Your Favourite era of History

[rasputin0009]

I've read a few things about China and it's amazing what they have invented.

My favourite thing that the Chinese invented was paper currency in 1024 CE. Their bureaucracy and centralized government was so trustworthy that they could give people a piece of paper that told them how much money they have.

The era where we aren't all trying to kill each other for once. So the 90s I guess. Closest it ever came to that it seems.

The 90s were actually pretty violent. We had:

-The Gulf War
-the Rwandan Genocide
-The First Chechen war
-The Afghanistan Civil war
-The Yugoslav wars (10-day war, bosnia war, etc.)
-The First Congo war

... to name a few, plus many other civil wars in Africa and Asia.

All depends on your definition of violence. Deaths related to combat has been steadily decreasing since WW2. Deaths in the 90's were a fraction of the 80's, which were a fraction of the 70's, and so forth. The most peaceful time is right now, actually. Thank the engineers for tactical missiles.

Deaths as a result of economic disparity on the otherhand... wait, no, that's been exponentially decreasing. Thank the governments that we all rely on each other for trade.

Racial violence? Exponentially decreasing. Thank the computer nerds for social networks.

Anyways, keep it up everybody, and maybe we'll all love each other eventually.

On topic: My favourite period might be WW1 because nobody had any idea what they were doing or what they wanted. It was such a hilarious clusterfuck of mistakes (the mistakes themselves were hilarious, not the fact that millions of people died as a result of them).

 

[MCerberus]

I've always been drawn to periods of time where the big movers were the ones with really interesting mythologies. We're talking Classical Age, Vikings, and when there was a real schism or break from established religions. We're talking rise of Islam, the spread of Buddhism, and the endless power grabs and murderous stupidity of the crusades. Some of them provide really important context about worldviews applicable today...

But the old polytheistic religions are the world's best/worst soap opera. Logic sort of disappears. Just look at Sleipnir and Sisyphus.

 

[awesomeClaw]

The victorian and edwardian eras.

Both of them are incredibly fascinating just because of the massive Changes that were occuring. I also love the optimism that came with the era. I also find a sort of morbid pride in how the european people came to dominate the planet. Say what you will about all our misdeeds - for a few brief moments, we ruled the world. Everyone either bowed to us or died.
To say that´s not a powerful feeling is to lie.

 

[Skeleon]

Well, speaking of real eras... Ancient Egypt - yes, the many thousands of years with different kingdoms - is very fascinating to me.

But a lot of fictional settings use pseudo-historical backgrounds (for example: fantasy --> medieval), and - discounting various dystopian and other futures - of the fictional ones I'm probably most fascinated by the steampunky Jules Verne kind of Victorian-ish era. Steampunk is kind of overused now, but I still like it.

 

[sextus the crazy]

On topic: My favourite period might be WW1 because nobody had any idea what they were doing or what they wanted. It was such a hilarious clusterfuck of mistakes (the mistakes themselves were hilarious, not the fact that millions of people died as a result of them).

Tru dat. And since WWI caused WWII (or the second 30 years war depending on what you call it), We can say that the worlds worst conflict was caused by sheer stupidity. Or a sandwich, if cracked is to be believed.

 

[Someone Depressing]

The urban era - ie, now. Technology is only growing, and movies, games, art, and various different media are all expanding.

It's also funny to hear about British tabloids getting everything (and I mean, everything) completely wrong.

 

[clippen05]

Easily the Colonial and Imperial Ages... I don't know why but I've always been fascinated with it. Imperial Great Britain, while not necessarily a benevolent time, fascinates me. And the changing times with the age of enlightenment and Industrial Revolution are in there too... lots of good stuff.