# Which individual would you bring back? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557 "2010-04-27T20:31:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/1 "2010-04-27T20:31:26Z")
A while back I asked which individual of an extinct species Dopers would bring back, so moving forward - which deceased human would you bring back? To clarify, you’ve been given control of the Custom Resurrection Machine 2000, which can bring back exactly one individual from any time, at any age you want. So if you brought back Napoleon a week before his death, he may still pop his clogs of arsenic poisoning. But if you brought back Lincoln a week before his death, he’ll keep going until something else gets him. Or you could bring back a baby Einstein and settle nature/nurture debate. It isn’t a time machine, so you won’t alter history. Oh, and you can do whatever you want with the individual. Bring back Leonidas to act as a bodyguard, or Alexander to help you win at Risk. As long as you can speak archaic Greek and convince them, of course… The only qualifier is that we must know the person existed. If you ask for a legendary or mythical figure, the machine with attempt to auto-correct and give you the closest person to it - for example, if you ask for King Priam, it may bring back a random ruler of Troy during a time of strife. This is quite a hard one for me, but I think I’d bring back Y-chromosome Adam as a young adult, just to see what he looked like and study his language, society and culture, areas of prehistory we don’t know a great deal about. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/2 "2010-04-27T20:42:33Z")
Plato, age 25 or so. Dana Plato I mean. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/3 "2010-04-27T21:51:26Z")
Mozart, from long enough before his death that modern medicine could save him and he could then lead a long life of composing seriously awesome shit. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/4 "2010-04-27T21:55:34Z")
Hitler. “No, buddy, this ain’t gonna be quick like a Walther in your mouth.” ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/5 "2010-04-27T21:59:50Z")
Jim Henson ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/6 "2010-04-27T22:00:25Z")
I think historians are pretty unanimous that Jesus bar-Joseph existed, so I think I’d bring him back at 33 and ask a few questions along with my trusty Aramaic interpeter. Fun choice would be Xi Shi, one of the four classical Chinese beauties, at around age 20. [Xi Shi - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Shi) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/7 "2010-04-27T22:02:12Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Mozart, from long enough before his death that modern medicine could save him and he could then lead a long life of composing seriously awesome shit. Max in 2. I’ve never been more useless in a thread before. _Never_. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/8 "2010-04-27T22:30:55Z")
Ernie Kovaks. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/9 "2010-04-27T22:49:16Z")
Ben Franklin, post-Revolution, hands down. Not only could we learn a lot about the Founding Fathers, and gain insight into that period, but it would be cool as shit to see his reaction to modern technology, and the country he helped create. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/10 "2010-04-27T22:58:08Z")
Shakespeare. Anything else would be a waste. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/11 "2010-04-28T00:11:24Z")
Mark Twain. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/12 "2010-04-28T00:21:34Z")
Margaret Hutchison. No, you’ve never heard of her. She was my great-great aunt, and she raised me. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/13 "2010-04-28T00:40:29Z")
Alan Turing ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/14 "2010-04-28T00:50:20Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Mark Twain. Twain would probably be pissed, given his pessimistic and deterministic world view. “Oh thanks a lot, now I have to suffer all over again!” Yeah, I’d love to talk to him too, see him tear into the hides of modern hypocritical politicians, understand… I’d probably pick either Gautama, or Plotinus. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/15 "2010-04-28T00:50:34Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > Margaret Hutchison. > > No, you’ve never heard of her. She was my great-great aunt, and she raised me. Yeah, my immediate reaction was “My father”. I’m not claiming that this would be some great benefit to humanity, but if it’s my choice then I don’t know that I could choose anyone else. I am wondering if the “any age you want” means I could bring him back older than he was when he died, though. If he can’t be any older than his age at death then I’d have a father who’s about my same age, which would be a little difficult to explain. Maybe my mother would like having a hot younger husband, though! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/16 "2010-04-28T01:12:46Z")
I imagine a great many would bring back a family member, it’s pretty natural. As for ‘any age’, well, any age before they died - although the cause is important, as they are brought back exactly as they were. If someone was killed in an accident or some disease which is now curable then they will live past the age at which they died. Franklin is a good one, I’d also throw out Jefferson. I think he’d appreciate it, as an omniscientist I’d give him a copy of The Origin of Species and ask what he thought of it. I’d also ask what he thought of the state of the U.S. He was a slaveholder, so give him a copy of some of Lincoln’s speeches and ask what he thought. Oh, and as a lover of brown sugar I’m sure he’d have something to say about the current POTUS. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/17 "2010-04-28T01:23:25Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > Ben Franklin, post-Revolution, hands down. Not only could we learn a lot about the Founding Fathers, and gain insight into that period, but it would be cool as shit to see his reaction to modern technology, and the country he helped create. That’s what I was thinking. He was a real character back then who enjoyed life and would appreciate the opportunity to have another go at it. I would love to hoist a beer with him. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/18 "2010-04-28T01:47:25Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > Ben Franklin, post-Revolution, hands down. Not only could we learn a lot about the Founding Fathers, and gain insight into that period, but it would be cool as shit to see his reaction to modern technology, and the country he helped create. Exactly my suggestion, and exactly my reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/19 "2010-04-28T02:42:21Z")
My first choice, Jesus, was already picked by someone else. It would be nice so that he could run all the various moneychangers out of the various temples again and say that fundamentalist Christianity was not what he had in mind, or, in the alternative, set me straight! I’ll go with JFK. Democrats could use a good liberal again. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557/20 "2010-04-28T07:00:15Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Yeah, my immediate reaction was “My father”. I’m not claiming that this would be some great benefit to humanity, but if it’s my choice then I don’t know that I could choose anyone else. > > I am wondering if the “any age you want” means I could bring him back older than he was when he died, though. If he can’t be any older than his age at death then I’d have a father who’s about my same age, which would be a little difficult to explain. Maybe my mother would like having a hot younger husband, though! I don’t know what age, although I suspect I would bring her back as a young woman, since she did survive the breast cancer she had in her 20s, I suspect she’d survive it again with today’s medication. Without the Great Depression to interupt her career, she could have been the writer she always wanted to be. That would make me happy. Would she know me, even though I wasn’t born until she was 68? It would be great if she did, but it wouldn’t change my answer because the world would be a better place with her back in it. I still miss her so so much and it’s been nearly 20 years. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-individual-would-you-bring-back/537557.md?page=2)