliot Smith.
Littlelebowski
05-10-13, 05:12
Oh, damn. Ambrose Bierce. Christopher Hitchens.
Not sure about the "too young" aspect but there are MANY I'd like to sit with for a weekend.
In no particular order:
Alexander the Great
Akhenaton
Jesus
Krishna
Mohammed
Moses
Tamerlane
Genghis Khan
Walter Russell
Nikolai Tesla
George Lakhovsky
.
.
.
You get the picture.
I think of this all the time and once a year I go through this exercise.
"One man with courage makes a majority."
Littlelebowski
05-10-13, 05:43
Tesla, good one.
I wonder if it would have made a major difference to have saved JFK from getting killed. Maybe our country would be a lot better off if the hippie 60's had never happened the way they did.
Voodoo_Man
05-10-13, 07:01
Frank Rizzo
I wonder if it would have made a major difference to have saved JFK from getting killed. Maybe our country would be a lot better off if the hippie 60's had never happened the way they did.
Lincoln, too.
"One man with courage makes a majority."
Littlelebowski
05-10-13, 07:24
I wonder if it would have made a major difference to have saved JFK from getting killed. Maybe our country would be a lot better off if the hippie 60's had never happened the way they did.
The person in the 60's whose actions are still ruining our country (welfare, dole, "Great Society") is LBJ. I hate that ****er.
The person in the 60's whose actions are still ruining our country (welfare, dole, "Great Society") is LBJ. I hate that ****er.Exactly, so if JFK hadn't gotten whacked then he would have likely never been in power.
Yeah, I have to go with Nietzsche as well. Really enjoyed Twilight of the Idols and The Will to Power.
+1 on Jesus.
Julius Caesar for the conversation.
+1 on Jesus.
Julius Caesar for the conversation.
I bet that I could interrogate him and determine if he really is God in under 10 minutes :D.
Not sure about the "too young" aspect
I guess the point of that was to think of someone who died long before the average life expectancy in their era and alter the past so they lived a complete life. It makes you think about the ripple effect through history that this would have had.
Jesus is probably the most interesting answer so far. I thought about saying the same, but it's a dangerous answer if you actually think of this seriously. Whether he's a god or not is not actually the interesting question by my lights, and not where I want this thread to go.
The question for this thread is, "how would history have unfolded differently?" Would Jesus now just be considered a radical reformer of Judaism? Remember, for the first Century or so of Christianity, it was a Jewish sect and not a new religion. It gradually grew distinct from Judaism due to a number of theological and social pressures -- mostly shifting regional demographics (I just got done with a Grad course in early Christianity at a preeminent Catholic University so this stuff is fresh on my mind...really interesting stuff).
Would Paganism have continued to dominate? Would we still be worshipping Mars et al. now?
Elliot Smith.
Wonderful musician with such a tortured soul.
I guess the point of that was to think of someone who died long before the average life expectancy in their era and alter the past so they lived a complete life. It makes you think about the ripple effect through history that this would have had.
Jesus is probably the most interesting answer so far. I thought about saying the same, but it's a dangerous answer if you actually think of this seriously. Whether he's a god or not is not actually the interesting question by my lights, and not where I want this thread to go.
The question for this thread is, "how would history have unfolded differently?" Would Jesus now just be considered a radical reformer of Judaism? Remember, for the first Century or so of Christianity, it was a Jewish sect and not a new religion. It gradually grew distinct from Judaism due to a number of theological and social pressures -- mostly shifting regional demographics (I just got done with a Grad course in early Christianity at a preeminent Catholic University so this stuff is fresh on my mind...really interesting stuff).
Would Paganism have continued to dominate? Would we still be worshipping Mars et al. now?
I suspect that Christianity would have died an early death had Jesus not been executed. His death, and subsequent resurrection (if you believe this happened) is a big factor that distinguishes him from all other religious leaders. Thus, Jesus would be seen as nothing special had he died an older man since the messiah was expected to introduce a new kingdom.
Shughart/ Gordon...
Good ones. I'd add John Basilone to that list.
"...and one that you can bring back for only a few hours to have a one on one conversation with.
Save from an early death:"
John the Baptist
Lincoln...for sure!
Chris Kyle
Cincinnatus
05-10-13, 12:58
John Noveske
Bruce Lee
Imagine the movies that could have been.
:D
Cincinnatus
05-10-13, 15:13
Bruce Lee
Imagine the movies that could have been.
:D
That's a great one.
I bet that I could interrogate him and determine if he really is God in under 10 minutes :D.
Fascinating. What would be your strategy?
Fascinating. What would be your strategy?
So I have this burrito and a microwave...let's see what you've got... :)
Stevie Ray Vaughan. Or Bruce Lee
Lee Harvey Oswald........I'd like to know if he was the only shooter, Did he do this on his own, or were there others? If there were, who were they? Why did he(or possible others involved) assassinate Kennedy?
Magic_Salad0892
05-10-13, 18:35
Lincoln, too.
Nah, **** that guy.
Magic_Salad0892
05-10-13, 18:35
John Noveske
Damn good answer.
Tesla, good one.
This. A genius way ahead of his time and just now really getting the credit he deserves.
Patton.
Beat me to it. Would have been interesting for sure.
CarlosDJackal
05-10-13, 18:56
I'd like to do a videotaped interview of the actual individual who penned the Second Amendment explaining what its purpose is, once and for all.
