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Since, surprisingly, no one's pointed it out yet, prehistory/=history. Joel Send a noteboard - 13/04/2010 09:52:19 AM
I saw this on a YouTube video and wanted to ask you guys.

If you could change 1 thing in history, what would you change, and how do you think that that would affect things?


Although a few have facetiously mentioned religious history shifts and one on the plague.

Well, you could look at tools and wonder what would have happened to homo habilis without tools or homo erectus without fire, I suppose. Or consider what if horses, donkeys, and camels had been butchered for food or had been wiped out due to climate change, as what occurred in the Americas 10,000 years ago? If they and cows and oxen, the so-called beasts of burden, did not exist in the Eastern Hemisphere, what would have happened then? Or conversely, what if such animals had remained extant in the Americas? Would I have then inherited a mutated gene that would allow me to process bovine milk after the age of 4-5?

The game of "what if" I suppose is fun, but it's more fun when such queries are then turned around and applied to what did transpire.

If we play that game this turns into All Good Things, and even if that's still my favorite TNG episode, it's hard enough to extrapolate alternate history when we have reliable records of events. When we get into anthropology rather than pure history we're forced to hope events have been accurately reconstructed without the benefit of first hand witnesses and THEN speculate on the outcome had events played out differently.

That's not to say the more challenging task isn't worthwhile, but it's not really "history" in the accepted sense, is it? ;) I concede the world would be very different without the emergence of the first eukaryotes, but that happened so long ago and is so poorly documented that the effects would be impossible to predict with any certainty, however interesting they are to consider. "Awww... see what you did? :[ "
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I know I just did a survey, but this was too good to pass up. - 07/04/2010 12:44:15 AM 683 Views
Myself: World War I. - 07/04/2010 12:45:57 AM 533 Views
I don't think it's that simple. - 07/04/2010 12:57:16 AM 469 Views
I see your point. - 07/04/2010 01:02:33 AM 456 Views
Sometimes sooner is better than later. - 07/04/2010 01:10:11 AM 429 Views
True. - 07/04/2010 01:14:45 AM 441 Views
True, one might even say *adding* a war there would've improved things. - 07/04/2010 01:36:07 AM 433 Views
*nods* A small war is usually preferable to a big war. - 07/04/2010 01:49:06 AM 415 Views
The Plague - 07/04/2010 12:52:33 AM 408 Views
Re: The Plague - 07/04/2010 01:05:35 AM 314 Views
Maybe; there were episodic plague epidemics before and after that time. - 07/04/2010 02:05:18 AM 448 Views
I am talking about one of the plagues not THE plague - 07/04/2010 02:50:25 AM 419 Views
Re: I am talking about one of the plagues not THE plague - 07/04/2010 08:45:26 PM 411 Views
I'm so glad you have the time and inclination to type up these replies. *NM* - 08/04/2010 07:09:22 AM 292 Views
...? - 08/04/2010 07:51:14 PM 311 Views
Sounds like he was thanking you for saving him the effort of writing a similar reply. *NM* - 08/04/2010 09:28:55 PM 323 Views
If that is the case, then great *NM* - 08/04/2010 09:30:51 PM 274 Views
