Look to the West Volume VII: The Eye Against the Prism

[Thande]

Just so everyone is aware - I have decided to make this volume 25 parts, i.e. it will conclude after part 275, then there will be a break for a while and then we'll resume with Volume VIII.

 

[Bene Tleilax]

Together in Electric Dreams

I love you.

 

[LostInNewDelhi]

Have hydroelectric systems been tried out yet?

 

[Umbric Man]

What certainly “is” a dramatic change, as Joe Gander stated at the start of the first part of this article, is how electricity changed our lives. No longer are we condemned to live our lives according to the cycle of the sun and moon; no more do we cower in the dim glow of the flickering candle or the hissing luftlight, but conquer the darkness of ignorance with the blazing white fire of science. No longer do we sweat feverishly in lands which the Ancient Greeks believed were so hot to be uninhabitable by humans. Electricity powers the ypologists which process our data and solve our problems, the Photel and Motoscopy through which we see a greater part of the world than our ancestors ever could have, the electric iceboxes which allow us to store food through lean times. It frees us from the age of serfdom, from the time when the majority of human beings lived to perform menial tasks for a privileged few. When we condemn those privileged figures of the past, let us stop to reflect that the meanest pauper in our own society has the opportunity to live a life more comfortable than those men and women of privilege could have dreamed of.

You know. This is actually really wholesome and uplifting, and I needed this. Badly. It's a nice change of pace from so many timelines that can tend to focus on the grim or dramatic and be reminded humanity can, and does in fact, advance.

 

[xsampa]

The post’s explanation of how modern AC/DC came into being has a lot of surprising moments, like the reference to an Egyptian philosopher. Not only is Egypt independent TTL, but it also produces internationally recognized philosophers.

also, the Uppsala school of Sociology is tantalizing because we know next to nothing about sociology, and considering how divergent politics is TTL,expect sociology to be alien

 

[Kriegdämmerung]

Even though the Panic of 1916 hit in the middle of all this, the demonstrated power of SC was such that money continued to pour in from both at home and farther afield.

One note: Isn't this the Panic of 1917?

Also, was really hoping for someone to reuse Lee Kuan Yew's (apocryphal?) line about air conditioning being the greatest invention of the 20th century. But interesting conclusions nevertheless.

 

[Squidfam]

also, the Uppsala school of Sociology is tantalizing because we know next to nothing about sociology, and considering how divergent politics is TTL,expect sociology to be alien

as someone who lives about 20 minutes from Uppsala and have just completed a course in sociology, i can't do anything but heartily agree.

 

[1SaBy]

the Egyptian philosopher Amar Bachum

Not only is Egypt independent TTL, but it also produces internationally recognized philosophers.

I wondered about this. When did Mr Bachum say this? In the "present" of the timeline in the 1920s/1930s or later when the Ottoman Empire went Societist? Did Egypt go with it, and Bachum is another "refugiado", or was northern Africa spared?

 

[John Spangler]

Look to the West, Electric Boogaloo Edition!

 

[Thande]

One note: Isn't this the Panic of 1917?

Thanks for catching that, will fix it in the file.

 

[Thande]

I love you.

Seeing as Oakey is from the city where I now live (Sheffield), seemed appropriate.

Have hydroelectric systems been tried out yet?

Yes but not to the extent by the mid-20th century that they would be covered in that article.

 

[xsampa]

It actually might make sense for the Eternal State to allow Egypt and Mesopotamia to secede because they are a) populous and not-Anatolia b) centers of Arab separatism c) can be used to keep the Maghreb/Syria/Arabia in line

 

[xsampa]

I wondered about this. When did Mr Bachum say this? In the "present" of the timeline in the 1920s/1930s or later when the Ottoman Empire went Societist? Did Egypt go with it, and Bachum is another "refugiado", or was northern Africa spared?

Malê rising has an Ottoman Union without African territories but with Eurasian ones. However, it seems that totally abandoning Africa seems unlikely for the Ottomans TTL. They only reconquered Algeria in the 1860s.

 

[Canuck Wingnut]

In any case, Civic Steam and Luft were never as widespread as later fictional depictions of the period may inaccurately lead us to believe.

I wonder how widespread and successful they were, and how much their existence will impact the adoption of electric grids in cities TTL. Ineeficient as they were, some users are likely to stick with the old systems for a surprisingly long time: OTL the London Hydraulic Power Company didn't close it's doors until 1977. Of course, that didn't stop London from getting an electric grid, but I wonder if a sufficiently widespread mechanical power transmission system could disrupt the economics of building new electric systems sufficiently to meaningfully delay adoption?

 

[xsampa]

Malê rising has an Ottoman Union without African territories but with Eurasian ones. However, it seems that totally abandoning Africa seems unlikely for the Ottomans TTL. They only reconquered Algeria in the 1860s.

Also, the Sociottomans in Africa means they can threaten the Tyrrhenian League and Greece with reconquest but not do anything because the Bouclier likely extends to them as well.

 

[xsampa]

I wondered about this. When did Mr Bachum say this? In the "present" of the timeline in the 1920s/1930s or later when the Ottoman Empire went Societist? Did Egypt go with it, and Bachum is another "refugiado", or was northern Africa spared?

If that were the case, it would be former Ottoman/Egyptian. Because Diversitarian texts often foreshadow future nations e.g the reference to Chileans and Platineans

 

[HistLover]

If that were the case, it would be former Ottoman/Egyptian. Because Diversitarian texts often foreshadow future nations e.g the reference to Chileans and Platineans

Where does it reference Chileans?

 

[xsampa]

Where does it reference Chileans?

possibly former ChileanKarlus Karrerus" 1. The Societists are associated with megaprojects paralleling the American engineering community's disgust with "

 

[Thande]

Just asking for a quick favour from the readers of this thread, especially those based in the USA; if any of you have read "N'Oublions Jamais" (or any of the component stories) and enjoyed it, would you mind leaving a review/star rating? I try normally not to nag people for these, but the US Amazon page for that book has had a negative review and getting those early on in the sales process can cause disproportionate problems for sales. Thanks very much to anyone who is able to do so.

I'm mainly not asking for myself but because there are a lot of new/first-time authors in this collection (including some from this website) and I don't want them to be tarred with the brush of a bad review on what is currently their only published work.

Next LTTW update will arrive on Sunday as usual - unusually I have actually already written part of it, rather than doing it all in one go!

 

[xsampa]

Great work!