Historian Campaign Thread

Nubclear · July 5, 2002, 17:09

People of Apolyton,

Have you ever gone to the scribes house, to find out about your own families history, of the history of our great country, Apolyton? Have you ever picked up a clay tablet, and read about how politics has shaped our world today? Have you ever wondered whom inscribes them?

The historian. Every day, he looks at what is happening in our world, and begins to inscribe them. He tirelessly works every day, for most of the day, writing about our great civilization.

Now I ask you to imagine what shall happen in the future without a historian. In the future, you sit there looking over the mountain top, seeing all that your great civilization has achieved. You are now able to fly into the heavens, and you are able to go down into the forum to debate various things. You have nice clothwear, and you are able to experience forms of entertainment not even concieved of yet.

But there's just one pressing question: How did you get here? What has happend in your past? Philosophers will no doubt discover some things, but without a historian all of our memories, achievments, our empire as a whole will simply fade into the past. We cannot, we must not allow that to happen.

The historian, when elected, will have the job of putting out memories into the eternal stone so that our children may read of our endeavours and successes and gasp at amazement of not only what we have done in the past, but what we can do in the future.

Now, you may say that anyone can be a historian, but that is not true. In many ways, the historian position is more important than military, science, or even president because without the memories, none of it matters in the future. Who could possibly tackle this huge undertaking? Who could keep our records safe and clear so that future generations know of our name, our great nation of Apolyton??

I believe that I can. Because I have had experience with writing, much experience. If you care to look at my last Science Campaign thread, I believe that I have already proven that I can write quite well. And that is what we need, someone who can write well. We musn't leave our history in the hands of someone who does not know how to write clearly because if we do, we shall soon fade into nothingness.

So I urge you, I implore you to please support me. Because in this position, writing is indeed everything.

Tassadar

----

This thread is for the election of Historian. Please post your questions and comments here.

History Guy · July 5, 2002, 18:07

Friends, Brothers, Sisters,

I am, like my honorable friend, the good Mr. Tassadar, a nominee for the vastly important post of historian. I can only promise you what I shall do for you, and nothing more. There shall indeed be no false promises from my lips.

I believe, good people, that the historian must write the saga of our history and of the history of man in general in as un-biased a fashion as is humanly possible. Remember Cicero's words, "the first law of the historian is that he shall never dare utter an untruth. The second is that he shall suppress nothing that is true. Moreover, there shall be no suspicion of partiality in his writing, or of malice."

In other words, all that I write must be as it was, without my own interperatation of the events. When I take up the papyrus and write down the events of the horrific battle of Weasle Run, in which one of our warriors defeated a barbarian warrior, I will tell the whole truth, I will not insert my own biased opinions on the events, I will simply provide the facts, so that future generations, when we have all passed on to worlds unknown, will gain a deeper knowledge of the whole of the ancient Apolytonians. I promise you also that I will not utter untruths in my writings.

I must remind you that the knowledge of our civilization's history is the pinnacle of our knowledge as a nation. If we do not know our history as it happened, than we will be doomed to repeat it. If we do not know that which has happened, if we do not know of the mistakes that have been made, how then shall we prevent a similar circumstance, and a similar mistake? This sort of knowledge can not alone be preserved by folklore, as our barbarian enemies who have not discovered the value of historians will come to realize, it must be written down and preserved.

And finally, if the question of my writing skills and ability comes up, than I ask you to look no further than my own writings on Apolyton, that which I have written in the Alpha Centauri Fiction Forum, and the Civilization 3 Stories Forum, and you shall see that I am not without writing skills.

I ask you to vote for me for the roll of historian, so that we might all preserve our history for future generations. If I am elected, I promise you an unbiased, truthful, and well-written account of our history, preserved for the ages. Thank you all.

HazieDaVampire · July 5, 2002, 18:25

i was going to post a thread about getting help cuz i've been buisy since the second turn chat trying to complete a Maths essay, a big one! Every bit of my time awake has been on it, or going to get help, all of the free time has been spent sleeping!

Nubclear · July 5, 2002, 19:22

Quote:

Originally posted by History Guy
Friends, Brothers, Sisters,

I am, like my honorable friend, the good Mr. Tassadar, a nominee for the vastly important post of historian. I can only promise you what I shall do for you, and nothing more. There shall indeed be no false promises from my lips.

