What if people suddenly realized that Alternate History questions are stupid?

[Cheezy the Wiz]

What do you think would happen if a sudden epiphany overcame the world, and people realized that "what if?" is not the question historians ask? This can cover both WH forum, and real life.

Please explain your answer.

 

[scy12]

Cheezy the wiz would not ask What if questions ,like this thread, if that What if scenario happened. As you are asking this it means the epiphany has not happened. Interestingly the scenario you are asking is certainly a question historians do not ask.

 

[Bill3000]

No one gives a crap about how non-falsifiable it is. It's purely a matter of entertainment.

 

[Bugfatty300]

A better question is; what if people ran out of ideas for "greatest/worst/most" threads and start having original and interesting discussions? What then huh? Would World History suddenly become a serious history forum?

 

[Mowque]

Alt history is always being mocked by 'real historians'. I like alt history, and i read alot of it. Exmaining a different path can shed light on what actually happened and why ti did happen that way. Is that so wrong? Granted it can be taken too far (South winning the Civil War..again and again ....and again!) But some are worthwhile......you said explain!

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

A better question is; what if people ran out of ideas for "greatest/worst/most" threads and start having original and interesting discussions? What then huh? Would World History suddenly become a serious history forum?

Nah, WH has been forever tainted by its days as part of the Peanut Gallery.

 

[ohcrapitsnico]

Nah, WH has been forever tainted by its days as part of the Peanut Gallery.

You can always go to All Empires for your history fetish but that place is basically uninhabited because there is no peanut gallery.

I dunno though the 'most dreaded leaders' thread was most intellectual.

 

[Dachs]

What do you think would happen if a sudden epiphany overcame the world, and people realized that "what if?" is not the question historians ask? This can cover both WH forum, and real life.

NESing would become a lot more lousy and boring, as would many strategy games. Oh, I don't know, alternate history isn't really supposed to be a "real" discussion, it's more for entertainment, as has been noted. Frankly I don't think it's nearly so inane as the lists of the best/worst/most feared/most skillz/whatever.

 

[North King]

I'm wondering what your definition of "historians" is, because it seems to exclude plenty of prominent historians who write alternate history.

 

[Tee Kay]

A lot of more people would be less interested in history.

Alternate history is basically studying history from another dimension IMHO taking into account the historical context of the time, the prevailing social, economic, military, technological trends, and how it might have changed, etc. Of course, as with everything, there are good AH questions, like a few in this forum, and there are bad AH questions, like many in this forum.

 

[BCLG100]

The study of history is the study of the past and in studying the past then we have to consider what would have happened if certain events hadn't occured, what if Caeser hadn't crossed the Rubicon, Luther hadny nailed a bit of paper to a door, the south hadn't seceeded. In doing so we better understand what was happening at the time, without discussions on alternate history we don't understand the consequences and reasons for them as well as we might.

Course some of the questions on here are absolute rubbish. 'what if China moved to portugal' was the best one.

 

[lovett]

No 'The Man in the High Castle'. That's what.

 

[bob bobato]

A better question is; what if people ran out of ideas for "greatest/worst/most" threads and start having original and interesting discussions? What then huh? Would World History suddenly become a serious history forum?

Some of us are trying, don't you worry. That's the exact reason why I made this thread, I was just so tired of the exact same, military-esque thing over et over again. And now I'm bragging

 

[cybrxkhan]

Alternate history is basically studying history from another dimension IMHO taking into account the historical context of the time, the prevailing social, economic, military, technological trends, and how it might have changed, etc. Of course, as with everything, there are good AH questions, like a few in this forum, and there are bad AH questions, like many in this forum.

agreed

alternative history, done right, allows us to look at history from a new perspective, to not see history just as one long, straight, perfect linear line, but as a really insane, crazy mesh of causes and effects that could have so easily gone another way.

 

[Keroro]

Civ is a game where you essentially create an alternate history. To frequent a forum for civ gamers and expect them not to discuss alternate history seems perverse.

Whether it should be discussed in the same place as other history is an open question.

 

[sydhe]

A better question is; what if people ran out of ideas for "greatest/worst/most" threads and start having original and interesting discussions? What then huh? Would World History suddenly become a serious history forum?

No, they'd simply be replaced by questions such as "Which historical figures do you think were hot."

 

[privatehudson]

I don't mind AH threads or discussions as long as the proposed changes to the historical timeline are kept feasible. Sometimes discussing AH can bring a better understanding of why the real thing happened the way it did, and how events in our past were not foregone conclusions to those living through them.

 

[Bugfatty300]

No, they'd simply be replaced by questions such as "Which historical figures do you think were hot."

Naw, I'd think they'd just follow the typical WH cycle.

March: Who was the greatest general?
April: The best general in history?
May: Which military leader was the greatest?
June: Who was the best military leader?
July: The best military leader in history?

ect, ect, ect, ect.

They might add something like: The best general who didn't like wars, or the greatest leader who blah blah but its all the same.

 

[Azale]

What do you think would happen if a sudden epiphany overcame the world, and people realized that "what if?" is not the question historians ask? This can cover both WH forum, and real life.

Please explain your answer.

I suppose it would leave more time for those real historians. Less fun for everyone else though.

Hell, the most original creation of this forum is sturdily built on alternate history. Some of the best works of fiction in the last 100 years have been althistory.

 

[flyingchicken]

(I'm parroting people here, but what the hell)

@OP: Dude, a world without people contemplating althists is BORING. The magnitudes of the significances of the "why"s will be diminished--for one, you won't even attempt to think about what might have happened what if blah blah blah.

Of course, it would be nice if the "what if" threads started with more documentary backing on the subject matter (to have fuller, more intellectually stimulating and possibly more entertaining discussions right at the beginning; that might also save them from being burned to the ground in a matter of pages due to the quick conclusion of being highly improbable), but then again the local history buffs (you're one yourself?) would start the citing and the yada yada yada.

Besides, we won't have everything from entertaining literary works to historically-themed (not necessarily historical) games that actually give you choices. Imagine playing a WW2 strategy game where all you do is press a pop-up and read and watch as history unfolds before you--your armies have fixed routes, wins, and losses, your economy has fixed patterns, your policy is the same, etc etc etc. Of course, you might have something against historically-themed games, games that give you choices, or both, but I'm pretty sure that's not the opinion of the majority around here in CivFanatics.