Tesla was the first thought that popped in my head, but he had a pretty long life actually. It's hard telling where we would be without his genius.
PA PATRIOT
05-10-13, 19:32
Every Posthumous awarded Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and give them the few hours to contact family to say goodbye.
Hell if we can bring them back from the grave maybe we can do the same for their loved ones even if its only for a very brief moment.
Magic_Salad0892
05-10-13, 19:35
AMY WINEHOUSE
I'm surprised Obama didn't lower the flags for her like Witney Houston.
AMY WINEHOUSE
Yeah she's not so bad I guess...she'll be almost 2 years sober in July.
Yeah she's not so bad I guess...she'll be almost 2 years sober in July.
Ouch!
Every Posthumous awarded Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and give them the few hours to contact family to say goodbye.
Hell if we can bring them back from the grave maybe we can do the same for their loved ones even if its only for a very brief moment.
I'll add to that, everyone who did some act "deserving" of a Medal of Honor and died in the effort but went unnoticed by anyone else. Be nice to bring them back just so that they can be recognized and thanked.
But that would mean entering into something close to a perfect world where the just are rewarded and the unjust rewarded in kind and I don't think that kind of perfection exists or can exist.
AMY WINEHOUSE
Even if you brought her back after her death, I'm sure she'd already be dead again.
Magic_Salad0892
05-12-13, 00:29
I'm surprised nobody has said Heath Ledger. He was my favorite actor before he passed away.
(The Order, Ned Kelly, etc. was badass, and I wasn't one of those window lickin' retards who jumped on the HL bandwagon after Batman.)
I'm surprised nobody has said Heath Ledger. He was my favorite actor before he passed away.
(The Order, Ned Kelly, etc. was badass, and I wasn't one of those window lickin' retards who jumped on the HL bandwagon after Batman.)
We know you've been a fan since Brokeback Mountain.
Magic_Salad0892
05-12-13, 02:50
We know you've been a fan since Brokeback Mountain.
Obviously. :p
All seriousness: That movie had more tits than any other movie that year.
Even if you brought her back after her death, I'm sure she'd already be dead again.
Nice. I larfed. ;)
Army Chief
05-12-13, 11:12
Günther Lützow or Werner Mölders; two men of conscience caught up in service to a regime known for nothing of the sort.
AC
Bruce Lee
Imagine the movies that could have been.
:D
You stole my answer.
Cincinnatus
05-12-13, 15:10
From comedy:
John Belushi
John Candy
Chris Farley
And no more drugs for the former and the latter.
The_War_Wagon
05-12-13, 15:23
George S. Patton. I'm sure he knew who killed him, and it would've been nice to get a list from him, of everyone to look out for & not trust, after WWII.
From comedy:
John Belushi
John Candy
Chris Farley
And no more drugs for the former and the latter.
Phil Hartman
Sam Kinison
George S. Patton. I'm sure he knew who killed him, and it would've been nice to get a list from him, of everyone to look out for & not trust, after WWII.
I'm not sure Patton should be on the "trusted" list.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army
At 4:45 p.m., commanded by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the 12th Infantry Regiment, Fort Howard, Maryland, and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, supported by six battle tanks commanded by Maj. George S. Patton, formed in Pennsylvania Avenue while thousands of civil service employees left work to line the street and watch. The Bonus Marchers, believing the troops were marching in their honor, cheered the troops until Patton ordered the cavalry to charge them—an action which prompted the spectators to yell, "Shame! Shame!"
Shacks that members of the Bonus Army erected on the Anacostia Flats burning after the confrontation with the military.
After the cavalry charged, the infantry, with fixed bayonets and adamsite gas, an arsenical vomiting agent, entered the camps, evicting veterans, families, and camp followers. The veterans fled across the Anacostia River to their largest camp and President Hoover ordered the assault stopped. However Gen. MacArthur, feeling the Bonus March was an attempt to overthrow the U.S. government, ignored the President and ordered a new attack. Fifty-five veterans were injured and 135 arrested.[11] A veteran's wife miscarried. When 12-week-old Bernard Myers died in the hospital after being caught in the tear gas attack, a government investigation reported he died of enteritis, while a hospital spokesman said the tear gas "didn't do it any good."[15]
I am going with Nietzsche, as well.
Will To Powr great for what it was, I however, wish you could have refined and finished those notes into a book. Though, after reading almost his entire collection Will To Power has everything compiled into it.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra is one the greatest books and works ever written.
Nietzsche's philosophy plays all into my thinking. I studied and thought over many hid idea and furthered my own for a year. My name is Zane "1844" for a reason ;)
SpankMonkey
05-12-13, 23:07
I have to say Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel. I have to wonder if he would have created something even better. His engines deliver the world to us all.
Voted Tesla, but that one had already been mentioned a few times. Gonna have to go with Carl Sagan then.
Oh, damn. Ambrose Bierce. Christopher Hitchens.
Ahh, 'Bitter' Bierce. I agree with you on Hitch, but I would add H. L. Mencken as well.
RancidSumo
05-13-13, 07:47
Ahh, 'Bitter' Bierce. I agree with you on Hitch, but I would add H. L. Mencken as well.
Mencken is a great choice.
"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
Thus Spoke Zarathustra is one the greatest books and works ever written.
Yep, in my opinion it's the greatest rather than just one of them. The preface and brief first two sections of The Antichrist also rank pretty high among the most inspired words ever written, and really describe the type of person who's fit to understand Nietzsche.
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