I believe, good people, that the historian must write the saga of our history and of the history of man in general in as un-biased a fashion as is humanly possible. Remember Cicero's words, "the first law of the historian is that he shall never dare utter an untruth. The second is that he shall suppress nothing that is true. Moreover, there shall be no suspicion of partiality in his writing, or of malice."

In other words, all that I write must be as it was, without my own interperatation of the events. When I take up the papyrus and write down the events of the horrific battle of Weasle Run, in which one of our warriors defeated a barbarian warrior, I will tell the whole truth, I will not insert my own biased opinions on the events, I will simply provide the facts, so that future generations, when we have all passed on to worlds unknown, will gain a deeper knowledge of the whole of the ancient Apolytonians. I promise you also that I will not utter untruths in my writings.

I must remind you that the knowledge of our civilization's history is the pinnacle of our knowledge as a nation. If we do not know our history as it happened, than we will be doomed to repeat it. If we do not know that which has happened, if we do not know of the mistakes that have been made, how then shall we prevent a similar circumstance, and a similar mistake? This sort of knowledge can not alone be preserved by folklore, as our barbarian enemies who have not discovered the value of historians will come to realize, it must be written down and preserved.

And finally, if the question of my writing skills and ability comes up, than I ask you to look no further than my own writings on Apolyton, that which I have written in the Alpha Centauri Fiction Forum, and the Civilization 3 Stories Forum, and you shall see that I am not without writing skills.

I ask you to vote for me for the roll of historian, so that we might all preserve our history for future generations. If I am elected, I promise you an unbiased, truthful, and well-written account of our history, preserved for the ages. Thank you all.

It appears as if we both share the same values, the same ideas. Therefore, I call upon the people of this great nation to ask questions. Because questions provide answers, answers provide knowledge, and knowledge is power.

Spiffor · July 5, 2002, 20:15

Do you consider implementing some romanticism, even if it's at the cost of raw bjectivity ?

Do you consider making up myths for us, or will you be rational ?

jdd2007 · July 5, 2002, 20:16

how often will the word 'banana' appear in your work?

Robber Baron · July 5, 2002, 21:08

How do you plan to capture and communicate our story to the masses? As far as I'm concerned, this is one of the most important positions in the game -- not so much in generating strategy, of course, but in creating the larger experience for the citizens of Apolyton. We've been underserved, I'm afraid. We need a committed historian, who will put time and imagination into this project.

So, what media do each of the historians plan to use? The forums? A web site? Dramatic reenactments. Epic poetry. We don't just need a chronicler. We need a griot, a bard, a voice. We need Clio herself.

LordImpact · July 5, 2002, 21:13

Well since we dont have writing yet, how about some cave paintings? I agree. I wasn't even sure if we had a historian until i checked the government post this morning. We definately need to see SOMETHING. It is indeed an important position and the only one that warrants a large amount of creativity.

notyoueither · July 5, 2002, 21:20

Will you be able to devote the time necessary to do a good job for the time of your term? Or will managing your estates, shopping for slaves, or some other preoccupation (RL) take you away from us?

Ninot · July 5, 2002, 21:22

I think what NYE is asking is.. will you actually DO your job (as opposed to what the incumbent has done)

jdd2007 · July 5, 2002, 22:12

we have two qualified candidates that want the job. why cant they both do it? seriously...

LordImpact · July 5, 2002, 22:15

A colaboration? Innnnnnnteresting! Since both candidates make the job out to be quite extensive, then prehaps two historians would be a good idea. That is, if it's constitutional of course.
If we only had some judges to determine if it is...

jdd2007 · July 5, 2002, 22:15

im dead serious. it would be great

LordImpact · July 5, 2002, 22:18

and I agree. Forgive me if i came off as sarcastic. That was not my intent. Think of all the things two historians working together could accomplish!

notyoueither · July 5, 2002, 22:20

I agree. Maybe the one polling first can keep the other around as an assistant. Assuming they can get along that is.

LordImpact · July 5, 2002, 22:21

I don't see why they couldn't run together if they agree to make it a two-man position. No need to degrade one to assistant status...

notyoueither · July 5, 2002, 22:30

It's a little thing called a constitution. One of them needs to be charged with the responsibility. We need to be able to hold some one accountable for the success or failure of the tasks assigned.

