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Alternate History General Discussion

Ricardolindo said:
Do any of you believe that alternate timelines actually exist?
There is the multiverse hypothesis.
It has more support among physicists than you may think.
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FWIW, when I asked him, Jonathan Edelstein told me that he doesn't rule out the possibility of alternate universes but that he doubts very much that we could ever visit one as those universes would be out of causality with each other.
 
Ricardolindo said:
FWIW, when I asked him, Jonathan Edelstein told me that he doesn't rule out the possibility of alternate universes but that he doubts very much that we could ever visit one as those universes would be out of causality with each other.
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I mean, I like Jonathan but he's a lawyer not a physicist or a philosopher. Why does his opinion matter enough to even mention him?
 
Ricardolindo said:
Do any of you believe that alternate timelines actually exist?
There is the multiverse hypothesis.
It has more support among physicists than you may think.
Click to expand...

a) Maybe.
b) Thats enough "proof" for AH to work as science fiction, if needed at all
c) I have a degree in Economics and International Relations and nearly failed A-Level Physics.
 
Bolt451 said:
a) Maybe.
b) Thats enough "proof" for AH to work as science fiction, if needed at all
c) I have a degree in Economics and International Relations and nearly failed A-Level Physics.
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Tbh even then that's treating it as sci-fi or at least stuff where multiple timelines is part of the plot like, IDFK, Sliders. A lot of AH it's not relevant. You're generally looking at it as a strictly historical thought excercise (though reasonable assumptions and quality of work may vary). Even ISOTs you don't necessarily need a multiverse, just time travel. Although multiverse would stop anyone who traveled into the past from changing their own past and present ala say, Back to The Future. I Dislocated to success this might explain why Norman St John Stevas doesn't suddenly remember history differently as they change it. Or vanish from history altogether (StJohn-Stevas one, Marty McFly nil )
 
lordroel said:
If they exist, i hope that some are not as bad as some TLs that are floating on boards.
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To be fair, most Alternate History books range from dreadful to worse.

That has been true for many years. The late Alison Brooks once wrote a review of one such, imaginatively called: The Falklands War.

I don't think I can better that as a farrago of implausibility piled on top of stupidity, save for perhaps including some romance nonsense that even Mills & Boon would describe as "unrealistic."
 
David Flin said:
To be fair, most Alternate History books range from dreadful to worse.

That has been true for many years. The late Alison Brooks once wrote a review of one such, imaginatively called: The Falklands War.

I don't think I can better that as a farrago of implausibility piled on top of stupidity, save for perhaps including some romance nonsense that even Mills & Boon would describe as "unrealistic."
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"have a damned tough fight on Tumbledown"

That's when I knew this story was beyond salvation. That's not a place name, it's a setting on a dryer.
 
David Flin said:
To be fair, most Alternate History books range from dreadful to worse.

That has been true for many years. The late Alison Brooks once wrote a review of one such, imaginatively called: The Falklands War.
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I had forgotten about that site! Particularly like this scathing line:
I presume the author is making a point about the location of brains in Marines
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Well, she would know, wouldn’t she?

David Flin said:
including some romance nonsense that even Mills & Boon would describe as "unrealistic."
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I can just see the editors notes on the first draft- “yeah it’s good, but could we work a love interest into it? You know, badly wounded NCO with a mysterious past get nurses back to health* by a charming lady, then they fall in love and get married?”




*my sincere apologies if I’m misremembering this, or dredging up bad memories. Happy to delete if you wish.
 
Classical PoD: is the survival of Julia, Julius Caesar's daughter, enough to keep Pompey and Caesar in the same camp?

On the one hand, I can't see either consenting to the other being an equal to them, but that familial link is a very strong one, and despite the age gap, it does seem that Julia and Pompey genuinely loved each other. Would Julia be able to keep her father and her husband from coming to blows?
 
Geordie said:
Classical PoD: is the survival of Julia, Julius Caesar's daughter, enough to keep Pompey and Caesar in the same camp?

On the one hand, I can't see either consenting to the other being an equal to them, but that familial link is a very strong one, and despite the age gap, it does seem that Julia and Pompey genuinely loved each other. Would Julia be able to keep her father and her husband from coming to blows?
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(Not really qualified to comment but)

Most of me wants to say that these were two extremely ambitious men, and that when Caesar wrapped up his campaign in Gaul he would need to be installed in a top office and resume active political life (just retaining command without glory to be won probably wouldn't satisfy him) in order to maintain his judicial immunity and exist in a style commensurate with his ego and "accomplishments"-and there are only so many top-tier offices to go round. Even if Pompey hadn't started to dabble with the Senatorial opposition, Rome may not be big enough for the both of them over the long term if they're both back on the Tiber.

But on the other hand, though Pompey was indeed ambitious, he seemed less monomaniacal about being in the top leadership as long as he was assured of continued respect and influence. Maybe he and Caesar could work out an arrangement, perhaps a deal where Caesar takes most of the top offices that he's eligible for, while Pompey is loaded with honors, gets his supporters in good positions, and gets a military command-then switch off every few years.
 
I don't really have a point to this but the John Titor posts are a lot more right wing than the pop culture version would make think you. A lot of "And so the godless queers burn in the nuclear fire of their cities" stuff which I guess is in-character for someone who would have been raised by militiamen and spent his life in post-nuclear war Florida. Titor's timeline is probably way more grim than the author really intended,like, the environmental effects of a global nuclear war, modern medical supplies are a thing of the past, and the worst of militia movement and religious fundamentalism(racism,sexual abuse,etc) get to run rampant because whatever left of the government (no way Omaha escaped the nukes sorry) can't lay down a nationally enforced set of laws. They may even be making alliances with some warlords and turning a blind eye. Titor's America is one of child brides and lynchings and John would be a grown up child solider looking for IBM.
 
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Coiler said:
Yeah, it's not like it's the headquarters of the nuclear command or anything, oh wait
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That's the thing I always find so funny because if you writing a story about nuclear war and involving a military controlled Omaha; how do you make that big of a mistake ? I get Jacksonville was only mentioned because the hoaxer lived near or knew people there but it's at least right behind a military base but like how do you not know about Strategic Command HQ ?
 
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