The Steam Punk Movement - What if Things Had Changed a Little?

The idea, even for steam punk, was that, what if, what if things had changed slightly during that period of time? How much different would that have made the way t at things evolved there? And how much differet would it have make the way that things evolve here? I think that's kind of what brandon sanderson is doing, is he's saying, hey, things are going to evolve in certain ways as far as human beings faced with the challenges of distance travel and all these kinds of things. It felt complete, it felt relatable, and it felt like a story that i could understand, without having to adopt a whole new and a whole new system of viewing