No reason to exclude the other though, if they can work together. There is nothing derogatory in being an assistant, nor in staying around to help the one who polls first. In fact, the one who demonstrated the strength of character and the commitment to do that would be being a winner in my books.

Jon Shafer · July 5, 2002, 22:31

Or... they could just work around the Constitution... say, one of them forfeits, but they work together, but one of them is 'officially' the Historian. I don't see why that wouldn't work.

jdd2007 · July 5, 2002, 22:34

I demand an amendment

LordImpact · July 5, 2002, 22:34

You're both right of course. The decision is up to Tassadar and History Guy. I for one hope they can pool their efforts and make historian a position to be proud of.

jdd2007 · July 5, 2002, 22:37

thats right, we need to ask them.
of course!

notyoueither · July 5, 2002, 22:38

It would be an excellent opportunity for people who are good at it and inclined to put in the effort to rotate through the official position, all the while staying involved. Also allows them a chance to take breaks to recharge if needed.

Good historians can really make the game that much better.

Nubclear · July 6, 2002, 17:20

Well, seeing as how my opponent and potential partner has not responded to my requests, I shall answer questions and if he does respond, either myself or History Guy shall tell you.

Spiffor: If you mean how much 'spice' will I add to the stories, quite a bit. Every good writer knows that without "spice", you can't keep the auidence reading. However, objectivity should not take a hit.

JDD: We must inform future generations of our people about the Great Banana. Banana has given us this empire, and keeps our population fed by the abundance growing all around us. We MUST inform them of Banana so that they may also prosper.

Robber: I will use the forums as well as a website to keep things organized. Unless the people wish to have something different...I'm pretty sure you'll like it.

NYE: But of course! I shall devote as much time as requierd to this position, as if you don't have a commmited historian...Then the past will be forgotten.

And an update: I have contacted History Guy about us teaming up for the historian position, and have not yet gotten a response. However, I am confident that this will work.

History Guy · July 6, 2002, 22:45

I'm afraid I've been rather busy these past days, and some things have come up. Mainly, that the only time open to me this year for a decent vacation would be this month, and so I had decided to drop out of the election so as not to be unable to report on the 10 days period that I will be gone, as far as what has happened here in our great civilization of Apolytonia. However, now that this duel historian idea has popped up, I believe that perhaps things might work out.

Certainly the idea has great merit, and since we seem to agree on just about everything, I'd like to see it through. There will be no head historian and assistant historian, however, there will be two historians who will work together. The idea is a good one, and one that we should definitely see through. I'm for working with Mr. Tassader, and I trust he feels the same about myself. And so, I believe it should be done, and that for the first time, a written account of our history should be created. I'm for this plan.

Jon Shafer · July 6, 2002, 22:49

So should our only historian candidate be Tassadar5000 (DIA)/History Guy (UFC)?

History Guy · July 6, 2002, 22:50

As for the rather interesting question of mythology (the banana legends, the old gods of the banana, Bananasiris, Bananaton, and the like) and of the question of romanticism, here are my answers.

1) Mythology. It should be recorded, of course, and preserved, as it sheds vital evidence on the way the ancients thought. It should not be regarded as history, however.

2) Romanticism. There will be to a certain extant, of course, there always is. However, it is not exactly what is best for a proper history.

jdd2007 · July 6, 2002, 22:51

well now for the amendment...

Nubclear · July 6, 2002, 22:52

Quote:

Originally posted by Trip
So should our only historian candidate be Tassadar5000 (DIA)/History Guy (UFC)?

Yes. It should look something like this:

Tassadar (DIA) and History Guy (UFC)
Banana

Also, why do we need an amendment? The consitution does not say this cannot be done...

Verto · July 6, 2002, 23:02

Quote:

Also, why do we need an amendment? The consitution does not say this cannot be done...

Constitutions can be made to say many things...lets hope the Banana is not ruled unconstitutional! Separation of Banana and State!

How often will you be posting, if you get elected to historian?

notyoueither · July 6, 2002, 23:31

Hmmm. Will either of you pay attention to the fact that an adherent of Jupiter and Mars is among us (you)?

I don't care what colour. I don't care about the civ name. I don't care about the UU. Beer and M&Ms must be served!