If a modern man managed to go back to the middle ages...

>I dont think cowpox was a thing in the middle ages,
Yes, it was, cowpox predates smallpox.

I mean, it still probably wouldn't work. No one is going to touch a clearly diseased cow udder on the suggestion of some literal who, and the average joe would probably be incapeable of preparing a vaccine any other way.

Honestly I would just draw maps for a living. I've played ck2 enough that I can basically draw the map of every medieval country, to the shitty degree of accuracy they required. I could even draw in the world for a couple chests of silver and some concubines.

Also I can do basic geometry, if I went even further back in time I could just show up at Delos when the priests were having their shit fit and literally be acclaimed as Apollo.

Geometry would be tedious as fuck considering they didnt have calculators or even slide rules back then.

Well, get some infected tissue, grind it, mix it with water, put it in magic looking bottle. problem solved. Also helps with selling that shit for a fortune instead of everybody getting its own for free.

I wonder, what would be the most useful piece of information the average western educated person could provide to a medieval society?

Ever seen a Gothic cathedral? They knew their geometry back then.

Yeah, all the more impressive since they had to do it out by hand.

Considering that humans today aren't actually immune to smallpox, there's a good chance you'd get it and die. I'll give you that, though, its certainly possible. Then again, you sound like you know what you're talking about, so I doubt the average person would figure that out. Another problem is that the average person doesn't know enough about medicine to actually convince the medical community at the time to adopt it. Even if you maneaged to get it working, you probably wouldnt make that much dosh. Some actual doctor would step in and make it popular among the medical community and secure all the credit, considering a rando would never be able to gain much influence in it. People only believed Jenner because he A: was an actual respected doctor, and B: capeable of writing a scientific paper detailing his results.

Not likely. A lot of our basic knowledge of medicine requires access to things that would be difficult or impossible to get in the middle ages.

Like, take wound care for example. We know that you should swab a wound with hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol before bandaging it to prevent infection, but where are you going to get that stuff back then? Peroxide would be wholly unavailable, and prior to the very end of the middle ages, even distillation of alcohol wasn't really known. So before you could even clean out a cut with a modern level of care, you'd have to design and build a distillery and successfully use it to create high-proof alcohol.

the medical profession was a surprisingly colorful species at the time and academics where the minority. I'd start with the ether, ethanol and sulphuric acid where available back then.
Then visit a classic wundarzt, or barber, or dentist, and sell my anesthetic to them. This alone should make me rich and famous as an alchemist. I invest the money into a flashy robe and faked diploma (common at the time). Now I am a well respected member of the snake oil business.

>even distillation of alcohol wasn't really known
it was known from the 12th century, and while it wasn't common drink at the time it was still available.

Nigger, if you know how to prepare ether using ghetto chemistry you're not an "average joe". Of course someone with ACTUAL knowledge of chemistry and/or medicine would do very well in the middle ages.
Also, couldn't you make more money selling it as a drug? Like a 13th century walter white?

hey, I paid attention in chemistry class. especially when it was about synthesizing stuff that gets you high.
I also paid attention in history and know who Louis Pasteur and how to make money with his invention.

Good like preparing ether with sub-standard equipment, even if you paid attention in chemistry.

You know alchemy was a thing back then? You could buy vitriol oil, ethanol and retorts back then. Diethyl ether isn't exactly complicated to make.

Depends on where he's going and what time period.

In a village with a "doctor" thats a quack with no knowledge, a modern man will replace them with ease.

In a town with an actual doctor of the time, a modern man can't compete in terms of things like surgery, diagnosis, etc.

What can be done is effectively teach these doctors proper working methods if you can spot some wrong diagnosis or methodology.

No, because, at most, an average joe knows what pills to take and without access to those he would be at a disadvantage against medieval doctors who at least knew what herbs and other materials could do. And lets not even go into broken bones and shit like that.

Did you even pay attention in geometry? None of that shit needs a calculator. You draw a bunch of lines. You draw a circle and a square inside of it. You connect the dots. That's the answer.

>he thinks alchemy was about preparing liquids and not spiritual enlightenment
Kys

You'd tell the people who wrote the book on geometry and who calculated the size of the earth with almost complete accuracy about geometry? No one would care about your opinions and feeble attempts to impress them.

please negrito, it was about making gold and other snake oil. as a side effect it invented basic chemistry.

You are forgetting I could literally demonstrate by drawing in the sand. Geometry was all demonstration.

>it's another 'humanities cuck butthurt that history values STEM more' episode

Unless the average joe brings back a bunch of bottles of meds with him, he'll be useless. Nobody knows how to manufacture medicine, I sure as hell don't. The most medical knowledge I have is "wash hands, sterilize tools, aspirin is made from tree bark." I'd probably die of plague, or wouldn't be much help at all.

You're objectively wrong and simple Wikipedia page visit would prove me right. I can't believe anyone sincerely believes "le alchemy wanted to turn lead into gold" meme in 2017.

Yes. A medieval doctor was actually more likely to kill or harm you than he was to cure you, a modern person with knowledge of the germ theory of disease could be a huge help, simply by sterilizing bandages / surgical tools and telling people to boil water before drinking it (although they mostly drank low-alcohol beer for this very reason).

>simple Wikipedia page visit would prove me right.

Ok, lest do this, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy

Alchemy is a philosophical and protoscientific tradition practiced throughout Europe, Egypt and Asia. It aimed to purify, mature, and perfect certain objects.Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble" ones (particularly gold);
>particularly gold
>gold

You are one stupid faggot, you know that?

Also Disease prevention, hygiene. Just knowing how and why a disease spreads would be useful. Getting surgeons to disinfect their tools would lower mortalities.

Gold was just a metaphor, retard.
>Early alchemists, such as Zosimos of Panopolis (c. AD 300), highlight the spiritual nature of the alchemical quest, symbolic of a religious regeneration of the human soul.[97] This approach continued in the Middle Ages, as metaphysical aspects, substances, physical states, and material processes were used as metaphors for spiritual entities, spiritual states, and, ultimately, transformation. In this sense, the literal meanings of 'Alchemical Formulas' were a blind, hiding their true spiritual philosophy. Practitioners and patrons such as Melchior Cibinensis and Pope Innocent VIII existed within the ranks of the church, while Martin Luther applauded alchemy for its consistency with Christian teachings.[

>mfw to smart too read more than the first paragraph
Ignorance is bliss

samefaging hard?
>it is not about gold at all
>go check wikipedia
>wikipedia first paragraph says it is about gold
>full damage control mode activated
now go find another thread to sperg out, you lost hard here.

Gold is just a metaphor. The article even says as much if you bother to read past the first paragraph.

jeez, you look cute with that hat!

There is no mention of gold being a metaphor in that quote user?

>highlight the spiritual nature of the alchemical quest, symbolic of a religious regeneration of the human soul.[97] This approach continued in the Middle Ages, as metaphysical aspects, substances, physical states, and material processes were used as metaphors for spiritual entities, spiritual states, and, ultimately, transformation.

That the earth is round.

user, there is still no gold in that quote!
I believe to think nailed it.

this, question is, could you make some money of it?

they knew that.

>I'm not sure off the top of my head if sanitation was a medieval problem
it most certainly was, the fact that all the filth in Venice would be washed away by the tide made it the cleanest city in Europe, a fact that was widely remarked upon