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Oct. 10th, 2023 10:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wispfoxThe thing about history is that it's rarely taught in a way I can grasp and retain.
I kind of want a globe that is a physical object but also digital - let me tell it a time period (year, decade, century, whatever) and have it show me the world at that time.
Maybe pop up the biggest events in a particular area for that time period, with the ability to adjust what you're interested in. Boundary markings to the best of our knowledge at the time, indications of what changed where, when, and why for boundaries. Inventions, preferably including not just the people famous for them, the option to see our best understanding of a day/week/time period in the life of someone from a place and time.
Just. Let me explore. Help me be able to see what was going on in the world at the same time, how it was then in various parts of the world. I always love finding out what was happening at the same time, but it's rarely taught that way. It's usually names and dates and I'm bad with those in my own life, let alone as dry, isolated information I'm supposed to remember.
I kind of want a globe that is a physical object but also digital - let me tell it a time period (year, decade, century, whatever) and have it show me the world at that time.
Maybe pop up the biggest events in a particular area for that time period, with the ability to adjust what you're interested in. Boundary markings to the best of our knowledge at the time, indications of what changed where, when, and why for boundaries. Inventions, preferably including not just the people famous for them, the option to see our best understanding of a day/week/time period in the life of someone from a place and time.
Just. Let me explore. Help me be able to see what was going on in the world at the same time, how it was then in various parts of the world. I always love finding out what was happening at the same time, but it's rarely taught that way. It's usually names and dates and I'm bad with those in my own life, let alone as dry, isolated information I'm supposed to remember.
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Date: 2023-10-11 02:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 03:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-11 10:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-11 10:25 pm (UTC)I've found strategy games really good for teaching history in a nonlinear way (Crusader Kings covers a fair amount of this, it's just really specific to medieval Europe).
I played a lot of historical games as a kid and by the time I was in school for it didn't need to be taught... and in college history classes are quite different. Most games are going to be pretty Western/US centric, though, and it's... not something designers can really be neutral about. I'm learning a lot more about Asian history from my partner (who I think almost double majored in history) and the game I'm working on in my spare time is historical fantasy (specifically about medieval Southern Europe under the Ottoman Empire).
May play with this.
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Date: 2023-10-13 03:02 am (UTC)I wish I could play strategy games, because yes - they often provide great context for a lot of this!
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Date: 2023-10-17 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-11 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 02:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-12 06:11 am (UTC)I think the form of history that makes most sense to me personally is a story that follows one particular idea or technology or person. Cause and effect is an organizing principle for me, I think, similar to the way simultaneity seems like it is for you.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-12 09:33 pm (UTC)Hmmmmmm. That would be 2D maps, not a 3D globe though. THAT, my little 2D brain cannot handle.
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Date: 2023-10-13 02:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 09:37 pm (UTC)EDIT: Hmm... I think what would make that work is a map or globe, with annotations showing current processes and arrows showing major cross-regional influences. Examples of these might be "increasing dissatisfaction with the monarchy" or "colonization of X by Y". Then you could scrub forward or back in time. Showing events would be harder in this view; maybe have them fade in and out over time. But then you have to somehow indicate whether they're coming or going. :-)
no subject
Date: 2023-10-14 12:16 am (UTC)