Time traveller video list

[Tailsteak]

A time traveller has just appeared by your side, from 80 years in the past (that'd be 1933). Her name is Emily Posthwaite, she was born in 1919, making her currently 14 years old. She's bright, curious, and interested in our world, her potential future - a world she may yet live to see! She has 30 minutes before she gets sent back to 1933, and she can't take anything back with her but memories. Neither of you are sure whether or not she'd be able to affect our timeline, or create a new timeline, or if something else will happen vis–à–vis causality. Regardless, Emily is excited and wants to see everything - world history from '33 to now, the development of technology, the changes to modern culture, entertainment, music, religion, etc.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, you're pretty much stuck where you are, with nothing but Internet access... so you have 30 minutes to show her Youtube videos.

Post your playlist here!

[Packbat]

Wow, tricky. I would probably work under the assumption that the timelines would diverge upon her return to the past, and on that basis, I'd go with some science videos; not having much ready to hand, I think I would probably grab these three as the readiest to hand:

• A ten-minute summary of the present consensus on climate change.
• A ten-minute video on the myth of positive thinking (which, incidentally, name-checks a lot of important stuff along the way).
• This quotation from Carl Sagan regarding the Pale Blue Dot.

I could probably come up with better if I had advance warning she was coming.

Edit: Of course, that would be terrifically arrogant and dismissive of the breadth of her interests, but that's what comes to mind.

[RyukaTana]

I wouldn't show her videos from youtube (except maybe the first one or two to come to mind) because I'd only have 30-minutes to think. I'd talk to her for 30 minutes, tell her to keep her questions concise, and maybe give her a warning to stay out of Germany in a couple years. If she really wanted a glimpse into some of modern entertainment, and it had to be Youtube, I'd probably show her 'Bee and Puppycat' (short enough for her to finish in 30 minutes, and probably baffling to her, which would be awesome) and find a cool song. Honestly, 30-minutes isn't much time to do anything, and I think explaining computers and the internet would be more notable than showing her YouTube videos.

If I could squeeze it in and she wanted more of an educational experience, I'd explain the internet briefly and then show her something from VSauce.

Then again, with only 30-minutes, I think it would be more reasonable for me to research useful financial investments she could make that would make her rich, then ask her to share the wealth. I'd also try to figure out how she managed time travel and try to work out a way for her to return, periodically if necessary, and we could work out a system where she sets up some way for me to benefit from those financial investments (bonds or a savings account that she leaves to me or a trust or something), and I continue to show her more and more each time she returns. If she was cute, I'd probably flirt with her if this works out (presuming she is coming back periodically and she begins to 'age faster' over the course of the visits). How awesome would a cross-temporal affair be?

This would be a cool plot to a story...

[Packbat]

I wouldn't show her videos from youtube (except maybe the first one or two to come to mind) because I'd only have 30-minutes to think. I'd talk to her for 30 minutes, tell her to keep her questions concise, and maybe give her a warning to stay out of Germany in a couple years. If she really wanted a glimpse into some of modern entertainment, and it had to be Youtube, I'd probably show her 'Bee and Puppycat' (short enough for her to finish in 30 minutes, and probably baffling to her, which would be awesome) and find a cool song. Honestly, 30-minutes isn't much time to do anything, and I think explaining computers and the internet would be more notable than showing her YouTube videos.

The animation on that is pretty good. I might have to watch that.

[luislsacc]

Considering she'd go back and remain 14 year-old girl in 1933, she would likely not be taken seriously by anyone with enough sway to matter, so all the information given to her would have to pertain to the time period after WWII, as I do not think the little girl would be able to stop the war. As far as things to teach her regarding science, even if she appears bright-eyed and curious, that says nothing in terms of her intelligence, plus passing a proper understanding of the most important scientific concepts would be difficult. Plus, she'd be smack in the Great Depression ( if she was american, as I assume to be the case). Therefore, I'd let her have any sugary treats I could while she was staying here, tell her that cigarretes kill, and get her to memorize the companies she should invest the most money into buying stocks in the usual "I wish I had a million stocks in this" list. After that, tell her that every man, regardless of colour, gender or sexual orientation is equal, as she might have been taught a lot of discriminative stuff. I'd warn her about WWII, but just so she could warn her family and loved ones and be aware of the best way to protect herself. I'd warn her about 9/11, just so she could send a letter to the CIA warning them of the attack, Back to the Future III style. Finally, and because I've had the time to think about it, I'd make her promise that she would give me 10% of her eventual fortune because hey, I had just pretty much given her the key to financial sucess ( I wouldn't make her sign a contract because 14 year-olds can't legally sign contracts anyway).

