Do you comprehend that there was a time in the past when no one would have said,

Question:It was before the invention of science fiction. But let's say Kant and Hume walked into the control room of the Hubble Telescope. Or into the world's tallest building. Or were given a ride in the Shuttle, but they were not told we were from the future. Or pick any one from a more distant past. What would Plato have said?
If you want, you can explain what each of them would say and how they would react, since each believed man's mind was incapable of such knowledge because of our "limitations."

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: It was before the invention of science fiction. But let's say Kant and Hume walked into the control room of the Hubble Telescope. Or into the world's tallest building. Or were given a ride in the Shuttle, but they were not told we were from the future. Or pick any one from a more distant past. What would Plato have said?
If you want, you can explain what each of them would say and how they would react, since each believed man's mind was incapable of such knowledge because of our "limitations."

The response would vary from complete heart attack... To "what matter of sorcery is this".

The wiser of them like Arystotle, Plato and such if not killed from the initial shock would probably be inspired by the truely wonderous abilities man has achieved.

From here a Paradox forms however... Without returning the individual to their own time, we will not have reached our current level of brilliance the same way. These people have had a profound effect on mans mental evolution.

Return them however and Sci-fi will be invented hundreds of years earlier, Or they would be burned at the stake as a heretic.. again leading to large scale alterations in our technological state.

Without the technology what do we have to show him?

Time is elastic but it still forever runs in one direction.

yes, i understand the concept, but i believe that there have always been people who have questioned whether or not more exists. Look at the ancient philosophers or scientists. Socrates, for example, had beliefs about reincarnation, which not only involves past lives, but also the possiblity of future lives. Surely, a philosopher like Socrates would grasp the concept that if someone can be reincarnated from a past life, there would also have to be a possiblity that someone would be capable of visiting the past from a future life. All of these things are theories, and while the genre of "science fiction" may not have been around, I doubt that the basic ideas weren't there. the general idea is probably more generally accepted now than it was during the time of Socrates and Plato, but I believe the seeds were still there. Someone had to think of it before it was invented, or it never would have been invented.

Chris B has hit on the crucial issue.
"Without the technology what do we have to show him?"

I suspect these men would be fascinated by the high tech but would be more concerned with our social order. And we have not made much progress.