# Would you listen to the time traveler and believe you will start a war? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076 "2012-03-07T22:30:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/21 "2014-06-29T03:03:37Z")
Um…OK. We’ll all hop right on that, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/22 "2014-06-29T04:05:57Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > We’ll all hop right on that, I’m sure. I’m definitely going for it! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/23 "2014-06-29T04:20:48Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Yeah, exactly. I’m not clear on how the start of a horrifying war is supposed to be an enticement. I not so sure. During the days of the Cold War, one of my fonder fantasies was that we’d somehow have our Final Nuclear Holocaust, exterminating the entire human species, leaving the world a better place for all other surviving life (if any). For myself, I wished only that I might live long enough to see the process well under way; and perhaps, that I might die in some relatively painless way. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/24 "2014-06-29T04:36:39Z")
I’d toss the gun away and ask to see the stranger’s time machine. Just like da Vinci. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/25 "2014-06-29T04:55:18Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > I am no longer a member and have no intention of regaining membership for the SDMB. I intend for this to be my last post ever here. > > It’s been 100 years since Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand. That question has not been answered. I do not expect for that question to be answered in the next 100 years. At least, not by the condescending idiots here. > > I will regain membership the day that question is answered by a member of the SDMB. Perhaps a lurker. > > Until then, I remain, a lurker. One of the heads of the Illuminati, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/26 "2014-06-29T14:13:08Z")
Don’t forget that Kozmik will only accept as evidence articles that have been published in the New York Times. For some reason. All other media have been coopted by the Illuminati. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/27 "2014-06-29T15:00:47Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > “Hey, free gun! I think I’ll hock it and buy some booze.” “I am a poor Serb. I have no money. Banks have money. I have a gun. It pays better than shooting some old fart.” Free Gun = New Career ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/28 "2014-06-29T16:09:44Z")
Weirdest flameout ever. I expected no less from Kozmik. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/29 "2014-06-29T16:23:49Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > It’s been 100 years since Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand. That question has not been answered. That’s not a question. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/30 "2014-06-29T16:33:41Z")
“What the fook is **Kozmik** smoking?” Now that’s a question without an answer! ---
**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:** [June 29, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/31 "2014-06-29T16:45:20Z")
I would switch to decaf. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/32 "2014-06-29T16:46:12Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > I am no longer a member and have no intention of regaining membership for the SDMB. I intend for this to be my last post ever here. > > It’s been 100 years since Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand. That question has not been answered. I do not expect for that question to be answered in the next 100 years. At least, not by the condescending idiots here. > > I will regain membership the day that question is answered by a member of the SDMB. Perhaps a lurker. > > Until then, I remain, a lurker. Let me say that I have missed your presence on the board. I know you find many posters here either obnoxious or difficult to deal with, and I might be one of those, but I really do enjoy reading your posts. I’m not sure what question hasn’t been answered. You can’t leave me hanging like that! If the question is, would I commit murder at the request of a time traveller, the answer is no. I don’t intend to murder someone in cold blood no matter what assurances are given for the consequences, and there is no fucking way that I want to be known for starting a world war. If that isn’t the question you are asking, perhaps you can clarify. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/33 "2014-06-29T17:41:07Z")
I think the question in, uh, question is “Who, exactly, is the shadowy force behind the assassination of Franz Ferdinand?” Because it’s just assumed that there must be one. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/34 "2014-06-29T19:11:27Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > I hate to break it to him, but I don’t think Princip is very famous any more. Seriously, I bet most people now would be unsure who Franz Ferdinand was, let alone Gavrilo Princip. In Serbia he is – don’t they consider him a national hero? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/35 "2014-06-29T19:50:05Z")
Zombie or not: > [@Kozmik](#): > > The cloaked figure gives you a FN Model 1910 pistol and instructs you to go to Moritz Schiller’s cafe at 10:15 AM on June 28th, wait until you see the Archduke, riding in a Gräf & Stift Double Phaeton, and, when you see him, shoot him and kill him. Not sure what answer you want, but the quoted is not quite what happened. A co-conspirator attempted and failed to blow up the Archduke, wounding others. Princip fled to the cafe. Franz went to go visit the injured, when he serendipitously came past Princip, who was having some coffee or something after failing the initial attempt. You might as well have told him to tell his buddies to screw up the assassination first. > [@Shade](#): > > Seriously, I bet most people now would be unsure who Franz Ferdinand was, let alone Gavrilo Princip. I know who he is! He did that “Take Me Out” song a couple years back. I thought he was dead and must’ve been **old** when he sang it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/36 "2014-06-29T20:27:52Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I think the question in, uh, question is “Who, exactly, is the shadowy force behind the assassination of Franz Ferdinand?” I was minding my own business when this crazy old codger with a cane shows up; he says he’s my distant relative; I didn’t see any resemblance … he said, _“someday, a wild-eyed scientist or a kid may show up asking about that Sports Almanac…”_ ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/37 "2014-06-29T22:48:05Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I think the question in, uh, question is “Who, exactly, is the shadowy force behind the assassination of Franz Ferdinand?” Because it’s just assumed that there must be one. Suddenly the world snaps into focus. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/38 "2014-06-29T23:22:13Z")
The Caleban ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/39 "2014-06-30T13:09:13Z")
Does anyone really think the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand caused WWI? The prevailing attitude even when I was learning about this in school \> 4 decades back was that it was a fight looking for an excuse to happen; if it hadn’t been this, another excuse would have been found before too long that sufficed. > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I know who he is! He did that “Take Me Out” song a couple years back. I thought he was dead and must’ve been **old** when he sang it. [Beat ya to it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14850862&postcount=18)…by two years! 😃 Incidentally, I don’t believe I ever saw the Archduke referred to as _Franz_ Ferdinand until after the namesake pop group’s brief moment of popularity. It was always just “Archduke Ferdinand.” Didn’t know he had two names. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076/40 "2014-06-30T13:54:38Z")
I make it a general rule never to kill anyone merely on the advice of someone else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-listen-to-the-time-traveler-and-believe-you-will-start-a-war/615076.md?page=3)