So, NPR did a story this week on time travel. No, not a debate on whether it is possible or not, rather an open forum discussion on the questions “if you could travel to any point in time, where would you like to go? I thought this is a great question to raise.
As a visitor, when in time would I like to find myself? There would be so many opportunities to learn about our past, how to choose?
What would I want to accomplish? Who would I want to meet? Ah, now here is a good place to start, who would I want to meet and why. The first person, but my third choice, that comes to mind is Albert Einstein. Not only was he a brilliant man, but the way he pictured or daydreamed his theories blows my mind. I would love to hear him describe his thought processes. Dante Alighieri is my second choice, but since I don’t speak Italian and he does not speak English, we would have a hard time communicating. It would be wild to get him to sign one of his books though. Imaging bringing back a signed copy of the Inferno! No other medieval scholar could claim such a boast! Now my first choice poses many logistical and linguistic problems, namely, what year do I dial in and who would interpret for me? How close are we to really knowing when the historical Jesus lived?
If I could work out all the kinks, I would travel to Jerusalem during the time of Jesus. My hope would be to better understand the man and what he really stood for. I would love to take the mystery out of his life and death. I know, I know, for some people, the mystery is the most important aspect of his life, but not me. I like solving mysteries. I want to know what really happened those last days of his life, and how it really affected those who knew him.
So my friends, where would you like to travel and why? Let me know and in the coming weeks I will post some of your answers.
Sari
The View From Sari's World 