Media II

My brain moves slowly while I am laid up with a cold. Also, I have been made aware of on-line alternative media and commentaries which are like a spectrum of alternative histories. We have to make our own judgment as to which of these alternative narratives is closest to or furthest from the truth. They challenge the pretensions of the BBC which most definitely lacks a monopoly on truth.

James Blish wrote that historical fiction is a natural alternative medium for sf writers. Both deal with periods other than that of the author and his audience. Both Blish and Anderson wrote historical fiction as well as sf although Anderson was considerably more prolific. But history plays a major part in Anderson's sf. Time travellers, immortals and even extraterrestrials move around in Earth's past. Future histories involve historical processes which can repeat or diverge from those of the past. The Psychotechnic History begins with the assassination of a potential Marius. There are also alternative histories which can be either fantastic (gods exist and magic works) or realistic (the scientific revolution never happened).

We imagine populations in Anderson's Psychotechnic and Technic Histories doing what we do: studying their pasts and accessing both mainstream and alternative media accounts of their presents. The Merseian Roidhunate tries to spread disinformation on Terra.