# The Butterfly-In-a-Box Effect **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391 "2014-01-09T21:24:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/21 "2014-01-10T13:08:24Z")
A large magnifying glass. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/22 "2014-01-10T13:27:09Z")
A red Bic lighter. (I’d scratch the logo off first) ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/23 "2014-01-10T13:56:17Z")
MP3 player loaded with an audio version of a world history or science book, or the above mentioned shoes. Either will work. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/24 "2014-01-10T14:39:33Z")
A duck! 😛 A working scale model of a printing press or the same of some textile machinery. I would have to ask around to know who to target 1000 yrs ago that could make sense of it, tho. Maybe a smaller version of the time machine I’m using, set up a two way communication. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/25 "2014-01-10T14:45:57Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What would you send back, and what do you hope would be the result? A lit stick of dynamite. Hilarity, of course! ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/26 "2014-01-10T15:01:40Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > A Tonka grader/dump truck for the preColumbian N.A. tribes. (You would have to paint out the logo, of course.) I’d send a toy llama pulling a wagon to the Inca. [Something like this](http://www.vectis.co.uk/AuctionImages/346/4735_l.jpg). I know all the theories about why wheels weren’t put to use there but maybe an additional nudge would make an interesting change to history. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/27 "2014-01-10T15:48:12Z")
A replica of Harrison’s original marine chronometer (with the face removed to comply with the conditions of the OP). People of a thousand years ago would be able to recognize that the hands go around at a regular interval, and they would understand the implications of a clock unaffected by a ship’s movements. Trade among Europe, the western hemisphere, and east Asia would begin much earlier, before European civilization developed overwhelming technological advances. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/28 "2014-01-10T15:59:36Z")
> [@randompattern](#): > > A red Bic lighter. (I’d scratch the logo off first) A blue Bic lighter… but I’d leave the logo on! Dun dun dun. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/29 "2014-01-10T16:03:47Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > MP3 player loaded with an audio version of a world history or science book, or the above mentioned shoes. Either will work. Not allowed-read the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/30 "2014-01-10T16:04:54Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > A blue Bic lighter… but I’d leave the logo on! > Dun dun dun. No logo with the word “bic”. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/31 "2014-01-10T16:07:53Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I’d send a toy llama pulling a wagon to the Inca. [Something like this](http://www.vectis.co.uk/AuctionImages/346/4735_l.jpg). I know all the theories about why wheels weren’t put to use there but maybe an additional nudge would make an interesting change to history. Too late to edit but, before anyone corrects me, it occurs to me that I’m a couple hundred years too early to hit the Inca. I generically (and inaccurately) used the term for the pre-Columbian people of that region. Now I feel better 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/32 "2014-01-10T16:15:28Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Too late to edit but, before anyone corrects me, it occurs to me that I’m a couple hundred years too early to hit the Inca. I generically (and inaccurately) used the term for the pre-Columbian people of that region. > > Now I feel better 😉 Still an interesting idea, though. Perhaps the indigenous people will advance enough because of your donation to become a power strong enough to stop the Incas from ever taking hold? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/33 "2014-01-10T16:16:04Z")
I’d be tempted to send a tiny little printing press (minus the type), but I’m not sure they’d grok what it could be used for without them. They’d probably just make tortillas with it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/34 "2014-01-10T16:19:12Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > No logo with the word “bic”. Bic is a word? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/35 "2014-01-10T16:23:54Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I’d be tempted to send a tiny little printing press (minus the type), but I’m not sure they’d grok what it could be used for without them. They’d probably just make tortillas with it. Post # 24 Maybe they would make pressed duck. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/36 "2014-01-10T16:24:14Z")
A large vibrating egg. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/37 "2014-01-10T16:24:41Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Not allowed-read the OP. The OP says nothing about audio. My Ipod nano does have any writing or other text, or way to output that. If you want to complain about the logo on the back, just have a specialty one without the logo. bad call from the officials, I say. As far as what I would send back, my first thought was a suitcase nuke. Because some men just want to watch the world burn, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/38 "2014-01-10T16:28:43Z")
Of course! [A transtator!](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Transtator) First Contact my ass! ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/39 "2014-01-10T16:30:43Z")
Is this the Doctor? This must be some kind of test. I am not interested in being a companion, tyvm Oh and to answer the question. I would send a Cadbury cream egg back a thousand years. Let them figure that bit of chocolate goodness out. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391/40 "2014-01-10T16:35:03Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > The OP says nothing about audio. My Ipod nano does have any writing or other text, or way to output that. If you want to complain about the logo on the back, just have a specialty one without the logo. > > bad call from the officials, I say. I think the intent of “the officials” was pretty clear, though, so the rule is revised: No audio, either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-butterfly-in-a-box-effect/678391.md?page=3)