Welcome to my blog! I thought I’d start out on a lighter and shorter post and do the more depressing stuff later.
Sometimes when I’m bored I play a game. I look around and think about what I would take with me in a time machine to a period before 1600 or so. The goal is to bring something that gets you famous and in the royal courts without getting robbed or killed.
The obvious choice is a smartphone, I think. The problem with that though is that smartphones are pretty limited without internet or electricity and so before you get to the king/whatever you are left with what is essentially a shiny brick. On top of that you have a pretty good chance of being robbed and murdered for your golden/silvery brick.
I think a modern pen is a much better bet. It is amazing compared to the crap people used back then but is also small and nondescript enough to not be labeled a witch. The main problem is that it runs out and that other people are able to use it without your help, again increasing chances of being mugged.
A calculator is kind of in-between the smartphone and a pen and is hard enough to use that they’d need to keep you around. They also last forever, especially if you have the solar powered type. Before the invention of the calculator multiplying was an enormous hassle and very time consuming. At first you might think that people in the Middle Ages would have little use for a calculator, but they were raising taxes and trading, which is much easier with a calculator.
I struggle to think of anything better then a calculator and that gets you only as far as head accountant of the king. I feel that there is a smarter pick out there but all I can think of are slightly worse ones, like a hand cranked torch or an e-reader with the Bible on it.
Anyway that’s a game that I play when I’m bored. I like it because it makes you realize how amazing some mundane, everyday stuff is. If you have any suggestions that is better than the things I came up with or why I would be killed when I have a calculator, let me know!
PS:
Here are somethings I can recommend reading/listening:
A good article on North Korea and what the U.S. can do:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/the-worst-problem-on-earth/528717/
The podcast about Ireland: The Irish Passport.
I’ll recap some of my thoughts in an upcoming post (maybe).
@noahpinion on twitter for long threads about economics and cultural identity