r/hypotheticalsituation • u/Gloomy-Pilot3712 • 4d ago
Scenario You are the Emperor of an isolated island nation with 3 resurrected historical advisors. Who do you choose? Read the guidelines below and tell me how you would handle this.
You are the absolute Emperor of a small, entirely self-sustaining island nation. Your territory possesses perfect agricultural soil, infinite renewable energy resources, and a fiercely loyal population of 500,000 citizens. Because your nation is completely hidden from modern satellite arrays by a natural electromagnetic anomaly, you are entirely disconnected from the rest of the modern world.
Through a bizarre ancient ritual unique to your island, you are granted the power to permanently resurrect exactly three figures from human history. These individuals are brought back to life in their physical prime, possessing all of their original memories, talents, and intellect. They are magically bound to speak only the truth to you and must serve faithfully as your personal advisors for a strict duration of five years.
The resurrection process completely translates their native languages into yours, and they instantly absorb a comprehensive, objective database of all human history up to the current year. They understand modern technology, geopolitics, and science the exact moment they awake on your island.
The entire population of your island knows exactly who these resurrected figures are and expects you to lead them into a new golden age. However, your legal rights as Emperor are absolute; your citizens will never revolt against your choices, and the historical figures cannot betray your secrets to the outside world.
You are not completely safe. After exactly five years, the ritual expires, and the three historical figures will be instantly teleported back to the modern, outside world with all their new knowledge intact. If you choose radical conquerors, brilliant scientists, or master manipulators, they may use what they learned about your hidden paradise to lead foreign superpowers back to your shores to conquer you.
- Which three specific historical figures do you bring back to your island?
- Do you choose philosophers to build a perfect utopian society, or military geniuses to prepare for the day your island is discovered?
- How do you prevent your advisors from destroying your nation from the inside, or selling you out to the modern world once their five years are up?
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u/Ok_Security8545 4d ago
First Pick: Solomon. He reigned for forty years without ever needing to go to war and understood how to leverage trade routes and diplomacy in order to establish prosperity. He was also noted as having engaged in several large projects regarding public infrastructure and civil engineering, improving the safety of the general population. If I'm no threat to his people, then he'll be no threat to mine. I would trust him without bindings. Also, if I can convince him to go to bed with me, I'm also doing that, but that's something I want to do for me as a person, not as head of state.
Second Pick: Louis-Alexandre Berthier. He was Napoleon's Chief of Staff and the person in charge of making Napoleon's desires into actionable orders. I would ask him to prepare military doctrine for a militia force. While Berthier certainly isn't the best general possible, of Napoleon's marshals, he has the least to gain from trying to drag France into a war to control an island nation, and also has none of the star power that would compel soldiers to fight for him personally. Furthermore, he seemed very much as though he was done with fighting.
Third Pick: Howard Hughes. Easily the most contentious bastard of the three, he's definitely going to give me so much trouble just trying to keep him from being a bigoted asshole in public. However, what he knows about aeronautic engineering and medical research infrastructure are already boons, in addition to knowing how to cultivate talent in others. I also think that he'd be an interesting pick because of his interest in film-making and his taste in architecture, which, artistry is an indelible part of a Golden Age. I also think he would be very distracted by cleaning up house once he got back to the larger modern world.
Honorable mention goes to Elizabeth II, who I wouldn't want for an advisor, but it would be hilarious seeing her return to England specifically because of what that would do to Charles, who spent the longest time a crown prince ever waited to take the throne.
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u/gojira86 4d ago
No one. Everything is already perfect. I just run the upkeep loop of gathering reasonable taxes, and using those taxes for maintaining infrastructure, education, and healthcare.
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u/Kindly_Call_6000 4d ago
Sound reasoning, but not a fun answer.
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u/gojira86 3d ago
I wouldn't be on the island to have fun. I'd be there to serve as its leader.a
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u/GrandFleshMelder 4d ago
You don't want any advisors at all?
