I’ve never been big on real-world history, it never really interested me that much - no matter how directly I’m connected to it. Anything I learn usually escapes from my mind and is maybe reminded of eventually, but otherwise it tends to not be on my mind.
Yet, with fictional universes such as those in Halo, Portal/Half-Life, and Fallout, I not only find myself interested in the history of them, but also find myself remembering each of them - I could easily talk about every (known) event in the Halo universe if I chose to do so.
Why is this? Why do I find myself using up so much brain power on a fictional universe rather than the real universe? It seems very counter-productive to me.
well, human mind works in strange ways and it could be just preference or you are just more interested in humanitys future rather than its history so basically you might be thinking about what path humanity will take and what kind of discoveries it will make rather than looking up the researched history of human race, or it could even be a phase in which you are most interested in certain kinds of fiction or future. Or you might even just enjoy fiction which has open continuation and is set in someplace where you wont ever be. I cant really say anything with certainty and those are just few examples of the reason behind such a way of thinking for there are so many possibilities and changing factors that its quite difficult to say anything certain about the mind of a other Person.
Haha I share the same case.
However, I’m very interested in real world history now because of Halo. You know why? Because our history is canon to Halo. And if I like Halo so much as I do, then I have to learn our history to understand it all. Irony.
This could motivate you to learn more about our history.
Sincerely,
p1ay4OURFUN
If I had to guess…it might have to do with the fact that it doesnt directly effect you, and you can add to it and change it at will with your mind, making OCs or even entire new branches of the universe as you want.
Wow, how strange.
You don’t even interested in the ancient Greek history? The Spartan soldiers, who fought against Xerxes?
I think part of it may be that fiction is written to try to interest people. History in Halo, as a fictional universe, is affected by this.
By comparison, actual history isn’t necessarily written (as far as humanity knows), and stuff just kinda happens. There are plans and projects scattered about, but it isn’t exactly written to interest people.
The fictional history consists only of highlights whose existence is intended to keep the interest of a variety of people. The heroes and villains are bold, and stand out from their peers in our memories.
Real history is filled with the mundane, with brief flashes of brilliance and long trudges through quagmires of human nature. Real heroes and villains look just like the people around them, and often the lines are far more muddied than we get in fictional worlds.
I’m a History major, so I like real history, but it really doesn’t stick in the memory as easily as fictional worlds.
I recommend research on the original Spartans. I’ve always been into military history of any kind , but my favorite was Ancient Greece. And more particularly ,the Spartans, the best soldiers humanity has ever and will ever witness.
And when I learned that John was one child soldier among many under the code name of SPARTAN ,that was enough to hook me for 15 years
> 2533274916736578;8:
> I recommend research on the original Spartans. I’ve always been into military history of any kind , but my favorite was Ancient Greece. And more particularly ,the Spartans, the best soldiers humanity has ever and will ever witness.
>
> And when I learned that John was one child soldier among many under the code name of SPARTAN ,that was enough to hook me for 15 years
both are quite interesting and share similarities beyond the name spartan. Like both were trained during childhood, raised for war and battle, both are/were known for their effectiveness for battle, they were known for peak human physiology and seemed to have social problems (correct me if im wrong but i remember spartan soldiers were banned from olympic wrestling for they sometimes killed their opponent, much like 117 does but with ODST:s in a boxing match).
> 2533274919463107;3:
> Haha I share the same case.
>
> However, I’m very interested in real world history now because of Halo. You know why? Because our history is canon to Halo. And if I like Halo so much as I do, then I have to learn our history to understand it all. Irony.
>
> This could motivate you to learn more about our history.
>
> Sincerely,
> p1ay4OURFUN
whatever floats your boat but just remember that history is written by victors (no, not the people named victor but by those who were victorious), still that doesnt mean that everything is a lie but i believe that we are taught some lies even in the history class. Its just about what is likely, what is told and what is the truth. We may never know, hence a bit of scepticism is needed.
> 2533274890014309;10:
> > 2533274919463107;3:
> > Haha I share the same case.
