tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post8749192702041293745..comments2024-03-28T17:53:43.541-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: The Land of Might Have Been: Is Alternate History a Waste of Time?Darwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-42391196648371301352014-09-23T22:16:03.624-04:002014-09-23T22:16:03.624-04:00Craig,
I think that's a fair point when deali...Craig,<br /><br />I think that's a fair point when dealing with Alternate History fiction. Indeed, there sometimes it's the more wildly divergent ideas that are more interesting than the more plodding sort of slight differences. <br /><br />I think the complaint may hold a bit more weight in situations such as the ones he cites where historians try to extrapolate elaborate contrafactuals based on small changes. At least, if they're trying to do so with a mantle of historical judgement as opposed to just writing fiction.Darwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-31990528056688261182014-09-23T13:36:09.824-04:002014-09-23T13:36:09.824-04:00The middle complaint misses the point, as well as ...The middle complaint misses the point, as well as the fun, of alternate history. As quoted on the definitive online biography of the form, uchronia.net, "There are no correct alternate histories, there are only plausible alternate histories." <br /><br />AH isn't about what *would* have happened, it's about what *might* have happened -- and that's often enough to shed light on actual history in interesting ways.<br />Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03191412235339403625noreply@blogger.com