ATL history memes be like:
"Where's Woodrow Wilson?"
"Inside of a shark at the bottom of the ocean, of course!"
"Damn, he be shark poop!"
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Alternate History Ideas and Discussion
- Thread starter AndrewJTalon
- Start date
"Where's Woodrow Wilson?"
"Inside of a shark at the bottom of the ocean, of course!"
"Damn, he be shark poop!"
Skallagrim
Well-known member
Man, I'd vote for that shark!ATL history memes be like:
I doubt that it would have, though. And then we wouldn't have had Greater Romania, which would be really sad.
But no Holocaust and no Communism would obviously massively compensate for that!
Zyobot
Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
"Where's Woodrow Wilson?"
"Inside of a shark at the bottom of the ocean, of course!"
"Damn, he be shark poop!"
But wait, there’s more!
Anyway, sorry to clutter the thread with my memes. Might consider making a separate “AH Memes And Comedy” thread, though, depending on whether there’s enough interest.
Skallagrim
Well-known member
Man, I'd vote for that pretzel!But wait, there’s more!
Skallagrim
Well-known member
Of course, we do have a meme thread. In fact, we have at least two!
Zyobot
Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
True, though I don't know that posting allohistorical memes there would make much sense.
Anyway: 'Most Of Aristotle's Work Preserved'. Requires a whole lot of speculation, unfortunately, but certainly an interesting idea, as far as "philosophy-centric" PODs are concerned. @Skallagrim, you definitely wanna' comment here, dontcha'?
Write much more of it on stone tablets that have greater odds of surviving?
Bassoe
Well-known member
...turns out, he really hates this copper salesman.
DarthOne
☦️
ATL history memes be like:
Good shark!
Would Thomas Marshall be better as the new US President?
DarthOne
☦️
Don’t know enough about him to comment.
He apparently wanted to send US forces into Russia in 1919 in order to help overthrow the Bolsheviks. I don't know if Congress would have actually approved of this, though.
Easy.They asked for polish help in 1479 when Moscov attacked,but we never send it.When,in the same time,Poland wasted money to hire 12.000 mercaneries fighting Hungary over Silesia.
If we send those mercs to Nowogrod,they would remain free - and polish vassals.
Later,when Poland would gradually fall thanks to magnates,powerfull Nowogrod would take Siberia instead of Moscov/and probably burn damned place/ ,and create real Russian state,not muscovite parody.
Skallagrim
Well-known member
We obviously know the scope of Aristotle's work (ludicrously broad) and the tendencies of his thinking. What we have in OTL is basically a series of glorified lecture notes, and even that puts practically all other philosophers (then or since) to shame. Naturally, Aristotle was a product of his time, and working with corresponingly limited and/or inaccurate knowledge on many topics. This didn't stop him from often moving towards the correct destination through reason. Although in OTL eclipsed by Plato (far more of whose 'full' writing survived) for a long time, Aristotle is without question the greater thinker.
If more of Aristotle's work survives (let alone all of it!), that has vast consequences in practically ever field of intellectual inquiry. Although what remains in OTL is often called "dry" (again, it's a bunch of notes, never intended as a full treatise), his actual writing-for-an-audience is supposed to have been extremely eloquent, to the point that it was called "like a river of gold".
From this, we may safely assume that in this ATL, Aristotle would have been far more popular, to the detriment of Plato. As such, Aristotle's influence would be much greater. The main effect of this would be a more practical approach to the acquisition and analysis of knowledge. Plato's "realm of the forms" would be a far less prominent notion, and the understanding of this world being the theatre of all affairs that matter (at least in life) would be far more prominent.
This would encourage a more "scientific" attitude, especially when paired with Aristotle's emphasis on logic. Rather than a tendency to seek a transcendant Truth in order to make sense of the world, we'd see a far more pronounced tendency to make sense of the world in order to draw conclusions about the Truth (and thus, the nature of reality). In other words: the (inter-related) intellectual 'streams' of Neo-Platonism, gnosticism and Hermeticism would be largely aborted--or at least much reduced--and something not unlike scholasticism would rise in their place.
Consider also that Aristotle was a naturalist, who encouraged his students to engage practical investgation. For instance, he had his sudents collect speciments of bugs and other animals, so that he could classify them and note their similarities and distinctions. Aristotle also observed that, from the fossil record, it was evident that some regions that were land in his day had been under the sea in ages past, and he speculated that where seas existed in his day, dry land had been in earlier times. From this, he formed a rudementary geological model. Likewise, from the aforementioned biological research, he developed the first inkling in recorded history of what we'd call the concept of biological evolution. With all his works still extant, there would be both a basis and an intellectual inclination to build further upon these ideas.
Then, there is the fact that Aristotle's extensive correspondence would still exist. Notably, his lenghty exchange of letters with Alexander's companion Hephaistion would be preserved. In this, he asked for all manner of insights that could be gleaned during the exedition. So this in itself would be a treasure trove of scientific insights and tidbits.
Finally, since so much more of Aristotle's work would remain, there would be much more nuance in it. This would reduce the OTL tendency to eventually turn almost every statement of Aristotle's into an article of faith. Note that the Churh objected to Galileo's heliocentrism because Aristotle had argued for geocentrism, and after Aristotle's scholastic revival, the Church had developed such reverence for Aristotle that his ideas became intrinsic parts of the Church's own understanding of the material world. In this ATL, precisely due to there being much more of Aristotle's work available, this tendency would be avoided. (Indeed, the Aristotelian maxim that we must follow the evidence would prevail!)
P.S. Aristotle's personal copy of the Iliad, with his annotations in the margins, would also survive. This is the copy that Alexander took with him on his expedition, since Aristotle gave it to him. He slept with it beneath his pillow. Along with a dagger. ("Macedonia man who sleeps with a dagger and a copy of the Iliad annoted by Aristotle himself conquers Persia, more news after the break.")