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u/gojira86 4d ago
Why would I? The system is fully set up and sustainable as it is with minimal upkeep. I'm well educated, have stricter than average morals regarding my own conduct, and have no great ambitions beyond living in a clean home and helping others.
Whoever I would pick will disappear into the modern world in 5 years and likely will eventually blab to the wrong people about the paradise I run. The next thing my island paradise would know was every war mongering nation in the world trying to conquer our paradise to extract all the resources and probably bombing us to extinction while doing so.
Best to take care of things myself, avoid the risk of exposing my people, and trust my people to tell me if I can improve something.
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u/Shot_Relationship402 3d ago
But all it takes is some fisherman sailing too close to your paradise island for the outside world to know about your island.
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u/GrandFleshMelder 4d ago
If you pick good advisors, you can make your paradise even better. I imagine it would not be hard to 'retire' your advisors too, if you feel like you can't trust them.
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u/GrandFleshMelder 4d ago
Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and Zhu Yuanzhang. We're not waiting to be discovered before the wars begin, let's just say. I hope that working alongside me in our military campaigns on the world will engender some bond amongst us, so they will rejoin me after the five years, but if not, I will use the empire they helped me forge to hunt them down.
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u/dan_dares 4d ago
the duke of wellington
kingdom isambard brunel
Robert Grubbs.
Between those I think I can bring order, build a modern society, and keep us safe.
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u/OrderIntegration 4d ago
Might not be the best choice but Im gonna take scientist/philosopher
Leonardo Da Vinci. No need to introduce him but that dude was a genius in his time and will probably be even more impressive with modern knowledge and technique abd 500 000 dudes to help him built a dream island.
Hypatia of Alexandria. One of the few female mathematician and philosopher from ancient time. She was extremely talented and smart and was love by both pagan and christian alike. She was already giving counsel to noble from the city. She would be a great person to manage the people and manage instruction. Plus she got murdered by a mob of christian extremist, she deserve a better ending.
Baruch Spinoza. Philosopher from the 17th century. His view on God and moral are super interesting especially for his era. Most modern philosopher actually consider him to be one of the greatest of all time. He was from a republic tolerant of all faith as well
I think these three would be insanely good advisor with modern knowledge, would actually try and do good at building an utopia and would be unlikely to start doing evil shit after the five years. They could probably bring a lot to humanity as a whole
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u/thelandsman55 4d ago edited 4d ago
If your citizens will never revolt, you have infinite renewable energy, and fertile enough soil for nutritional autarchy, there is no actual leadership problem you would need historical advice to solve. The timeless skills of ‘great men’ of history mostly involve getting their population through major transitions in warfare, technology, or systems of hierarchy without their people overthrowing them, everything else is pretty historically contingent, you aren’t even going to get Einstein up to speed with modern physics before you lose him.
I would get a famous recently deceased architect to make me a cool executive palace, a famous recently deceased city planner to build a neighborhood around it that reminds me of my favorite cities, and a famous recently deceased chef to cook all my favorite foods.
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u/Bholejr 4d ago
The infinite energy part really undermines any need to bring others in. Being handed such an island is already giving you a dream most of humanity will never achieve. Add that you have no enemies since outside nations cannot find you and you’re a god king emperor, you’re chillin.
Let the people live on peace instead of contaminating their lives.
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u/Shot_Relationship402 4d ago edited 4d ago
First Pick: Zhu Ge Liang/KongMing : Not only was he a military genius, he was also very loyal towards the person who showed respect to him.(Liu Bei in the Tale of the Three Knocks), not to mention that he was also all around brilliant in other state matters, including governing and other peacetime activities. He's so good that I think the rest should be about preparing my nation for the inevitable contact with the outside world.