> >
> > However, I’m very interested in real world history now because of Halo. You know why? Because our history is canon to Halo. And if I like Halo so much as I do, then I have to learn our history to understand it all. Irony.
> >
> > This could motivate you to learn more about our history.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > p1ay4OURFUN
>
> whatever floats your boat but just remember that history is written by victors (no, not the people named victor but by those who were victorious), still that doesnt mean that everything is a lie but i believe that we are taught some lies even in the history class. Its just about what is likely, what is told and what is the truth. We may never know, hence a bit of scepticism is needed.
Well yeah. But the majority of history we gather through multiple sources and personal research is close to the truth in what occurred. You can’t always rely on one source. You go out of your way and learn and gather from as many multiple sources as you can.
Much in the way how fiction is written. We’re given pieces of fictional history that won’t always tell the complete story, or even the whole truth. Not all mysteries in fiction need to be explained, and those mysteries will linger forever, just as how historical mysteries remain unexplained. As such, intellectual skepticism not only applies to history itself, but also fiction.
> 2533274974033696;1:
> I’ve never been big on real-world history, it never really interested me that much - no matter how directly I’m connected to it. Anything I learn usually escapes from my mind and is maybe reminded of eventually, but otherwise it tends to not be on my mind.
>
> Yet, with fictional universes such as those in Halo, Portal/Half-Life, and Fallout, I not only find myself interested in the history of them, but also find myself remembering each of them - I could easily talk about every (known) event in the Halo universe if I chose to do so.
>
> Why is this? Why do I find myself using up so much brain power on a fictional universe rather than the real universe? It seems very counter-productive to me.
Because it is made to be interesting, when real world history just happened.
> 2533274890014309;9:
> > 2533274916736578;8:
> > I recommend research on the original Spartans. I’ve always been into military history of any kind , but my favorite was Ancient Greece. And more particularly ,the Spartans, the best soldiers humanity has ever and will ever witness.
> >
> > And when I learned that John was one child soldier among many under the code name of SPARTAN ,that was enough to hook me for 15 years
>
> both are quite interesting and share similarities beyond the name spartan. Like both were trained during childhood, raised for war and battle, both are/were known for their effectiveness for battle, they were known for peak human physiology and seemed to have social problems (correct me if im wrong but i remember spartan soldiers were banned from olympic wrestling for they sometimes killed their opponent, much like 117 does but with ODST:s in a boxing match).
The similarities between them is why Halsey came up with the code name that she did. They were trained in similar ways too, like when the SIIs got dropped off in Reach’s outback and had to find their own way home.
And if you had any physical or mental shortcomings, you were killed. If you lost any of your equipment, you were killed , Etc. . That ensured peak performance.
And yea, they weren’t known for their social skills. It is noted that Spartans were weird or ‘awkward’ in the way they communicated with anyone outside of their own. Though that didn’t stop every other Greek city state from falling over each other to ally themselves with Sparta in times of war.
While it’s important to remember our own history so we don’t repeat our mistakes, I find fictional history and lore more interesting. I guess you could say I’m bored with reality and it’s limits and in fiction I am not limited to anything, same goes with its history.
> 2533274916736578;13:
> > 2533274890014309;9:
> > > 2533274916736578;8:
> > > I recommend research on the original Spartans. I’ve always been into military history of any kind , but my favorite was Ancient Greece. And more particularly ,the Spartans, the best soldiers humanity has ever and will ever witness.
> > >
> > > And when I learned that John was one child soldier among many under the code name of SPARTAN ,that was enough to hook me for 15 years
> >
> > both are quite interesting and share similarities beyond the name spartan. Like both were trained during childhood, raised for war and battle, both are/were known for their effectiveness for battle, they were known for peak human physiology and seemed to have social problems (correct me if im wrong but i remember spartan soldiers were banned from olympic wrestling for they sometimes killed their opponent, much like 117 does but with ODST:s in a boxing match).
