Imagine

Like me, I'm sure many of you have indulged in that harmless mental exercise where you imagine how history would have been improved had some irredeemably evil person (Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, etc.) never been born. Join me today in a more positive fantasy about changing history.

If you had the power to do so, which hard-to-dispute marker of mankind's progress would you move back in time so that the benefits could be enjoyed sooner?

My own bias leads me to nominate the invention of the printing press. Imagine with me how many people would have had vastly improved lives if they'd had access to the information contained in books. Imagine how many later missteps could have been avoided if all mankind - instead of just the clergy and very wealthy elite - was reading widely and being educated much sooner in history. Imagine.

I'm curious - and I suspect readers of my blog will be as well - to hear your revised version of history.