300 was a bad movie...
It's no secret that I love the history channel. Now I've talked to a lot of people about this topic, but I'm bored and I think it would be cool to post it online. Whenever I have some spare time in-between things to do, or some down time from work or whatnot, I like to think about different eras of history and what occupation and/or role in society I would fulfill.
Some examples:
King Richard launches his third crusade
The onset of Vietnam
Rome in the 2nd century
The Civil War
Feudal Japan
Colonial India in the 1800s
The Caribbean circa 1700
What would your job be? What profession would you acquire? Would you have a claim to fame?
The aspect that makes this activity so interesting to me is the attempt, and subsequently varying degrees of willing suspension of disbelief (and even lack thereof). In other words, it's safe and easy to say you would be a staunch anti-slavery Union soldier in the Civil War, but that's boring, isn't it? A much better story: "I would be a corporal in the squad doing guard detail the night Stonewall Jackson fell to friendly fire. Instead of Stonewall dying, I would identify him and his officers, thereby circumventing the incident." Think of the ramifications of such an action; What a story you could make of that! The Confederates could go on to win at Appottomattox and Gettysberg, Sherman's march wouldn't have happened, Jefferson Davis would be considered a "Founding Father", the United States wouldn't be United.... so many possibilities!
So I hope you can take some time to put your knowledge of history and your storytelling abilities to the test, or at the very least just chime in with the "I would be ____ during ____ era because of _____" and we can have a discussion. Feel free to use one of my historical references, or pick one of your own.
Oh, and we're all going to play lasertag at adventure landing tomorrow (mon 5/28). Come out & play. It's only $8.50 for the whole day.
Some examples:
King Richard launches his third crusade
The onset of Vietnam
Rome in the 2nd century
The Civil War
Feudal Japan
Colonial India in the 1800s
The Caribbean circa 1700
What would your job be? What profession would you acquire? Would you have a claim to fame?
The aspect that makes this activity so interesting to me is the attempt, and subsequently varying degrees of willing suspension of disbelief (and even lack thereof). In other words, it's safe and easy to say you would be a staunch anti-slavery Union soldier in the Civil War, but that's boring, isn't it? A much better story: "I would be a corporal in the squad doing guard detail the night Stonewall Jackson fell to friendly fire. Instead of Stonewall dying, I would identify him and his officers, thereby circumventing the incident." Think of the ramifications of such an action; What a story you could make of that! The Confederates could go on to win at Appottomattox and Gettysberg, Sherman's march wouldn't have happened, Jefferson Davis would be considered a "Founding Father", the United States wouldn't be United.... so many possibilities!
So I hope you can take some time to put your knowledge of history and your storytelling abilities to the test, or at the very least just chime in with the "I would be ____ during ____ era because of _____" and we can have a discussion. Feel free to use one of my historical references, or pick one of your own.
Oh, and we're all going to play lasertag at adventure landing tomorrow (mon 5/28). Come out & play. It's only $8.50 for the whole day.