erasing from history

[Yoshikko]

Yeah so, came up with this idea during history class; if you could wipe out any historical event, at this moment, what would it be? It could be a war, a revolution, or a catastrophy/natural disaster (like an earthquake, a tsunami, etc), or a certain human error that might have taken place? It can be from any time or place you want!

 

[Shining Raichu]

Interesting question!

If I could wipe out any event, it would not be anything like a war or natural disaster - the things that killed mass amounts of people, while terrible, do contribute to easing overpopulation which is my greatest fear ever.

That said, I think I would have erased the September 11 attacks. It might seem like a cliche response (and it probably is) but despite the fact that it only killed around 3000 people if I remember correctly (relatively small in the grand scheme of historical events) it really changed the world. It took away its innocence completely. Airports, security; none of it has been the same since, nor will it ever be again. The shift of tone in the entire Western world is something I'd like to erase. I'd love my innocent world back.

 

[Nick]

The extinction of the dinosaurs!

I'm really fascinated what life would be like today if the extinction of the dinosaurs didn't take place. Would humans be the dominate force in life like they seem to be today? Would they have found a way to really control the dinosaurs? Would the dinosaurs completely annihilated the population of humans? How different would life be today? How would that affect the mammals that are living here today? What evolution would have taken place, what evolution in other species wouldn't have taken place? So many questions it's interesting to think about the what ifs.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

I don't think I would remove anything from history. No matter what the event, no matter how horrific, we learn something from it. And if it didn't happen, they we don't learn from it. We end up being different people, and that event or similar will only occur later on down the road.

 

[Esper]

My first instinct was to think of the earthquake that hit Japan. I know there are worse disasters and probably "better" things I could erase from history, but it would take me a long time to think of what I'd pick if I could really do this.

 

[Rogue planet]

My instant thought was something related to the Second World War. Change the course of the war? The sides taken? Something that wouldn't have set the stage for the Cold War. Probably more than likely if the war itself was simply erased, another would've taken place in it's stead. Perhaps less destructive? Who knows. But that would be speculating on too large of a scale.

I think I'd simply change the fact that this country was economically ruined by both the world wars.

 

[The Corrupt Plague]

The 9/11 attacks. Ever since then, there's been a cloud of fear hanging above America and things have been getting steadily worse over the years with terrible stuff happening like the Patriot Act and the wars in the Middle East.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I'd erase the Rwandan genocide. So many people suffered and were even killed during that time and that didn't help with Africa's (not so good) welfare.

 

[Her]

The movie Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo

My first thought was, of course, the 9/11 attacks. I think that event would be something many, many people would want erased from history. But, as terrible as that tragedy was and as great it would be for those who lost loved ones to not have lost them, I'm not going to erase that piece of history.

I'm actually not quite sure which piece of history I would erase had I the chance. The Crusades, perhaps? The Holocaust (specifically, the one born of Hitler), maybe? Those two are good choices, wonderful choices, in fact. Hell, the best choice I could possibly make is to erase Aziz Ansari from existence. But I'm sure as much as he would like it to be so, Aziz Ansari's birth is not a historical event and so I cannot erase it.
After thinking about this for a bit, I think I'd erase the splitting up of Pangaea, had I the power to do that. I think it'd be interesting. Plus, so much history in the future will be changed, I just couldn't resist seeing what the world would be like now if we all lived on Pangaea.

 

[TwiDragon]

Whatever started the dark ages. 1,000 years of progress, gone.

Events like the civil war, ww2, and disasters could of respawned at any time, or had a lot of positive influence on the world to add.

 

[Ivysaur]

I'd remove any events between 1934 and 1945, which led to millions of dead people.

Of course, we learnt a lot from that, and the current project of an United Europe, as shaky asit is, would be even worse without the memory of what a disunited Europe caused.

In a less dramatic note, I'd remove Margaret Thatcher from existence, she's the main responsible for the liberal-conservative wave crushing Europe since the late 80's.

 

[Keiran]

The writings of "The Holy Bible".

 

[The Void]

Pretty much what TRIFORCE89 says here:

I don't think I would remove anything from history. No matter what the event, no matter how horrific, we learn something from it. And if it didn't happen, then we don't learn from it. We end up being different people, and that event or similar will only occur later on down the road.

