Well I took metal & wood shop, and pottery in high-school. Since then ,as hobbies, I have done some glass blowing, leather working, home brewing, and armor forging, mostly in medieval renaissance clubs. As a kid my main hobby was rock collecting, so I know my way around geology fairly well.
So here's what I'd do in no particular order:
1. Learn the language
2. Scout the entire Island for natural resources
3. Introduce simple devices like the Archimedes Screw, lever, water wheel, and other labor saving devices, etc... (too long a list, I'm a history buff)
4. Work on creating paper from wood pulp. Make glue from milk as bonding agent.
5. Attempt to give them written language and mathematics
6. Personal hygiene, and if I was successful in creating glass lenses for magnification, show them bacteria.
Depending on natural resources available--Sure they'd have seaweed and sand.
6. Show them how to make potash by burning seaweed and distilling it.
7. Create a kiln and get to work showing them how to make glass from silica and potash/ or quartz/potash.
8. Increase the yield of their crops by using the potash as a fertilizer.
9. If limestone deposits were available I'd show them how to make concrete.
10. If clay deposits were around introduce them to pottery.
11. If they had indigenous animals, I'd pass on leather working and tanning.
12. With metal deposits, show them how to craft metal tools. (pottery has to come first, to forge metal you must first have ceramic).
13. Time permitting (I'm probably old and dead by now). I'd continue the progression from bronze age up to industrially revolution giving them electricity, steam-power, etc...
14. If if found a wife, I would of course try to be a good father and pass on as much of myself to my children.
I would also be extremely careful to make sure their technology didn't exceed their wisdom, and I'd do nothing to remove their reverence of nature. I would not introduce the concept of money. I would not create weapons for them, even though I know how, unless they were in danger from other tribes.
What I found interesting for me in this thought experiment, is that of all my gambling skills, only math turned out to be useful and worth passing on.
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I don't think there can be a wrong answer to the question, "What would you do?" I'm sure that everyone answering this post is the worlds foremost authority on themselves.
Please keep in mind this was just supposed to be a light-entertainment and not the spark for serious philosophical discussion. It's important for me to know what interests the minds of gamblers for my show.
~FK
