In the movie version of the H.G. Wells story, “The Time Machine,” the story ends with the Time Traveler disappearing into earth’s distant future, where the human species is not only living a primitive Stone Age existence, but is engaged in a life-and-death struggle against a violent competing species. However, unlike the book version (found here), the movie ends with a provocative twist: the Time Traveler is discovered to have taken three books with him, from his library, into the future. The movie does not, however, identify the three books.
Since first seeing the movie years ago, I have often asked myself, if I were the Time Traveler, leaving today’s earth to live in a distant future where the human race is fighting for its survival without any of today’s modern conveniences (including weapons), which three books I would take (and that might be found in a scientist’s personal library). Here are my current choices:
1) A book on first aid. Not only would this be of value in day-to-day life, but it would also be very helpful for treating battlefield injuries. Indeed, if two warring species are otherwise equally matched, the ability of one species to increase its survival rate after battle could be the one factor that tips survival in its favor.
2) An atlas. Again, this would be of value both in peacetime and in war, by providing the ability to travel more quickly and easily, to find water and arable land and, perhaps most importantly, to choose advangageous battlefields and prepare ambushes.
3) A dictionary. To the extent that a person’s language determines his or her understanding of reality, a dictionary would be a useful tool for leveraging human intelligence, again leading to a competitive advantage relative to a species that lacks such a tool. It would also contain some information about weapons, shelters and other primitive survival tools.
I have considered, but rejected, substituting the dictionary for a Bible (or Quran, Bhagavad-gita, or other religious text). The obvious benefit of a religious book is that it can help unify and inspire a community, turning individuals who are primarily concerned with their own survival into an army that is willing to sacrifice individuals for the sake of the group. Indeed, nothing enhances group survival more than the peoples’ willingness to fight to the death for a greater good; namely, community survival. Nevertheless, I rejected this choice because of the huge potential for religions to spin out of control. Indeed, one look at human history reveals that many of our worst atrocities have been performed in the name of one religion or another, all in the name of serving an invisible supernatural being. Religion can be, and has been, used to justify everything from slavery, to torture, to genocide. True, it has also built cathedrals, fought hunger, provided health care, and done many other good things, but all of these positives have also been achieved without religion (as have slavery, torture and genocide). This leads me to conclude that religion — at least as we know it today — is, at best, unnecessary and, at worst, detrimental to species survival.
I have also considered, but rejected, a book on primitive survival techniques, because I do not think such a book would be likely to be found in the library of very many scientists.
I have also rejected political books about structuring a government (e.g., the Constitution, the Magna Carta, etc.), because I believe such concepts rely on relatively modern innovations — especially communication technology — that would not exist in a Stone Age (and illiterate) world.
What about you? What books would you take? Given the potential for the human race to exhaust its supply of oil (and, thus, lose the modern conveniences that oil makes possible), or even bomb itself back to a Stone Age existence, this question is not entirely rhetorical.
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