# 10,000 B.C. or 10,000 A.D.? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 22, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-b-c-or-10-000-a-d/603738 "2011-11-22T12:15:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-b-c-or-10-000-a-d/603738/61 "2011-11-24T17:37:58Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > For those of you choosing BC, I hope you have no medical issues pop up during your year there, assuming you survive even the first day. It would suck to have a tooth suddenly go bad early on. 10k BC peoples had primitive medicine and practical, medical know-how, and people then survived quite serious injuries, such as skull-cracking blows to the head, trepanation, puncture wounds to the torso, broken limbs, massive periostitis, tooth injury etc. (Certainly plenty of people also died from such conditions, compared to today). Surviving a year in the Final Paleolithic would not be a very big deal to a base-healthy person in good physical condition, provided no human aggression was directed at her and she was accepted by the local community. At that point in time, humans were already the deadliest predator on Earth and fast colonizing the planet, including some really inhospitable environments. They had efficient clothing, mastery of fire and capable weaponry to use on natural resources beyond belief. Many, many modern people have done extensive wilderness trips, some over a year long, without experiencing medical emergencies. People aren’t near as frail as the usual “wouldn’t last a day”-prophesies suggest. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-b-c-or-10-000-a-d/603738/62 "2011-11-25T00:31:15Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > BC > > Waipio Valley on the Big Island of Hawaii. Neither the Polynesians nor the rats and mosquitoes have shown up yet. > > Year round warm weather, fresh water stream, ocean fishing. The banana and papaya starts I bought along would start producing in 6 months to say nothing of that pregnant hen I also brought along. First she produced chicks and later lots of eggs. > > [Waipiʻo Valley - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waipio_Valley) Aloha, neighbor, bring a stick, we can go on surfari. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-b-c-or-10-000-a-d/603738/63 "2011-11-25T00:32:35Z")
> [@Galileo](#): > > What makes you think that you’ll survive the first day in 10,000 AD? And, what will you do if you have a problem with your tooth? > > It seems to me that some people are underestimating how much things can change in the next 8,000 years, in good ways and in bad ways. > [@Toxylon](#): > > 10k BC peoples had primitive medicine and practical, medical know-how, and people then survived quite serious injuries, such as skull-cracking blows to the head, trepanation, puncture wounds to the torso, broken limbs, massive periostitis, tooth injury etc. (Certainly plenty of people also died from such conditions, compared to today). > > Surviving a year in the Final Paleolithic would not be a very big deal to a base-healthy person in good physical condition, provided no human aggression was directed at her and she was accepted by the local community. At that point in time, humans were already the deadliest predator on Earth and fast colonizing the planet, including some really inhospitable environments. They had efficient clothing, mastery of fire and capable weaponry to use on natural resources beyond belief. Many, many modern people have done extensive wilderness trips, some over a year long, without experiencing medical emergencies. People aren’t near as frail as the usual “wouldn’t last a day”-prophesies suggest. I think people are underestimating how brutal the world was 10,000 or 12,000 years ago. My tooth? No way I’m letting some shaman near that in BC. I’ll take my chances with the modern dentistry of AD. And when I come back after my year, I’ll know enough of the immediate future to invest and bet money very wisely. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-b-c-or-10-000-a-d/603738/64 "2011-11-25T09:45:06Z")
> [@Galileo](#): > > Yeah, it would be cool to learn about the future, but the hypothetical in the OP is not just a learning experience. First, you have to survive when you arrive and then survive for one year so that you come back. I didn’t get that from the OP. It would be nice, but not essential to the fate of the Universe. > [@](#): > > How do you determine your chances of survival in the year 10,000 AD, and, if you do survive, how do you determine what the quality of your life will be? I don’t, and I don’t. That’s the difference with travel to the future vs the past, there’s nothing to base the numbers on. Exciting, isn’t it? > [@](#): > > What do you think the possible scenarios are for the year 10,000 AD, and what are the chances that you will encounter a favorable one? I’m not running any numbers, I’m basing my choice on that very fact. The possible scenarios are limitless, 10 000 years is such a vast distance in the future. I’d _hope_ for a psothuman future, but who knows… ---
**Author:** ![Galileo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Galileo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galileo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-b-c-or-10-000-a-d/603738/65 "2011-11-25T13:17:11Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That’s the difference with travel to the future vs the past, there’s nothing to base the numbers on. Exciting, isn’t it? And you’re willing to risk your well-being and your life on it? Okay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-000-b-c-or-10-000-a-d/603738.md?page=3)