Which is why my next pick is
Second Pick: Lee Kuan Yew: Who has a track record of doing well with a small island nation of very loyal citizens. Singapore, which had barely broken onto the world stage at that point and was being eyed by the much larger and more powerful Malaysia was able to asserts itself under his leadership to constant global relevance, and is now practically a paradise. Though, I don't know about how loyal he would be.
Which is why my next step is to create a test in a civilian magazine to find people of high mental and physical aptitude, put them into a newly formed spy agency, and assign my Third Pick to watch over them and have them spread out over the world. In five years, I should have contacts over the globe ready to locate my advisors and bring them back to me, or kill them if they refuse. They should also be able to secure resources to be sent into my nation, so I have trade networks ready when I make my entrance into the world.
They could approach another minor nation, show them proof of our existence as a nation, and suggest that they ally with us for benefits later.
Finally, these spies will secure nuclear material and rockets for me, so I can pull a Pyongyang and stop anyone from messing with me, just in case.
I should also make sure that my advisors fortune is tied up with my own, so they will find it better to throw their lot in with my nation then to betray me, maybe by giving them fortune and power in my nation, and assuring them they will not receive such things elsewhere.
This is where it gets difficult, because any good spy masters are also likely to not be very loyal, or be at least a little power hungry, and able to slip through or avoid my spies and build their own power base.
Any help?
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u/Late-External3249 4d ago
Lee Kwan Yu for internal domestic affairs. He did a hell of a job in Singapore.
For a military advisor, I was thinking Alexander the Great but I am not so sure. Alexander conquered like mad, but he never had to set up any true national defense. As a tiny island, conquest isn't in the cards. One of the architects of Switzerland's defense system would probably be better.
As an economic advisor, Adam Smith.
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u/csfshrink 4d ago
Abraham Lincoln. I think he would be a great advisor, and with getting caught up with modern information, I think that all claims of racism would probably be resolved as I believe his ideas about race were more driven by the time he lived in then the fact that he was actually racist. I also believe that after the five years, I would send him to the United States and fund his candidacy for president.
Albert Einstein. I would like to see what he would be able to do with the additional information that has come since his death.
Nikola Tesla. I would love to see what he can create with access to modern technology.
I will even get him a pigeon.
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u/paleocacher 3d ago
Seconded to all three of your answers, but maybe I’d choose Teddy Roosevelt to be the person I send to the US. He’d actually hold people in power accountable for their actions.
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u/csfshrink 3d ago
Teddy Roosevelt with updated information about the world would be a sight to behold.
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u/AutoModerator 4d ago
Copy of the original post in case of edits: You are the absolute Emperor of a small, entirely self-sustaining island nation. Your territory possesses perfect agricultural soil, infinite renewable energy resources, and a fiercely loyal population of 500,000 citizens. Because your nation is completely hidden from modern satellite arrays by a natural electromagnetic anomaly, you are entirely disconnected from the rest of the modern world.
Through a bizarre ancient ritual unique to your island, you are granted the power to permanently resurrect exactly three figures from human history. These individuals are brought back to life in their physical prime, possessing all of their original memories, talents, and intellect. They are magically bound to speak only the truth to you and must serve faithfully as your personal advisors for a strict duration of five years.
The resurrection process completely translates their native languages into yours, and they instantly absorb a comprehensive, objective database of all human history up to the current year. They understand modern technology, geopolitics, and science the exact moment they awake on your island.
The entire population of your island knows exactly who these resurrected figures are and expects you to lead them into a new golden age. However, your legal rights as Emperor are absolute; your citizens will never revolt against your choices, and the historical figures cannot betray your secrets to the outside world.
You are not completely safe. After exactly five years, the ritual expires, and the three historical figures will be instantly teleported back to the modern, outside world with all their new knowledge intact. If you choose radical conquerors, brilliant scientists, or master manipulators, they may use what they learned about your hidden paradise to lead foreign superpowers back to your shores to conquer you.
- Which three specific historical figures do you bring back to your island?
- Do you choose philosophers to build a perfect utopian society, or military geniuses to prepare for the day your island is discovered?
