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I like the way this meme about “the Middle Ages” (illustrated, of course, by a *seventeenth century* painting) has done nothing but allow people to demonstrate that ... they know absolutely nothing about the actual Middle Ages.
“I’d be burned as a witch!”
Doubtful, given the Witch Craze came a few centuries later.
Doubtful, given the Witch Craze came a few centuries later.
“I’d invent the steam engine!”
Really? So you’ve built a lot of working steam engines from scratch, have you? And you have, off the top of your head, a detailed working knowledge of their technical specifications sufficient to build one? No, didn’t think so.
Really? So you’ve built a lot of working steam engines from scratch, have you? And you have, off the top of your head, a detailed working knowledge of their technical specifications sufficient to build one? No, didn’t think so.
“I’d teach them to wash/use soap/clean their teeth/take baths.”
They already did all these things. In fact, they’d be teaching *you* how to do these things without modern plumbing and readily available hygiene products.
They already did all these things. In fact, they’d be teaching *you* how to do these things without modern plumbing and readily available hygiene products.
“I’d use bread mould to invent antibiotics.”
Really? Without modern laboratory equipment, electricity or scalable production facilities? And with just a vague idea of “penicillin = mould and then ... ummm”? Good luck with that.
Really? Without modern laboratory equipment, electricity or scalable production facilities? And with just a vague idea of “penicillin = mould and then ... ummm”? Good luck with that.
“I’d be persecuted and killed for my radical religious beliefs/amazing atheism!”
Unless you made a concerted effort to impose them on others, no one would be likely to really care.
Unless you made a concerted effort to impose them on others, no one would be likely to really care.
“I’d dazzle them with my knowledge that the earth is round/why eclipses happen/that there’s a distant land west of Europe across the Atlantic!”
These things were all already known.
These things were all already known.
Armstrong and Miller sum this up nicely here:
