Brion, there are certain correlations but the purpose and intent of the two disciplines is entirely different; I am also concerned that the title of Alternative history is something of a misnomer for what is being described by the article. I think we will have to disambiguate this somehow. user:sjc
- Er, Virtual history is also called alternate history. We need to rename the sf article so that there is no confusion in this respect. Maybe something like [Alternate history (science fiction)]? user:sjc
- Would it make more sense to treat both (alternate history that knows it's fiction, and alternate history that passes itself off as scholarly work) under one topic? The historical speculation is already is mentioned in Alternate history. --Brion
- This is potentially a very difficult subject. There are schools of historical study which are forming which actually argue that counterfactual history is more significant than traditional factually based history. I think the last thing we want to do is antagonise either group, provide ammunition for one or the other, etc. We need to draw a very clear division between material which is entertainment and stuff which is designed to explore a historical outcome. I'm going to cite (big size) from an article on Virtual Salamis since it exposes the pros and the cons:
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- This method of historical study has traditionally been approved by academia: the judgement of the past based on evidence, despite the possibility of resentment that the new image may present, as in the case of the latter example. It is, nonetheless natural to ask what benefit comes from counterfactual history as it clearly goes against historical fact and therefore enters the world of fantasy. The aim of this essay is to assert the opinion that history can be studied using other approaches than the traditional analytical methods of the academic.
- Traditional methods have also not proven to give unanimous conclusions, and this is no more the case than in the field of the ancient economy. Economic historians have the problem that there simply is not enough evidence to make conclusive arguments, however much they claim to do so, so academic thought on the topic is clearly divided into the primitivist and modernist school of thought, each disagreeing on the scale of economic activity. So alternative approaches to historical research may shed new light on difficult areas.
- One approach to the study of history is the use of counterfactual history. This essay also intends to approach counterfactual history from an alternate angle; instead of just asking ‘what if…’ the question asked is what are the implications of an action. At first glance, the difference is not obvious. The essence is not only provision of alternative realities; it is an analysis of the value of the past reality. I used the word realities because historical events have impact on historical-future realities, by which I mean that if X happened then Y would be different. The point being that there are so many differences in what Y could be if X did not happen, there is often a variety of alternatives to explore
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- You see why I am so keen to clearly delineate here? user:sjc
- Well, "alternate history" is well-established as the name of the fictional genre. For 'serious' speculative history, we've got "virtual history", "counterfactual history", and 'also' "alternate history". How often is the latter term used thus? (I assume it was an oversight that you left it out of this article.) If the term "alternate history" overwhelmingly refers to the fictional genre, it makes more sense for that title to hold the fictional genre, with a disambiguation note at the top pointing here. --Brion
OK, that seems like a sanguinary and pragmatic solution which requires zero effort. I have a feeling that this one may run and run, though. I sincerely hope not. user:sjc
- Great, I've put a disamb block at the top of alternate history until whatsoever time as we think of something better. --Brion