“The belief in the inevitability of the past — that whatever happened had to happen — is the great enemy of learning from history.” Lars Brownworth, IN DISTANT LANDS
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I’ve LONG believed that History is *very* contingent! Reading ALT-History certainly added to that belief over the years. There are SO many possibilities and ‘What If’s’ with History. That’s one of the things that makes it SO interesting to study…
Yep! To pull an example from my about-to-be-finish read…..what might’ve happened had Frederick Barbarossa not died crossing a river during the Third Crusade, resulting in MOST of his army returning home? Richard might have had some help besides the feckless Phillip II….
Indeed! What if Hitler had died in 1923 or Lenin in 1918? A bullet a few inches or a few feet either way and the entire timeline changes. There are THOUSANDS of such examples.
I believe Paul Atreides might have some thoughts on this issue…
Well, he could see MANY paths…. which were probabilities rather than the only way. The Golden Path was, at least in Paul’s eyes, the best path for Humanity but it was never the *only* way things could’ve gone down.
The Golden Path was the ONLY way that humanity could survive. And the cost was more than he could bear, hence why Leto II ended up carrying the burden.
But he didn’t *have* to decide to guide Humanity down that path. Paul couldn’t because of the cost in blood getting there. Leto II was more willing to pay the butchers bill believing that the ultimate price was worth the end result.