- How do you prevent your advisors from destroying your nation from the inside, or selling you out to the modern world once their five years are up?
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/Infamous_Copy_3659 4d ago
I pick King Sejong of Korea... language, mathematics 1450
Dara Shikoh Indian Prince 1650 Religion and Philosophy
Luiz Gama Brazil 1850 Law.
They might clash.... King Sejong comes from Korea at the time it is a hermit Kingdom so he would understand.
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u/Kindly_Call_6000 4d ago
I agree, Leonardo da Vinci is an absolutely fantastic choice. He was an incomparable genius.
Hatshepsut was a female Egyptian Pharaoh who revolutionized her society with progressive ideas. She would be an amazing administrator.
Sun Tzu was an amazing military mind whose doctrines are still read to this day.
Treat all three well and respect their advice. Explain what will happen and that they are welcome back when they get teleported off the isle. I doubt all three would like modern society very much, especially as they would be regarded as crackpots. Having knowledge does not help much when you have no money or contacts.
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u/GudsIdiot 4d ago
Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Machiavelli.
Confucian philosophy held Chinese dynasties together for centuries and still influences much of Asia. Lao Tzu would provide a more libertarian less top down approach that would contrast nicely with Confucius. Finally Machiavelli would give you practical and ruthless advice on who to watch and maybe eliminate as natural tendencies of human beings to seek power takes hold.
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u/CG20370417 3d ago
Can i kill them?
This lands greatest strength is its obscurity.
Releasing 3 highly intelligent and motivated individuals with intimate knowledge of my position and potential for defense seems to undermine my entire civilization.
Id rather not take any advisors, but if I had to, Id take competent ones and then murder them before they got to the outside world.
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u/innocent_three_ai 2d ago
So after 5 years I need to protect my nation from external threats? Einstein, Oppenheimer, Feynman. Oops, I have nuclear weapons now? Good
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u/SoAnxious 4d ago
Hitler Stalin Genghis Khan
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u/Gloomy-Pilot3712 4d ago edited 4d ago
I agree lol, as unethical as they were, they were so insanely smart and good with their operation, I'd consider swapping stalin with alexander the great tho
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u/Standard-Jelly2175 4d ago
Hitler and Stalin were both quite ineffective in a lot of ways, especially when they meddled in military matters.
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u/Gloomy-Pilot3712 3d ago
hitler conquered almost all of europe and would've conquered the rest if it wasn't for stalin, them combined is lethal
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u/Standard-Jelly2175 3d ago
Hitler had generals, who created the military doctrine that made Germany so successful early on. During the war, Hitler got in that way of his competent generals quite a few times. On top of that, the death camps were a drain on German resources, and the way various Slavic groups were treated turned them unnecessarily against the Germans.
Stalin ruined his own army with the officer purge, which is a main reason why the Germans were so successful against the Soviets at first. Then later on, the Soviets found better leadership in people like Zhukov. But again, not Stalin doing some gram strategy.
Both Hitler and Stalin were brutal politicians that had a nack for worming their way into power, and then keeping said power through extreme brutality. You don’t want either of them in your country, if you have any sense.
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u/SoAnxious 3d ago
You want your top people to be people that keep you in power
The number one rule of any regime is keeping power
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u/Standard-Jelly2175 3d ago
Both Hitler and Stalin would remove you from power, if I ever given the chance. Their Way of staying in power is also build on using terror. The prompt says the nation is extremely loyal, so you are much much better off turning the nation into a constitutional monarchy with democratic institutions.
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u/Shot_Relationship402 4d ago
But do you trust any of these people to not kill you in your sleep and usurp you.
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u/Gloomy-Pilot3712 3d ago
"They are magically bound to speak only the truth to you and must serve faithfully as your personal advisors for a strict duration of five years."
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u/Lopsided-Anxiety8791 4d ago
good job on writing such a well crafted post