If the time machine is a single-use object (rather than a spontaneous event), I would wait as long as possible before using it. There are a couple reasons for this: there are certainly decades of “Historical Priorities Research” to be done to find the best intervention, the actual traveller would require years of preparation, and we would have access to more technology, should we choose to bring it back. That’s given that people will devote their lives to research with likely little proof that the machine is legit, but this research is already somewhat on the EA agenda anyway. During that time people could be on guard to flee to the past in the event of a true catastrophe. Even if there was a nuclear war, I don’t know whether we should go back and prevent the war, or whether our historical plans would be more valuable. In either case, they would want to be ready to leave if anything happened to Earth. I would shoot for a reaction time of about 12 hours, and a rugged computer that’s constantly synced with general knowledge to bring with them, such that the team could learn more about the catastrophe after a quick escape.
If the time machine is a single-use object (rather than a spontaneous event), I would wait as long as possible before using it. There are a couple reasons for this: there are certainly decades of “Historical Priorities Research” to be done to find the best intervention, the actual traveller would require years of preparation, and we would have access to more technology, should we choose to bring it back. That’s given that people will devote their lives to research with likely little proof that the machine is legit, but this research is already somewhat on the EA agenda anyway. During that time people could be on guard to flee to the past in the event of a true catastrophe. Even if there was a nuclear war, I don’t know whether we should go back and prevent the war, or whether our historical plans would be more valuable. In either case, they would want to be ready to leave if anything happened to Earth. I would shoot for a reaction time of about 12 hours, and a rugged computer that’s constantly synced with general knowledge to bring with them, such that the team could learn more about the catastrophe after a quick escape.