You know what would be the greatest, most unobtrusive use of time travel?
Photographing destroyed historical sites.
Like, by the time we get time travel down, we’ll likely also have microscopic robots and immersive VR. Imagine sending bug-like robots into places like the Acropolis or St. James Palace or the Library of Alexandria just to… picture everything. Bugs have existed through all of history, and few would question why or how a few extra mosquitos or spiders had made their way into a building in times when biological sciences were still so new. If one got destroyed, as long as the images had cloud back-up, it would be easy to send another bug in to clean the broken clutter and replace it.
Then, with that information, we’d be able to recreate the places down to things like sight, sound, texture. You would be a fly on the wall watching as the Declaration of Independence was signed or watching over Da Vince’s shoulder as he crafted Sunflowers. We’d be able to explore the past yet not interfere in it.
Yes, there is the butterfly effect, which is why we would need to be extra careful not to overwhelm the past with these observers or make them too obvious against the background.
But, man, it would be amazing.
