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Originally Posted by LoganSnake
Now this got me thinking of something else. Say I get transported and bring all the crap I posted earlier with me. Also, say somebody jacked it all and brought it before the greatest minds of that time. Could they possibly reverse engineer it and create their own weapons? And if they could, how would that change history?
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Not by much, I don't think. The Britons didn't really know how to make and use gunpowder until the 13th century. They might get some ideas, but they simply wouldn't have the technology.
We can, with saltpeter and other substances, compose artificially a fire that can be launched over long distances... By only using a very small quantity of this material much light can be created accompanied by a horrible fracas. It is possible with it to destroy a town or an army ... In order to produce this artificial lightning and thunder it is necessary to take saltpeter, sulfur, and Luru Vopo Vir Can Utriet. -Roger Bacon, circa 1248-1257
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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