Unless you go to a renn-faire.
Well, maybe.
Yes. You need to be in the right place at the right time, so three key considerations are location, location, location. 
If the first challenge is to survive one year, then 10,000 BC is a much safer bet because I have a pretty good idea of what the world was like back then and I can prepare accordingly. Choose the right location, take the right supplies in the 5x5x5 box, and it should be relatively easy to survive one year.
The range of possible scenarios in the next 8,000 years is enormous, from idyllic to hellish. How do you prepare? Which location would you pick?
Maybe the air is still be breathable and the water drinkable. Or not. Perhaps humans are still on the Earth. Perhaps they will tolerate your existence. Or not. If you’re willing to experience cultural shock to the gazillionth power and risk quick extermination for the possibility of seeing utopia, then 10,000 AD is the right choice.
I prefer Martin Hyde’s choice of Guam in 10,000 BC.
if you went into the past you could take some science and technology and become a god.
if you went into the future you could take small collectibles and sell them for a lot of money. though genuine baseball cards might be indistinguishable than those made by a replicator.
How many bullets would fit in a 5x5x5 container?
I like this. I can fit an 8’+ surfboard into the cube and we’re in surf city for a year.
Hey, did everyone miss the premises?
Okay, so I’ve been chosen.:eek: Considering the other references in the premise, I’m going to assume Emmet picked me, in particular, out of the seven-billion-and-counting people currently on the planet. Since I don’t know Doc Brown personally I’ll assume he’s been referred to me by various people who either
[ol]
[li] Desperately want to get rid of that Grestarian guy more than any of the other 7+billion[/li][li]Think that Grestarian guy has the right constellation of attributes, skills, and behaviors to be able to get the job done.[/li][/ol]
In order to protect my sanity and vanity, I’ll assume the latter. (Assuming the former would lead to me just napping on a train track somewhere – at midnight, in black clothing…you know the tale…)
Continuing the self-favoring argument, I’ll figure some of the required attributes are my habit of thinking differently than most people (for example, this response versus the various posts above), maybe my knacks for picking up languages, figuring out basic mechanical things, and remembering geography without a map, maybe some weird combination of knowledge from my experience and training makes me worth listening to, and probably my tendency to seriously over-analyze just about everything (like this response).:rolleyes: My skill with various weapons and martial arts may be helpful; my basic camping skills may be useful; my knowledge of sociology and anthropology might provide useful frameworks for helping me survive amongst unfamiliar people. My talents in mathematics, cooking, music, drawing, and dance are definitely not going to save me, much less the planet.:o Knowing the way my life works, the key is in something I don’t even consider a skill or talent – or some esoteric bit of knowledge that I won’t remember until the crucial moment (“Hey, Grestarian, how did that black obelisk suddenly get over there?”) Maybe it’s just my silly belief that altruism does (or should) really exist – Right, Mister Hammurabi?
Efforts made thousands of years after a problem don’t fix anything; they merely exploit the artifact or continue the relative status quo. So if I’m supposed to fix something, the cock-up will have to be prevented, and that means I’ll have to be heading to the past.
For the next week, I’m maxing out my credit card and bank accounts, buying stuff at Home Depot, REI, and from gun dealers to supplement what I’ve already got until I’ve completely packed the 5x5x5 container. In addition ot all the other junk, I’ll make a point of including a cordless Dremel tool, plenty of rechargable batteries, and a solar charger.
I’ll go wherever the mission requires, but if I can finish the task early I want to head to the future Vietnam.
Fine, fair enough, but I’ll be returning to a maxed-out credit card and an empty bank account. :smack:
For my last month of ‘vacation time’ I’m going to find a piece of granite in theHang Son Doong cavern and use the cordless Dremel tool to write something astoundingly profound and prophetic in the mixture of languages I currently know and will know by the end of my year (and that might require creating my own syllabary, but I’ve got enough of a background to do that, as well).
When I return to modern times, I’ll set the DeLorean to take me to Vietnam and use the last of my gear to go hiking in the hills. Suddenly I’ll discover this long-buried piece of granite and, when I translate the writing on its surface, I’ll become a trillionaire on the talk shows and book circuit. I’ll donate 99% of my fortune to the betterment of the world (I still believe in altruism, after all) and use some of the remaining 10% to clear my credit cards and rebuild my bank account. [I’m not as naiive as you thought, am I?]
I picked the future mainly for the intrigue and wonder. I would pack things I would assume to be very valuable in the far future so I could sell it and live nicely.
Although the past has some merit. I could cram enough interesting bits in a smallish container to be a God and worshiped if I traveled back that far.
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.
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.
That’s assuming the concept of currency is still alive and well in the future and not replaced by Star Trek style economics…what’s the point of paying for stuff when you can replicate it?
Get your hands on the essential medicines and a few good medical guides and providing you don’t have a heart attack you should be alright. I’m also not sure why you’re worried about Conan attacking you with a sword…an AR-15 beats the metallurgy of 12,000 every time. Indy shows us how it’s done.
Who is to say that it’s not you from the future?
You humans think in such…three dimensional terms.
I know the movies have taught us that the average shlub can get his hands on any number of war weapons at a moment’s notice, but even here in Thailand I would not know whom to ask. (Probably the motorcycle-taxi guys on the corner.)
Both options would be extremely interesting… but considering 10,000 AD might be the stuff nightmares are made of, we can’t possibly know, I’ll go with BC. Just imagine the fresh air, mmm.
BC. I have a solid chance of surviving in such a rich environment. The packing box is generous and I can certainly make that space work hard for me in terms of useful supplies. If I encounter natives, I’m fairly certain I can handle the situation. Hostiles get shot and never come home. Neutrals and friendlies will find themselves with a whole new world of interesting techniques.
AD. Then I can tell everybody that they’re just 191 years from achieving the Kwisatz Haderach, please pass the spice. 
I’d go back in time, since I have a pretty good idea of what to expect there and I don’t for the future. If their society is as documentation orientated as ours is, I’d be in trouble as an illegal time immigrant. Not a risk I want to take and I find the past far more fascinating anyway. I could check out animals that are now extinct and things like that.
In the past, I can just bring back some compact supplies, seeds for growing my own food, and a whole asston of guns and ammo. If I happen to meet any people, I don’t need to worry. I’ll simply be their new God of Thunder with my miracle boomsticks.
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.
Try guessing what the world (and humanity’s role in it) will be 100 years from now. How confident are you that you’re right?
Now try:
100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 +
100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 +
100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 +
100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 +
100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 +
100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 +
100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 +
100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100.
Here are the two choices:
- 10,000 BC – We know quite a bit about from geological and archaeological findings, and we can plan accordingly.
- 10,000 AD – We don’t know.
So, if indeterminable risk is bliss, then choose 10,000 AD.
10,000 BC–the germs & viruses wreak havoc on every living thing near me.
10,000 AD, the germs & viruses of that ear make me shrivel up like a sausage left too long in the microwave.
You make “We don’t know” sound like a problem, when it’s the whole point.
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. 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?
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?