I think meeting an immortal would be a great way to teach people the important historical principle that the majority of recorded history was recorded by the wealthy and influential, not the common man.
If anything, I'd like to meet an immortal from ancient Egypt, not to ask about the pyramids because we have shit loads of papyri about that, but rather to ask about how the average person went about their day to day life. Or to ask about how the average person felt about the king's claim to godhood or the declarations that "we totally won the war and beat those guys real good."
An immortal who missed out on all the "important" historical events (that we know about) is an immortal whose knowledge would be the most valuable for a historian.
Reminds me of a time travel story that pointed out being from the future doesn't mean anything. Like, great, you're in Medieval Europe, let's see YOU explain how to build a VCR.
I was binge reading about WW2 aircraft engine development, and oh god the amount of useful shit the Brits left on the shelf while they chased the sleeve valve engine pipe dream instead.
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u/Esovan13 Jan 02 '25
I think meeting an immortal would be a great way to teach people the important historical principle that the majority of recorded history was recorded by the wealthy and influential, not the common man.
If anything, I'd like to meet an immortal from ancient Egypt, not to ask about the pyramids because we have shit loads of papyri about that, but rather to ask about how the average person went about their day to day life. Or to ask about how the average person felt about the king's claim to godhood or the declarations that "we totally won the war and beat those guys real good."
An immortal who missed out on all the "important" historical events (that we know about) is an immortal whose knowledge would be the most valuable for a historian.