The spread of Christianity - 07/04/2010 12:55:29 AM 483 Views
Huh. Wild to think about. *NM* - 07/04/2010 01:06:44 AM 305 Views
Re: The spread of Christianity - 07/04/2010 08:47:06 PM 296 Views
Re: The spread of Christianity - 08/04/2010 09:29:17 AM 326 Views
Why would that have an impact on Judaism? - 08/04/2010 01:40:47 PM 421 Views
Re: Why would that have an impact on Judaism? - 08/04/2010 01:42:25 PM 275 Views
But wasn't Christianity the inspiration for a whole era of art? *NM* - 08/04/2010 01:41:34 PM 308 Views
Re: But wasn't Christianity the inspiration for a whole era of art? - 08/04/2010 01:44:36 PM 453 Views
precisely. - 08/04/2010 05:37:26 PM 430 Views
sorry, didn't see that Lorraine already addressed this. *NM* - 08/04/2010 07:55:00 PM 301 Views
The Partition of India, 1947... *NM* - 07/04/2010 12:59:32 AM 298 Views
Any paticular reason why? *NM* - 07/04/2010 01:34:54 AM 289 Views
Agreed. *NM* - 07/04/2010 01:59:02 AM 372 Views
The destruction of the Great Library. - 07/04/2010 01:02:59 AM 400 Views
Internet spam sucks indeed. - 07/04/2010 01:08:23 AM 495 Views
We'll never know; makes for fascinating speculative fiction. - 07/04/2010 01:13:49 AM 403 Views
This whole topic is wild, it's something I sometimes think about. - 07/04/2010 01:17:50 AM 405 Views
Ya, that's what makes history so gripping. - 07/04/2010 01:19:54 AM 515 Views
I don't know if that's really true... - 07/04/2010 01:39:51 AM 426 Views
It wouldn't have been as sudden or extreme. - 07/04/2010 01:58:39 AM 482 Views
"Joel captures Alexandria! The Great Library is destroyed!" *NM* - 07/04/2010 01:08:35 AM 175 Views
NOOOO1111 - 07/04/2010 01:11:33 AM 325 Views
A shame. It's one of the better ones, too. *NM* - 07/04/2010 01:14:20 AM 296 Views
Not in the first two Civs. - 07/04/2010 01:22:43 AM 271 Views
Civ, i love that game... - 07/04/2010 03:01:13 AM 393 Views
Yeah that's one of the small annoying things - 07/04/2010 07:34:52 AM 262 Views
An interesting point - 07/04/2010 02:57:03 AM 431 Views
That's usually my reply to this question too *NM* - 07/04/2010 11:42:55 AM 276 Views
if the giant meteor hadn't destroyed the dinosaurs... - 07/04/2010 01:10:42 AM 339 Views
"FOR" global warming? Now there's a phrase I never thought I'd here! - 07/04/2010 01:16:04 AM 276 Views
The spread of Islam - 07/04/2010 01:26:11 AM 428 Views
oh aren't you clever. *NM* - 07/04/2010 01:47:13 AM 284 Views
There's such a thing as being right for the wrong reasons, though I'm not sure he is. - 07/04/2010 02:12:14 AM 258 Views
Wikipedia is of course not a scholarly source, but all the same... - 07/04/2010 11:57:01 AM 420 Views
Fair enough. - 07/04/2010 12:51:16 PM 406 Views
I read the Bernard Lewis article referred to at Wikipedia... - 07/04/2010 01:19:03 PM 387 Views
So it's borrowed propaganda. - 13/04/2010 09:30:39 AM 371 Views
Re: The spread of Islam - 08/04/2010 09:24:31 AM 469 Views
Haha, are you kidding? - 08/04/2010 07:59:39 PM 241 Views
Re: Haha, are you kidding? - 08/04/2010 08:50:33 PM 239 Views
Ask yourself the question... - 08/04/2010 09:33:33 PM 245 Views
I don't see the connection. - 08/04/2010 08:49:46 PM 426 Views
Re: I don't see the connection. - 08/04/2010 08:51:21 PM 296 Views
I'd better not touch this one - 07/04/2010 03:12:00 AM 445 Views
The spread of Judaism. - 07/04/2010 04:30:37 AM 402 Views
Re: The spread of Judaism. - 07/04/2010 07:31:02 AM 322 Views
I...do not know. - 07/04/2010 07:18:13 AM 317 Views
