>Could we see a top down view of the rise of man? The huge caveat is that you have some capability of travelling faster than the light leaving earth, so that you can then look back and absorb the rays.
Easier: look at the light as it was gravitationally refracted around a black hole; some paths will probably reverse the relevant light and send it back towards the Earth.
Unfortunately the size of the lens required to actually view this is impractically huge, possibly larger than the Solar System itself -- but it's fun to think about, I guess.
Also, because light is quantum and not continuous, eventually you get to the point where there isn't any light. You can't just keep cutting out X% of the light and still have some there.
Easier: look at the light as it was gravitationally refracted around a black hole; some paths will probably reverse the relevant light and send it back towards the Earth.
Unfortunately the size of the lens required to actually view this is impractically huge, possibly larger than the Solar System itself -- but it's fun to think about, I guess.