Would History Have Been Different?

You had to remember lists of kings and queens, dates when certain battles were won and which famous person did what. Basically official history teaching is still pretty similar. The role of key individuals as shapers of history still remains central in history teaching.

If you looked carefully at the lives of most such shapers of history, you would notice that at some point in their lives they changed their professions. They had been trained in some trade or profession, usually the same as their forefathers, but something made them abandon this. As if they suddenly started hearing the call of a distant drummer and they responded.

Have you ever thought what would have happened if these history shapers would not have responded and continued in the professions they were trained in rather than go about changing history. Think of these formidable individuals: Jesus, the Prophet Muhammad, Christopher Columbus, Adolf Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Tse Tung.

Jesus

Jesus (we’re considering his profession only and not whether he was son of God or not) was a Jewish carpenter by training. What would have happened if he had continued in the business of making doors, windows, and furniture rather than founding Christianity?

Prophet Muhammad

Then take the Prophet Muhammad, who was a merchant by profession. How would the world have developed if he’d continued in that line? Would he have ended up creating the global WalMart of his days rather than found a major religion and supervise its phenomenal spread?

Christopher Columbus

How would the world have changed if Columbus, a trader had continued trading and not discovered America? Would we be conversing in Maya, Inca, or Native American languages instead of English or Spanish?

Adolf Hitler

Would the Second World War have not started if Hitler, a postcard painter had sold his paintings well and retired rich to a life of indolent luxury near Lake Constance?

Joseph Stalin

If Stalin had persevered in his theological studies and indeed spent his entire life as a priest: Would that have changed world history?

Mao Tse Tung

What kind of a librarian Mao Tse Tung would have been? Would his spending his life in a secure government job as a librarian all his life have shaped world events very differently?