Look to the West: Thread III, Volume IV (Tottenham Nil)!

[Thande]

I favor South and/or West Africa first, then a look at the Americas outside of the ENA and UPSA.

[dumb] The various logos for Diversitarianism look nice, but the seven-pointed star in the middle suddenly made me think of the Faith of the Seven from A Song of Ice and Fire, and now it won't get out of my head. [/dumb]

As a side thought, I was recently pondering about how 'transhumanist' ideas might develop in the context of LTTW, particularly the concern about humanity-enhancing technology becoming available to the wealthy first and thus risking the creation of an even wider gap in wealth and capability. Given your focus on not having an economics-oriented axis of philosophy, Thande, I'm wondering if there'd be a similar identity-based concern in LTTW. But this stuff isn't going to come up for quite a while yet.

Well, transhumanist speculation in LTTW will probably focus on the whole "cybernetics eat your soul" / "is it still my grandfather's axe if both the blade and the handle have been replaced" issue due to it being seen through the lens of Automaton Fiction. The idea of humans replacing body parts until they become entirely robotic, the Tin Man / Cybermen type model, has already been implied (though not fully explored) in "The New Eden", the first of the Automaton Fiction novels, and it is likely that future writers would look deeper into that issue. So transhumanism might come up as a philosophical concept in scientific romance years before it did in OTL--at, of course, the expense of other fields being passed over.

 

[imperialaquila]

Well, transhumanist speculation in LTTW will probably focus on the whole "cybernetics eat your soul" / "is it still my grandfather's axe if both the blade and the handle have been replaced" issue due to it being seen through the lens of Automaton Fiction. The idea of humans replacing body parts until they become entirely robotic, the Tin Man / Cybermen type model, has already been implied (though not fully explored) in "The New Eden", the first of the Automaton Fiction novels, and it is likely that future writers would look deeper into that issue. So transhumanism might come up as a philosophical concept in scientific romance years before it did in OTL--at, of course, the expense of other fields being passed over.

It sounds like something the Societists might embrace and encourage, since it allows them to further differentiate the different castes and give the elite another thing in common. The Diversitarians, of course, would then have to oppose it.

 

[Thande]

It sounds like something the Societists might embrace and encourage, since it allows them to further differentiate the different castes and give the elite another thing in common. The Diversitarians, of course, would then have to oppose it.

Well I doubt it's something the ideologies would consider much, because it would seem to belong purely to the realms of scientific romance. It'd be like communism and capitalism in OTL arguing over whether sentient androids are labour-replacing machines to liberate the workers or enslavement of thinking beings, etc. If the question is that theoretical and blue-skies, mainstream thinking is not going to take it seriously.

 

[Winston Smith]

Where's the best place I can find a quick run down to bring me up too speed in about a day or so?

 

[Nevermore]

Where's the best place I can find a quick run down to bring me up too speed in about a day or so?

Here you go. Granted, it's still a lot of information to digest, but that's probably the most convenient way to do Look to the West. Also a good thing if you can't recall a detail at a particular moment and need to refresh yourself through the 1000+ pages this timeline probably is, narrative-wise.

On a related note: this is something else I appreciate about LttW. Thanks for taking the time to write it all down, Thande.

 

[Thande]

Here you go. Granted, it's still a lot of information to digest, but that's probably the most convenient way to do Look to the West. Also a good thing if you can't recall a detail at a particular moment and need to refresh yourself through the 1000+ pages this timeline probably is, narrative-wise.

On a related note: this is something else I appreciate about LttW. Thanks for taking the time to write it all down, Thande.

Thanks, I appreciate that. Though I should point out that I mainly did it to help me keep track of all the events for writing future posts

 

[ArKhan]

Thande, is your new title of "pizza ninja" a hint that the Russo-Lithuanian Pacific Company may soon be invading Italy?

 

[othyrsyde]

Thande, is your new title of "pizza ninja" a hint that the Russo-Lithuanian Pacific Company may soon be invading Italy?

They begin it with a string of high profile ninja assassinations before Samurai and Cossacks storm in.

(I might draw a pic of these three groups doing a charge, and put it in a demotivational poster, reading :"YES! This is the Russian Army in LTTW)

 

[Deflare]

Well I doubt it's something the ideologies would consider much, because it would seem to belong purely to the realms of scientific romance. It'd be like communism and capitalism in OTL arguing over whether sentient androids are labour-replacing machines to liberate the workers or enslavement of thinking beings, etc. If the question is that theoretical and blue-skies, mainstream thinking is not going to take it seriously.