Amusing that the underlying expectation seems to be more along political history lines - 07/04/2010 12:56:49 PM 488 Views
Considering the way history is taught, is it surprising? *NM* - 08/04/2010 07:11:03 AM 266 Views
Nope, not really - 08/04/2010 10:24:54 AM 412 Views
Here's one that'll be more to your liking... - 08/04/2010 10:40:53 AM 249 Views
Yes - 08/04/2010 10:52:11 AM 387 Views
Re: Here's one that'll be more to your liking... - 08/04/2010 11:58:27 AM 288 Views
Uh... - 08/04/2010 12:11:14 PM 435 Views
Re: Uh... - 08/04/2010 12:15:20 PM 459 Views
The Devil is always in the details - 08/04/2010 12:29:25 PM 398 Views
Re: The Devil is always in the details - 08/04/2010 12:32:34 PM 235 Views
Not really - 08/04/2010 01:07:57 PM 400 Views
Re: Not really - 08/04/2010 01:10:16 PM 274 Views
Only to a degree - 08/04/2010 01:27:22 PM 380 Views
Re: Only to a degree - 08/04/2010 01:30:12 PM 487 Views
I was into cultural and religious history - 08/04/2010 01:38:24 PM 380 Views
Re: I was into cultural and religious history - 08/04/2010 01:41:31 PM 279 Views
Ha! - 08/04/2010 01:49:23 PM 427 Views
Re: Ha! - 08/04/2010 01:51:28 PM 249 Views
I'm really sleep deprived... - 08/04/2010 02:13:20 PM 532 Views
Re: I'm really sleep deprived... - 08/04/2010 02:19:07 PM 299 Views
- 08/04/2010 02:52:59 PM 391 Views
Interesting fact of the day for you two... - 08/04/2010 02:45:15 PM 271 Views
I know - 08/04/2010 02:46:41 PM 429 Views
It was nice being a "threadkiller" of a different sort - 08/04/2010 10:08:34 PM 302 Views
Quote Pyramids of Destiny FTL *NM* - 08/04/2010 10:16:21 PM 280 Views
Since, surprisingly, no one's pointed it out yet, prehistory/=history. - 13/04/2010 09:52:19 AM 378 Views
me being born mega rich *NM* - 07/04/2010 02:15:34 PM 294 Views
Joanie Loves Chachi. - 07/04/2010 03:42:56 PM 346 Views
worse than "afterMASH"?? *NM* - 07/04/2010 03:50:10 PM 259 Views
Worse than "Joey" ? *NM* - 07/04/2010 06:48:25 PM 273 Views
If you remember Joanie loves Chachi, you might be too old? - 08/04/2010 12:00:34 AM 261 Views
Re: I know I just did a survey, but this was too good to pass up. - 07/04/2010 09:04:02 PM 284 Views
Science getting on the ball in the 40's and making superhumans *NM* - 08/04/2010 05:31:34 AM 315 Views
The spread of peanut butter and jelly. - 08/04/2010 07:12:21 AM 415 Views
The Bread of Christianity. - 08/04/2010 07:12:51 AM 459 Views
The dead of Christianity. - 08/04/2010 07:13:34 AM 412 Views
The thread of Christianity. - 08/04/2010 07:14:15 AM 358 Views
The head of [Roman Catholic] Christianity. - 08/04/2010 07:15:21 AM 391 Views
You completely missed the "pick 1" part of the question, didn't you? *NM* - 08/04/2010 09:26:23 AM 281 Views
Well, techinically, I never said that you couldn't make multible posts, each discussing 1 thing. *NM* - 08/04/2010 05:36:37 PM 260 Views
I'm fairly sure he was just mocking someone's earlier post "just thought it would be interesting..." *NM* - 08/04/2010 08:06:56 PM 266 Views
I'm pretty sure of that too. *NM* - 08/04/2010 08:33:46 PM 269 Views
...it's pretty interesting *NM* - 08/04/2010 08:35:47 PM 311 Views
just as you thought it would be? *NM* - 08/04/2010 08:44:49 PM 261 Views
My parody. - 08/04/2010 10:41:29 PM 373 Views
Re: My parody. - 09/04/2010 07:29:19 AM 435 Views
The 1987 Rugby World Cup Final - 13/04/2010 12:23:17 PM 450 Views

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