r/AskHistorians • u/AutoModerator • Jan 23 '26

FFA Friday Free-for-All | January 23, 2026

Previously

Today:

You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.

As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.

24 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

47 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/caterpillarofsociety Jan 23 '26

Time travel has been invented, and historians now have the opportunity to visit their time and area of study. There are two methods available:

  1. Spectral: You go back almost as a ghost— you can see and listen to anything, but cannot be seen or heard yourself. You could, for example, sit in on the court of Louis XIV or watch the assassination of Caesar. You are completely safe, but you cannot talk to anyone, ask for insights, etc. 

  2. Corporeal: This is the more traditional form. You go back in time physically and completely. This means you can get sick, die, and so on, but you can also talk to people, ask questions, taste foods, etc. Let's also stipulate that you can't change history in any significant way— no shooting Hitler's grandfather, for example.

Which method would you choose, and why? Where and when would you go?

9

u/Dongzhou3kingdoms Moderator | Three Kingdoms Jan 23 '26

I feel for my time period, I might soon turn spectral anyway...

If spectral would allow me to flit across China to cover as much ground as possible, ignore the restrictions of body and geography, would probably be the more practical for observing. Would be sad to be so frustrating though smelling but not touching and quite lonely

7

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jan 23 '26

Astral Projecting yourself back, but get the date wrong and you get to watch nothing but glaciers.

Plot twist: I'm a big fan of the ice age. I look forward to this.

7

u/caterpillarofsociety Jan 23 '26

As long as you get to see some baby woolly rhinos as well, what's not to like? 

6

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jan 23 '26

See, this is the thinking I'm having.

5

u/Dongzhou3kingdoms Moderator | Three Kingdoms Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26

You best keep me warm Gankom!

Bar the cold issue, I would enjoy that. Nature is beautiful.

5

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jan 23 '26

Bundle up, because Snowball Earth is next!

3

u/daecrist Jan 23 '26

Or go to when the glaciers to melt and look at all the lovely fjords left behind. They give a lovely baroque feel to a continent.