I didn't think that it'd be terribly relevant to the mainstream political philosophers, aye. Thanks for your thoughts. I'm now imagining a bit of Diversitarian propaganda, in the form of a short story about a Scotsman who gets transplanted with an Englishman's heart and suffers as a result. I recall hearing about some Nazi propaganda short stories along those lines.

 

[othyrsyde]

I didn't think that it'd be terribly relevant to the mainstream political philosophers, aye. Thanks for your thoughts. I'm now imagining a bit of Diversitarian propaganda, in the form of a short story about a Scotsman who gets transplanted with an Englishman's heart and suffers as a result. I recall hearing about some Nazi propaganda short stories along those lines.

The modern world of this TL just sounds so bizarre I can't wait to get there...but that also means LTTW will be over.

 

[ArKhan]

They begin it with a string of high profile ninja assassinations before Samurai and Cossacks storm in.

(I might draw a pic of these three groups doing a charge, and put it in a demotivational poster, reading :"YES! This is the Russian Army in LTTW)

An assassination involving pizza in some major way.

 

[othyrsyde]

An assassination involving pizza in some major way.

...The Pizza Party of Doom was the first offensive move by the Russian Empire in their campaign to subjugate the Italian Peninsula. The various heads of the Italian states were invited to a pizza party in Rome. However, the Russian Ninzya managed to infiltrate and poison every single pie. Within the morning, Italy was leaderless and confused. Soon the blame game was underway and in the resulting chaos of squabbling warfare, the great Cossack-Samurai horde was unnoticed as it was deployed by ships of the Russian Far East Trading Company...

Excerpt from 'Absurd Wars of the 19th Century'

 

[Thande]

Thande, is your new title of "pizza ninja" a hint that the Russo-Lithuanian Pacific Company may soon be invading Italy?

No, it's the product of my pondering "what would be the most 90s thing ever" on another thread

I didn't think that it'd be terribly relevant to the mainstream political philosophers, aye. Thanks for your thoughts. I'm now imagining a bit of Diversitarian propaganda, in the form of a short story about a Scotsman who gets transplanted with an Englishman's heart and suffers as a result. I recall hearing about some Nazi propaganda short stories along those lines.

That sounds about right...

 

[Lemon flavoured]

The modern world of this TL just sounds so bizarre I can't wait to get there...but that also means LTTW will be over.

Considering that it currently covers somewhere around 125 years in about what, 600,000(?) words. For it to get to the present day (another 150 ish years) will make it a total of more than 1,200,000 words long if it carries on at that rate. Of course, it could easily be shorter or longer, and since I can't read Thande's mind (he's probably grateful for that) I don't know for sure.

 

[Analytical Engine]

No, it's the product of my pondering "what would be the most 90s thing ever" on another thread

Clearly TMNT is the most 90s thing ever.

 

[Beedok]

Considering that it currently covers somewhere around 125 years in about what, 600,000(?) words. For it to get to the present day (another 150 ish years) will make it a total of more than 1,200,000 words long if it carries on at that rate. Of course, it could easily be shorter or longer, and since I can't read Thande's mind (he's probably grateful for that) I don't know for sure.

There's apparently some going between myself and Thande. That's part of the reason I'm happy to have moved further ahead chronologically with my timeline so that it looks like he's stealing my ideas instead of the other way.

Also, I like having in timeline arts, they help show culture which helps show the alieness of a world better than maps and history can.

 

[Lemon flavoured]

Also, I like having in timeline arts, they help show culture which helps show the alieness of a world better than maps and history can.

I agree, but it's sometimes difficult to do well.

 

[othyrsyde]

They begin it with a string of high profile ninja assassinations before Samurai and Cossacks storm in.

(I might draw a pic of these three groups doing a charge, and put it in a demotivational poster, reading :"YES! This is the Russian Army in LTTW)

Kinda did this

 

[ArKhan]

...The Pizza Party of Doom was the first offensive move by the Russian Empire in their campaign to subjugate the Italian Peninsula. The various heads of the Italian states were invited to a pizza party in Rome. However, the Russian Ninzya managed to infiltrate and poison every single pie. Within the morning, Italy was leaderless and confused. Soon the blame game was underway and in the resulting chaos of squabbling warfare, the great Cossack-Samurai horde was unnoticed as it was deployed by ships of the Russian Far East Trading Company...

Excerpt from 'Absurd Wars of the 19th Century'

Okay, that is offically the greatest thing ever.

 

[othyrsyde]

Okay, that is offically the greatest thing ever.

Thanks , even though it's really silly.