Saturday 20 August 2016

Our Alternative History

Our history is just one of many possibilities. Steve Matuchek and his brother-in-law speculate:

if Einstein and Planck had not cooperated, then, instead of rheatics, there might have been "'...distinct theories of relativity and quantum mechanics, hard to reconcile...'" (Operation Luna, p. 43);

if Moseley had not degaussed cold iron and released goetic forces, then fossil fuels and electricity would have dominated the world;

transport would have been by horseless carriages and dirigibles;

astronomers would have analyzed spectra, not specters;

there would have been nothing living on the Moon;

paranature would have remained Asleep;

witches and warlocks would be cranks and charlatans, not respected professionals;

lycanthropy DNA would not be understood;

Africans, Australians and Native Americans who had the advantage of practical magical traditions would not have been able to negotiate on favorable terms with Europeans;

World War II would have been against someone other than the Caliphate.

We may add that there would have been no Johannine Church.

Hard to imagine but possible nevertheless.

3 comments:

David Birr said...

Paul:
But note that the difference between their universe and ours is much, much older than the changes in technology that allowed "paranature" to come back into the world. The magical creatures in their world didn't just spring into being once they started using that goetic "technology"; they RETURNED. Whereas in REAL reality, they were NEVER any more than superstition.

Paul Shackley said...

David,
I think the idea is that paranature has remained Asleep in our universe.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, David and Paul!

David: but I still think the implications or conclusions to be drawn from OPERATION LUNA still made sense: "goetic science" never arose in our "real" world because iron was not degaussed and "paranature" remained and "still" remains asleep. The magical creatures of OPERATION LUNA are now considered superstitions because we never see them anymore due to them being asleep, not nonexistent.

Paul: the idea of astronomers analyzing SPECTERS to help study the stars is amusing!

Yes, we have no Johannine Church in our universe, but we did have National Socialism and Communism, which were also very bad things. And we certainly do have fanatical Muslims waging jihads, both openly and by stealth, as they strive to set up new caliphates.

Sean