So true. If we erased even the smallest of things in the past, then even the biggest of things in the present and future may be affected. For example, if we were to take away the extinction of the dinosaurs. Then we probably wouldn't be here at all! :O
Or if we take out a plague, or a disaster, or a calamity, then you probably wouldn't have met someone or wouldn't have done something that has led you to great things in life! And even if they hadn't contributed to any great thing in one's life, then think of it as something better than what might have happened if that disaster hadn't happened. For example: The 9/11 Attack. If that hadn't happened, then Al Quaeda may have had somehow planned something worse and killed more people and took more innocent lives.

Remember: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it's called the present.

 

[oocyst]

I've already thought about this many times so I know exactly what I'd choose.The end of the Roman Empire. I don't know, I'm just really curious what would have happened if christianity was never legalized, if the Empire didn't collapse but continued to grow. I'd love to know if this would have had any effect on today's technological advancements and way of life.

 

[The Void]

I've already thought about this many times so I know exactly what I'd choose.The end of the Roman Empire. I don't know, I'm just really curious what would have happened if christianity was never legalized, if the Empire didn't collapse but continued to grow. I'd love to know if this would have had any effect on today's technological advancements and way of life.

Just so you know, a lot of people who had helped in modern society are Christians, and our current technology wouldn't exist in the first place if it wasn't for them. Want examples? Okay. Galileo Galilei. Without him, there wouldn't have been a telescope and we would probably have a wrong sense of the world. Who else? Isaac Newton. He discovered gravity. Without that knowledge of gravity, infrastructures would have been wrongly built and we wouldn't have been able to build 'zero-gravity.' Also, Ground-type attacks would probably kill Flying-types lol. You get my point. Also, one of your ancestors may have been Christian and if they hadn't been there or if they hadn't been married in the Catholic Church, then you might have not existed here at all.

 

[Briar]

I don't think I would remove anything from history. No matter what the event, no matter how horrific, we learn something from it. And if it didn't happen, they we don't learn from it. We end up being different people, and that event or similar will only occur later on down the road.

this.
i honestly would have no idea which event in history i'd wish to erase. natural disasters that have happened in the past would come close, but then again, those have all been like wake-up calls for us to remember the mortality of our species and the unpredictability of our world, no matter how much we try to gain control over it.

The writings of "The Holy Bible".

even without the writings, i'm pretty sure the teachings would still live on through oral tradition, seeing as that's how they were spread all over the world in the first place.

 

[Keiran]

Just so you know, a lot of people who had helped in modern society are Christians, and our current technology wouldn't exist in the first place if it wasn't for them. Want examples? Okay. Galileo Galilei. Without him, there wouldn't have been a telescope and we would probably have a wrong sense of the world. Who else? Isaac Newton. He discovered gravity. Without that knowledge of gravity, infrastructures would have been wrongly built and we wouldn't have been able to build 'zero-gravity.' Also, Ground-type attacks would probably kill Flying-types lol. You get my point. Also, one of your ancestors may have been Christian and if they hadn't been there or if they hadn't been married in the Catholic Church, then you might have not existed here at all.

This is a bit absurd. The only thing religion does concerning science/technology is hinder its advances. The things you mentioned would have been discovered regardless of said persons religious views.

this.
even without the writings, i'm pretty sure the teachings would still live on through oral tradition, seeing as that's how they were spread all over the world in the first place.

I was referring to the original stories written by random people that those oral traditions are based on.

 

[arbok]

the crusades. Did nothing but ignite hatred between the middle east and the west that still boils in extremist minds to this day.

 

[oocyst]

Just so you know, a lot of people who had helped in modern society are Christians, and our current technology wouldn't exist in the first place if it wasn't for them. Want examples? Okay. Galileo Galilei. Without him, there wouldn't have been a telescope and we would probably have a wrong sense of the world. Who else? Isaac Newton. He discovered gravity. Without that knowledge of gravity, infrastructures would have been wrongly built and we wouldn't have been able to build 'zero-gravity.' Also, Ground-type attacks would probably kill Flying-types lol. You get my point. Also, one of your ancestors may have been Christian and if they hadn't been there or if they hadn't been married in the Catholic Church, then you might have not existed here at all.

I don't really agree with this. Even if one of my ancestors was Christian, if christianity hadn't existed that doesn't mean that suddenly they would not have existed either, they would just have not been Christians. And even if these people hadn't existed if Christianity hadn't existed, that still would not mean that these things could have never been invented. It has happened a lot in history that the same things are invented around the same time in two completely different places. It has more to do with technological advancement than with the individual.

 

[Xyrin]

Nothing. You can't ever tell what will happen if you change something. You could change something and change the whole present day world, for the better... Or worse.