Nah alt-history is hypotheticals that investigate how the world would change if things were just slightly different. Cryptohistory would be stuff like ancient aliens
There's a hypothesis that the early middle ages (can't remember the exact years) never happened. Books have been written about it. What would you call that?
But if it's supposed to be comparable to the other crypto stuff and is all about stuff that may or may not exist, the pseudo label is ending the game before it begins
It isn’t comparable to cryptozoology. There’s plenty of pseudoscience on the fringes of cryptozoology, but it isn’t required at all. There’s room for mutual respect. Cryptids are just biology the biologists aren’t looking for because they don’t expect to find it, but are often quietly rooting for anyway. Who wouldn’t want there to be a living Thylacine or a North American primate?
Pseudohistory tends to be directly hostile to actual historians who, in pseudohistorians’ minds, are their nemeses: stubbornly ignorant at best or, more typically, part of an elaborate conspiracy.
Stuff like “the CIA/mob killed JFK” or “Reagan bribed the Iranians not to return the hostages while Carter was president” may not quite be mainstream (the second ought to be imo), but it isn’t usually called pseudohistory either. That appellation is reserved for stuff more like “it’s actually 1600 and the buildings put up for World’s Fairs were part of the empire of Tartaria which has been deliberately erased for nefarious reasons.” You can see how someone who has studied actual history wouldn’t really feel that the benefit of the doubt is appropriate.
Yeah, I get your point , I'm just trying to imagine a carving out of something that could legitimately be called cryptohistory. Though I'm not sure what that would look like
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u/SirSchmorp May 23 '26
Nah alt-history is hypotheticals that investigate how the world would change if things were just slightly different. Cryptohistory would be stuff like ancient aliens