>
> The similarities between them is why Halsey came up with the code name that she did. They were trained in similar ways too, like when the SIIs got dropped off in Reach’s outback and had to find their own way home.
>
> And if you had any physical or mental shortcomings, you were killed. If you lost any of your equipment, you were killed , Etc. . That ensured peak performance.
>
> And yea, they weren’t known for their social skills. It is noted that Spartans were weird or ‘awkward’ in the way they communicated with anyone outside of their own. Though that didn’t stop every other Greek city state from falling over each other to ally themselves with Sparta in times of war.
pretty much, and there is just so much more cases in history where there are famous warriors or miracles in war that makes me think that why it doesnt interest more people, though its not for everybody.
though im more interested that how my country is depicted in islandic sagas (its about the Iron age) which seems to be thought of as false but im wondering if this is again the case of the victor writing the history for arabic records seem to be in line with the islandic ones. Though spartans are interesting too those things seem so far away and widely discussed.
A possible factor for your mindset may be that you haven’t ventured far enough into any historical setting that entices you. Big events tend to be more frequent in Halo, which in itself takes away an element of realism thus should not be analysed as ‘fictional history’ at all because it is what it is, fictional.
Another possibility is that you are only retaining information you want to. Simply put, you choose to immerse yourself with certain characters, technology and events. There has been research into this field from a psychological standpoint, and the fact you usually see the events happen in Halo (in-game) would enable auditory, visual and literary memory processes to work simultaneously. This all leads into the fact you may be more interested fiction because you understand it greater than real history, allowing you to actually think about challenging questions about the Universe you enjoy whereas history tends to be far more complex due to social, economic and political factors.
It’s also worth noting that Halo takes elements of ‘real-world’ history and religion and expands on it creatively. For example, The Great Schism and Protestant Reformations inspire Halo’s Great Schism. Likewise, elements from the bible - The Ark can be seen.
> 2533274881094048;16:
> It’s also worth noting that Halo takes elements of ‘real-world’ history and religion and expands on it creatively. For example, The Great Schism and Protestant Reformations inspire Halo’s Great Schism. Likewise, elements from the bible - The Ark can be seen.
This is one reason I’m so fascinated with our real history. Look deep enough and you can find stories and real happenings that are so far fetched they sound as if they were fiction and the reasoning behind them are fantastic.
I for one find our real history far more interesting then any fictional setting. Though, I tend to enjoy the fictional settings with deep connections and well thought out lore/etc or that are deeply rooted with ideas from real world settings and peoples.
History is pretty dang sweet, but it’s not commericalized.
Halo is small and simple. If you want to know about the events on the Ark in 2555, there’s Halopedia or Halo Nation for the adequate and conjecture-riddled paraphrasing (respectively), the forums to ask, but both come from a single perfect source: the novel Hunters in the Dark. By “perfect” I don’t mean they can’t contain false information, but that there are no contradicting sources. We have a few events across the series that have such sources, but even then we never have more than half a dozen, tops. And in any case, all of these are clicks away on the computer, at this point – you can probably literally download every form of Halo lore that has existed since Halo began.
But history? There’s so much of it, and so many historical writers that tell different versions of the same events. We can’t know the thoughts of the actors that shaped the past, we can only know what they said and did, and what people said and did in regards to them. If you want to know about a subject, generally the internet isn’t going to help you much. Wikipedia is a great primer, but the majority of sources remain physical texts, or locked behind pay walls. Which sounds like Halo, right? But Halo is simple, and those wiki entries give you like 50% of all the useful data in anything in Halo, but abstracts and wikipedia entries on a subject probably account for less than 10% of all information on a subject at best. Learning history is inconvenient.
I find that interest in real history depends on how much you’ve researched it/ what you’ve researched. If your experience with history goes as far as standard education with a bit of background reading here and there, then I wouldn’t blame you for being bored by it.
Personally I’ve always found history interesting, and if you look in the right places you can find that real world history is sometimes crazier than fictional history.
At the same time, fiction is a form of entertainment. It’s designed to be more interesting and “fun” at face value.