It’s the Friday Group Therapy:
1. How well did you do in History class in school? Pretty well. Indeed, well enough that I decided (eventually) to major in the damned subject in college.
2. Who is your favorite historical “good” person?
Hmmmmm. If I had to name one, it would probably be John Adams. Patriot, scholar, leader, devoted husband.
It’s tough, both because (a) historic records of most individuals show where even the most admirable folks had occasional feet of clay, and (b) our perceptions tend to be colored by secondary and tertiary sources, and movies and books and TV, which means — are we in love (or hate) with person X, or with the character representing person X in that movie we saw last year.
3. Who is your favorite historical “bad” person?
Emperor Tiberius. Probably the best example of how absolute power corrupts absolutely (though succeeding emperors certainly gave it the old college try to surpass his example).
4. Is there a historical event or era that has caught your imagination?
Oh, any number of them where I’d like to be a fly on the wall. The Second Continental Congress, for one, or the Constitutional Convention (jeez, can you tell I watched 1776 recently?). The Reformation was an area I specialized in — I wouldn’t mind seeing it more closely, though still from a safe distance. Current events, too — Watergate, the Cuban Missile Crisis. World War II is an old interest area of mine.
5. If you could choose any historical time and place to live, where and when would you choose?
Right. Frelling. Now.
I mean, I like modern medicine, and dental care and anaesthesia, and antibiotics, not to mention TV and DVDs and the Internet and air travel (and cars). Not to mention current legal protections here in the US of A.
History might be an interesting place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.
6. If you could go back in time with your present knowledge intact, where would you go and what would you do?
Jerusalem, around AD 30. There are some events there I’d like to get the skinny on. As long as I had the opportunity to return to the present, too …
7. Which version of the beginning of time do you subscribe to? (Big Bang, Biblical Creation, etc…)
The evidence certainly indicates a Big Bang, though I have no problem grafting on an Intent behind it. Frankly, I think running a universal billiards game to lead to the events of the present era is far more impressive than fiat creating in six days.