Who would have the hardest time adapting.

[Rogerbh]

L Sprague de Camp wrote Lest Darkness Fall - which went from the 1930's to 535 AD - it had a story similar to what you are discussing. http://hilobrow.com/2016/12/11/golden-age-sci-fi-75-75/

As I recall it was a very enjoyable yarn.

[palo5]

Originally Posted by steamjon

The person from 1317 will die of the shock of the modern world.

The person from 2017 will just die of boredom.

I think the person from 1317 would probably adapt well, assuming average intelligence. He'd love our comfort, labor-saving devices, longevity and much more. His main problem would accepting the lack of religion, but he'd learn that in time, too. 2017 is a much better time to live, and he'd love it. He might even think he'd died and gone to heaven

The guy from 2017 would be buried, I'm sure. Buried in work for one thing. In 1317 they worked from sunrise to sundown, except when they were in Church. Buried by everyone else's religious belief. Buried by the violence of that age. Buried by lack of sanitation and medical facilities. Buried by lack of comfort, among many other things

One thing I'm sure of: he'd have no time to die of boredom, because other people would have plans for his time, and he wouldn't be asked

[CARLTON BROWN]

This is more complicated that it seems and sci-fi movies that make light of the intense shock from shifting backwards or forwards in time, are way off how it would undoubtedly be. Having researched my own family tree over a long period, I'm now fairly convinced that if I met any of my bygonners from the early Victorian period backwards, I would find them increasingly retarded and have nothing whatsoever in common with them. Travelling backwards hundreds of years to a period where old age began at 35 and nearly everyone is ignorant is not my idea of fun. Would I be able to survive the many toxins and diseases I'd come into contact with for very long? Being an atheist, how long would it be before I let something slip and was strung up for being a non-believer?

I have some reasonably useful technical and engineering knowledge, so would I be able to resist altering history, perhaps quite dramatically? Just knowing the Earth goes around the Sun, things like magnetism, how to make a magnifying lens etc, etc, would be enough to get me thrown on a bonfire.

And as others have pointed out, the language gets stranger the further you go back. Just look at old documents from a couple of hundred years ago and they can be quite a challenge to read.

So, you would need to keep your true identity a secret, otherwise you'd be treated like a witch or alchemist and the most sensible approach to a modern person going back in time a couple of hundred years has been shown in the recent TV series Outlander - IMHO.

As for someone from 1317 coming forward to the present day, I suppose their age when this takes place will have some bearing on what happens, but they are almost certainly destined to go mad, end up in an institution or kill themselves.

I know that my grandfather who died in 1962 would be unable to cope with modern society and would be totally horrified by the way things have developed. This would be a land of horror and disgusting excess, even if he was blown away by wall sized HD television, pocket videphones and orbital space stations, to name a few obvious developments.

It's all the same as waking up in the 31st Century after being in cryogenic storage for hundreds of years. Assuming the world hasn't gone to total shit, which I think is a strong possibility, you would be so out of your depth, it hardly bears thinking about.

So while an interesting mind experiment, this kind of time travel is not going to work well, even if it became scientifically possible - IMHO.

[bombermouse]

Average life expectancy was about 35 then but that includes an extremely high infant and child mortality. If you survived to adulthood, your chances of making 60 were vey good.

[Old Jud]

Originally Posted by xyzde69

People were extremely dirty at that time.
They never brushed their teeth, they probably stinked, in cities the street were disgusting.

It seems like bugger-all has changed, a lot us in the North West of England would easily adapt to life in 1317.

The person from 1317 would possibly die from shock if carried forward to 2017.
Try explaining the science of aircraft to our friend from 1317, you couldn't.
These enormous noisy beast in the air are the work of Satan, there is no other rational explanation for our intrepid time traveller.

How do you think he or she would react at their first encounter with a TV? Can you imagine their horror at seeing a detached head talking to them from a thin screen?
And is it not the work of the Devil to miniaturise all those people you view at a major sporting event to fit on that screen?

[otokonomidori]

Originally Posted by Estreeter

Imagine telling a kid that your teachers will be allowed to belt you for fucking up

Did they belt you in Oz too ?? I got leathered every day here in Jockland - sometimes several times a day - for being a stupid c^^t usually

[Nobody1]

Originally Posted by Old Jud

Can you imagine their horror at seeing a detached head talking to them from a thin screen?

No. TVs are black magic. They serve Satan. This is common knowledge.

But I can imagine their horror when they taste processed food for the first time.

[Estreeter]

Originally Posted by otokonomidori

Did they belt you in Oz too ?? I got leathered every day here in Jockland - sometimes several times a day - for being a stupid c^^t usually

Bloody Oath Mate
I've told this on here before,
I went to Catholic School, got belted with the leather almost daily, not out of abuse but due mainly for fucking around .... Dad got sick of it and pulled me out of Catholic school, said he didn't know why he was paying for me to get belted when I can get belted for free at a public school

[Roubignol]

Originally Posted by Estreeter

Bloody Oath Mate
I've told this on here before,
I went to Catholic School, got belted with the leather almost daily, not out of abuse but due mainly for fucking around .... Dad got sick of it and pulled me out of Catholic school, said he didn't know why he was paying for me to get belted when I can get belted for free at a public school

When I was 10 years old our 63 years old teacher was used to beat us with a wooden rod on the buttocks.
Honestly he was fair. We sometimes were real demons and when we later spoke about him, we never juged him badly.

But he was unfair too. He never struck girls who sometimes were even more demoniac than boys.

Later we had a monk who came at school to prepare us to the "Confirmation". This guy was an asshole who had fun to slap some of my schoolmates (he never slapped me). He was at the limit to punch 12 years old boys...


Telling this... We (2017 people) probably would be shocked how children were treated in 1317.

[Estreeter]

Originally Posted by xyzde69

Telling this... We (2017 people) probably would be shocked how children were treated in 1317.

That's exactly what I meant a few posts back, we'd have a harder time adjusting to 1317 than someone from 1316 adjusting to 2017

I'm sure their horse didn't have climate control