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Post by Jeff Gerke on Jun 24, 2009 10:48:11 GMT -5
I saw this phrase in an article and thought what a great title it would be for a SF novel. And it might even suggest a story in and of itself. Cool, eh? Jeff |
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Post by fluke on Jul 3, 2009 8:41:37 GMT -5
Way cool!
The title alone almost (almost, mind you) makes me wish I wrote hard sci fi just to do something with it. I'll leave it to those more talented in that arena.
Imagine if these earths turned out to be alternates of each other, say history went differently on them. Would Rome still rule with an iron fist? Maybe the Aztecs took over the world.
Imagine if history wasn't that divergent. Imagine the meetings between heads of state who are essentially the same person from different worlds...
Or on the personal level, the POV character travels to another earth and sees his other life. "There, but for the grace of God, go I" takes on a whole new level of meaning.
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Post by dizzyjam on Jul 3, 2009 16:02:52 GMT -5
Of course, if we're talking about "alternate history" on this other Earth, how about an Earth who's history goes backwards from our own? Where we started with Adam and Eve, they started with New Jerusalem. How would things play out with history going "backwards"? How would you describe it in a way that made sense and didn't just sound like someone turning things the other way. Logically, why would humans stop using computers and go back to just phones? Why would people that never smoked cigarettes because they're bad for you (and possibly outlawed in our future because of that, so would be a starting point for the residents of this "Earth") suddenly start smoking them, and then switch to cigars, and then to pipes? Why would things "devolve" from our sense, but from the other Earth's sense actually be looked on as progress? How would this work itself out? And at what point in their history would they be if everything is going backwards from our own? Would Egypt be ruling? How would the reversal of covenants work with the sacrifice of Jesus happening first and then the temple and sacrifices happening later, with a tent happening finally to a time with no law? How would these be explained? That would truly make the Earths "alternates" of each other, wouldn't you say? And do the two Earths really need to meet? If so, just how would that occur, and why? Just some random thinking after reading the two posts here.
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Post by fluke on Jul 5, 2009 13:49:26 GMT -5
Dizzyjam,
This is why I say that time travel gives me nosebleeds!
Frank
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Post by The Blue Collared Philosopher on Jul 5, 2009 22:36:23 GMT -5
hahaha, dizzyjam, that would be crazy cool and sooo weird. But what if it was even more alternate than just the history perspective? Like, what if every PERSON was completely opposite of how they were here? Example, what if Hitler was the hero of the Jews instead of the persecuter? What if everyone's opposite characteritics were on the other earth? With the exeption of Christ and God. To use me for example, i hate science and love the guitar, but what if on the other earth i was a mad scientist and didn't like music?
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Post by dizzyjam on Jul 6, 2009 14:57:10 GMT -5
fluke - This isn't so much a matter of time travel giving you nosebleeds as it is history working itself backwards giving you nosebleeds.
gredruin - Good points. Kinda' like how Luthor was good on that alternate Earth Superman had found where General Zod had invaded.
Here's a few other aspects to consider: Would everyone on this backwards Earth de-age ala Mork & Mindy, but without starting in a big egg? Would Bush Jr. be smart and only have one term, would Bush Sr. be less prudent and wind up with two terms? And Clinton, would he be an honest politician that's faithful to his wife? Or would they not even be Presidents since they are so opposite? How about Reagan? He was an actor first and then a politician, so would he do either on this other Earth or just reverse the order? How about Arnold? Who would be the Terminator? Would there even be a movie with that name? Would Arnold even be a body-builder? Or Lou Ferrigno? Would he have been the Incredible Hulk or the Inelegant Bulk? And if he wasn't a body builder turned trainer, who would have trained Michael Jackson these last few months? Or maybe Michael would have actually had the childhood he always had yearned for and while on that Earth yearning for fame and never getting it? Ah, yes. The details do get rather heavy when you think on them. (Like if Michael Jackson isn't the King of Pop, and Reagan isn't President, who poses for that famous shot? And if Clinton isn't president, who sings with the President and his daughter that one time, or is there even a daughter, or a singer?) I suppose that's why Fluke gets nosebleeds. : - ) Me, I just think it's a matter of wading through the details and figuring them out. When it comes to Earth history, that's a WHOLE lot of details for sure. No amount of fiction can ever get it right. But it sure is fun to speculate, eh?
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Post by kirstymca on Jul 6, 2009 16:10:44 GMT -5
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Post by The Blue Collared Philosopher on Jul 6, 2009 17:20:21 GMT -5
hahahaha, dizzyjam, i wouldn't have gone that far with opposites, but it is fun to think about!
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Post by Andy on Jul 6, 2009 20:24:34 GMT -5
I like alternate history lines, ala bizzaro world of Superman.
Here's another take. Humans have developed terraforming technology to the extent that they've created an Earth-like world in a distant star system. The original Terran civilization sees Eden (the new world) as an investment to be harvested for its resources. The colonists of Eden see it otherwise, wishing to protect their new home. Neither side expects the new life form which begins to grow on Eden's new landscape.
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Post by dizzyjam on Jul 7, 2009 1:14:41 GMT -5
That wouldn't be so much alternate history, or even an alternate Earth story, as much as just a great idea for a science fiction yarn. Go write it! Sounds like you got a good idea there.
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Post by dizzyjam on Jul 7, 2009 1:29:28 GMT -5
Here's another aspect of opposites when it comes to this other Earth: Would the continents be mirrored on the surface of the planet and the planet be turned upside down? Hold up a map of the world in your bathroom and make sure it's upside down to see what I mean. Which way would it rotate? Would it spin on its side? How would it orbit around its star? Would the star even be the same size as our star? And then other planets in the new star system: How many and would this planet still be the third one or the seventh one from the star? Would it be the biggest out of all? The smallest? Or just close to the biggest or the smallest? The question about size doesn't mean that it would be bigger or smaller than our planet, just a question about the sizes of the other planets in its system. And would it have one moon or more? Or none? For that matter, would it and the other planets in the system revolve around a moon and a star revolve around it with all other planets that would normally have moons having stars revolving around them? And would there be a gaseous dwarf planet with a blue dot near the top of it? Ah, yes, these differences can get pretty deep indeed.
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Post by Andy on Jul 7, 2009 10:04:02 GMT -5
sorry, I was commenting that I like the alternate history posts you guys were making. Thanks for the feedback, I will think about this idea.
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Post by metalikhan on Jul 9, 2009 23:24:41 GMT -5
One of the old Orbit books of short stories (edited by Damon Knight) had one story called Backward, O Time. The characters' lives actually ran in reverse. From what I remember, they even had a discussion trying to imagine a world that ran opposite theirs -- in other words, in our progression of time.
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Jul 10, 2009 8:01:37 GMT -5
You guys! What wonderful, fertile minds.
[sighs]
In heaven, can we all hang out together?
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Post by dizzyjam on Jul 10, 2009 22:26:11 GMT -5
Sure Jeff, why not? Maybe we can convince God to create a reverse Heaven even just for those like us. I bet He'd do it too.  |
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