Questioner's Qorner I

If you could travel back in time and be the richest person of that time, how far would you go before it would no longer be worth it? The question provoked a kneejerk response in some that they would not go back very far, maybe the middle of the 20th century in order to benefit from the miracles of modern medicine or comforts. I think these responses show a lack of courage and imagination.

 Would you rather live exactly where you are today or be Rockefeller rich in the 20s? There is obviously a limit somewhere, no one wants to have the most mammoth bones of anyone in the stone age. I personally would not go much farther in the future from that however, as being the greatest warlord of the bronze age is appealing to me.

 Many told me that they would miss their devices specifically too much to go very far back at all, but I can’t imagine that a Roman emperor or Egyptian pharaoh would be primarily worried about being bored. I suppose being transported suddenly to such a high position in society, tasked with immense responsibility would to some seem daunting and likely dangerous, so I can see why some would rather stay home. 

Maybe if you are some extreme moralist you would not like to be the head of whatever system of exploitation that places you as the richest person on earth, (I.E. capitalism, feudalism, or mammoth hunting) but even then think of all the good you could do once in that position. If you go back to be an emperor or a king you could institute top down reforms of your nation and attempt to create a freer, fairer society. 

Of course the primary draw of this question, much like all time travel, is the sense of longing for the past, the sense of unfairness that the past is a far away country that we will never glimpse again.The allure of a “simpler time” draws almost all into its orbit as anyone that has heard the term nostalgia can tell you.

 I think what separates the people that would like to go very far back from the people that want to stay close to the 21st century is how satisfied they are with their lives. 

I think it's an incredibly common phenomenon to believe that you were an aristocrat or some king or queen in a past life because that's what we feel like we deserve. I myself suffer from these same delusions. I, like almost everyone, would like to be influential, would like to be free from worry, and do not feel like that currently. 

-The Questioner