Tough call. There are so many possible points of inflection, and it’s hard to know where history goes when you eliminate any single point. Let’s say that you snap Adam Smith; does that mean that capitalism never happens, and that we live in a system of mercantilism forever? Or does the system get described by someone else and happen inevitably? What about Ghengis Khan? How does history change if the Mongol empire never happens? Do we all end up speaking Chinese? I you snap Julius Ceasar so that the library of Alexandria never burns, and the Roman empire remains democratic–for a time, at least–then what?
Tough call. There are so many possible points of inflection, and it’s hard to know where history goes when you eliminate any single point. Let’s say that you snap Adam Smith; does that mean that capitalism never happens, and that we live in a system of mercantilism forever? Or does the system get described by someone else and happen inevitably? What about Ghengis Khan? How does history change if the Mongol empire never happens? Do we all end up speaking Chinese? I you snap Julius Ceasar so that the library of Alexandria never burns, and the Roman empire remains democratic–for a time, at least–then what?