Weekly Update #199: Time Travel is Dangerous

Editor's Notes

Only 1 week away from Weekly Update #200 and a special announcement from yours truly. On top of that, I will most likely surpass 700,000 total views this month. Suddenly 1,000,000 views does not sound that impossible anymore.

In more secretive news, I had a fun time Saturday talking with a certain alternate historian you all should know rather well. Our project is gaining a momentum and we both look forward to sharing it with you all very soon.

And now the news...

4 Reasons Why Time Travel is Dangerous!

If there is one thing I learned this week from the news its that TIME TRAVEL IS DANGEROUS!!! Here are the four reasons why you should think twice before jumping into that time machine:

#1: The People in the Past Are Crazy. Such as this maid who killed her employer in 1870, took over her life and even fed the fat boiled off from the dead body to children. Yikes! So much for those Victorian morals.

#2: You Could Accidentally Destroy Yourself. According to science, if time travel were real you would inevitably create two versions of yourself that would eventually meet and annihilate the other. So perhaps Doc Brown wasn't that far off when he cautioned Marty about running into himself in the future.

#3: Your Historical Ignorance Can Be Your Undoing. People often assume they know history, when they really don't. Just check out these popular historical misconceptions that could cause a lot of problems for you, especially if you try to change the past. This brings me to my last point...

#4: The Outcome is Always Unclear. You just can't control what will happen if you change the past, whether it is intentionally or by accident. Who knows what damage you could cause. You may even wipe out the United States!

So leave time travel to the professionals. You know the ones I am talking about: alien outlaws, crazy scientists and cops who speak with a Belgian accent.

Video of the Week

This week the featured video goes to the new History Respawned video on Tropico 5:

This episode featured John Harney as he talked with Dr. Renata Keller of Boston University about how Tropico 5 parodied US-Cuba relations, racial dynamics in the Caribbean and how difficult it is using humor to tell history.

Honorable mention goes out to Alternate History Hub's What if the Drug War Never Occurred?

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.