It definitely has the possibility to be worth a lot more than $100M. No disagreement on that point. There are also a lot of perilous foot-guns and accidents that could occur along the way, and I think some of those risks are compounded by being ultra rich. Though, essentially those same foot-guns and accidents exist for $100M now, so I guess it’s a wash.
Seems like a good time to start studying bonds imo.
Back when long distance was still ridiculous, I used to write letters to my friends who lived in different cities. Imagine hand-writing a letter to your college drinking bro.
I’ve only ever wagered online and in modern Vegas so what do I know, but it seems to me making anywhere near $100 million betting in the ‘70s—even ignoring the logistics—would lead to some connected guys feeling like they’ve been ripped off.
I’m pretty well-versed in sports history but even for me I think there’s only a few locks a year going back that far. I’d have to work a regular job for at least several years. 100% I ruin it all by getting impatient and showing off my knowledge of upcoming events to everyone thus causing alterations that destroy the chance to get rich.
Still way better than arriving 50 years in the future where the best case scenario is that I’m an obsolete weirdo who doesn’t know how to survive.
The more I think about it, even if I could bring seed money and knowledge back with me, I don’t think I have the soft skills necessary to fully exploit traveling back 50 years in time.
If I try sports betting or playing poker, I probably get scammed by/get my legs broken by the mob or jammed up by the cops.
I’d love to see the early days of hip hop, but I don’t think I’m actually built to be running around the Bronx in the 1970’s.
Maybe I could bring back the patents for every technology developed in the last 50 years, but could I find the investors/employees/partners necessary to build and sell the stuff? I’m not so sure.
There is some path where I end up rich and happy, but there’s also some path where I end up institutionalized because I murder someone and then spend the entire interrogation explaining that I came from the future and the murder was necessary to save humanity
In my time travel fantasy i show up unannounced to young wozniak’s garage in palo alto with all the money i can get, but my intervention subtly ruins the magic and apple never becomes the company it should have become. I’m driven insane by the changes to the timeline this brings about. End up locked up in a funny farm on 9/11 and then extradited and tortured by the cia because how could i know
If I went back with only the knowledge I currently have to try and get rich, I would be in a tough spot until the 80s I think. Most of the sports knowledge off the top of my head isn’t until then and most of that is knowing a lot about hockey which probably isn’t the best sport to find some good bets. I would be max betting the Oilers and Gretzky’s absurd point totals and before that betting the Islanders when they won their cups.
I guess before that I would give it a go playing poker but those games in the 70s are likely super shady. Alternatively I could try to invent the holecard cam if the tech exists to do so and create a nice little poker boom to get rich off of. No internet should keep the games nice and juicy for a while if the hole card cam is a success.
I hate all these time travel passive investment ideas. You would literally be the smartest person in the world. You could invent parachute pants or Zima, create the show Blossom or found The Sharper Image and on and on. So many possibilities.
I will say, when a name is completely made up it’s just inconvenient to everyone else because it’s just not going to stick with you the first time you hear it.
I’ve noticed it when I go to an Indian Wedding as a white person. It’s in your subconscious, but when you meet people with American names you make an association with other people you know with that name and it sticks in your memory. If you are in a spot where people have names from a different culture, it’s just harder to remember because your mind doesn’t immediately associate it as a name if it’s a name you haven’t heard before.
my boomer generation mother has a made up name because her mother wanted it to be unique. she mostly has just been annoyed all her life that it’s always spelled or said incorrectly. i, in turn, got a very common name for that reason.
Last year, the team showed a group of parrots how to video call one another, finding that the birds both overwhelmingly enjoyed the activity and could make the calls themselves, when given the option.