[Tailsteak]

If she was cute, I'd probably flirt with her if this works out (presuming she is coming back periodically and she begins to 'age faster' over the course of the visits). How awesome would a cross-temporal affair be?

She is fourteen.

Temporal mechanics aside, flirting with fourteen year olds in the hopes that they'll develop an infatuation for you in four years time is not romantic.

She's bright, curious, and interested in our world, her potential future

...even if she appears bright-eyed and curious, that says nothing in terms of her intelligence, plus passing a proper understanding of the most important scientific concepts would be difficult

I didn't say she was "bright-eyed" or "appeared bright", I said she's bright. If you can't teach her physics or economics or epidemiology in 30 minutes, that's on you.

[Alex Starkiller]

I'd show her Two Best Friends Play videos and hope she'll go back believing volatile men with foul mouths playing video games is all we've done with the future.

[luislsacc]

She's bright, curious, and interested in our world, her potential future

...even if she appears bright-eyed and curious, that says nothing in terms of her intelligence, plus passing a proper understanding of the most important scientific concepts would be difficult

I didn't say she was "bright-eyed" or "appeared bright", I said she's bright. If you can't teach her physics or economics or epidemiology in 30 minutes, that's on you.

Alright, I'd like a few clarifications then, if it is at all possible.
1: Is she bright for a fourteen year old from 1933, or what one might describe as generally bright in modern adult society?
2: What nationality does she have? Sure, she's got an english sounding name, but there are plenty of english speaking countries out there, even in 1933.
3: What's her academic level? If I am to be honest, I can do simple math easily, but I need to take my time with trickier stuff ( where I live, if you choose a history-centric course like I have you have very few to none highschool level math training), and if as I suspect it would be surprising for her to know what an equation is, to teach her all the math required to be able to understand any complicated physics that might be useful for her to know back in 1933. Sure, I could spend some 20 minutes showing her Minute Physics videos, but it would seem rather strenuous to expect her to remember most of the concepts, how they work and the math behind them, considering she just travelled through time. It would also seem a bit of a waste to teach her economics - she doesn't need to know them, as I can easily provide her with a cheat sheet with what she needs to do to be rich.

You probably understand this better than I do, but there are quite a few gaps to fill in my mental image of Emily Postwhaite that you might have already filled in your mind by the simple nature of you being the one posing the questions and I being the one who is being asked. I mean, there's probably a reason why you described her as bright, rather than brilliant, right?

I hope I don't come of as rant-y or mean, as re-reading my post kind of gives me that impression. If that is the case, I want you to know it's not intentional.

[Tailsteak]

Okay, a little more on Emily.

To be clear, yes, she speaks English. She's from Boston. Middle class, nuclear family, one younger brother. Assume she's interested in how the world is going to change in the next 80 years, both technologically and sociologically. She's got the equivalent of a modern 6th grade education, likes to read, can do a bit of math in her head, occasionally gets her hands on pulp sci fi. Not big into sports and war. She already knows about electric lights, telephones, and televisions, so she wouldn't assume a smartphone is witchcraft. She's optimistic and confident that, if causality allows, she can use the knowledge you give her to change the world one way or another.

You have 30 minutes. There is no guarantee or expectation you will see her again.

[MysticWav]

A thorny problem. We have the fundamental conflict of deciding whether to go big, or go likely. We haven't made a ton of easily transferrable technologies over the past 80 years that we can use to bootstrap humanity. Nothing you say in 30 minutes is going to teach even a bright 14 year old enough to bootstrap an entire microprocessor or nuclear derived tech much earlier than when it was actually developed. So obviously if we're going big it's World War 2, giving her a quick history lesson on key battles/failures/dates. But that she'd be influential enough to get that information to people who would believe her as a young girl? Very unlikely.

So if we want to go likely we have to look for things that would make her influential, or are within the capabilities of an average citizen, and then target a couple disasters she might be able to avoid around the time of said crises. So we load her up with a few key stock picks/gambling opportunities. Maybe the polio vaccine if we can Wikipedia the formula easily enough. Warn her about the AIDS crisis and try and nip it in the bud. Maybe give her the names and dates of a few key bombings in the Middle East, and tell her to back Al Gore in Florida with a sizeable amount of money. All that seems pretty ambitious for 30 minutes, but it's remotely feasible and seems to have the greatest chance of actually making an impact.

EDIT: I also wonder if Quantum Leap might be a better model for us to instruct this girl on. Samuel Becket never assassinated Hitler. Some "one life at a time" ripple effects might be more plausible given our timeframe and resources for the girl.