"Rip Van Winkled"

Michael Solazzo

10/15/14

Rip Van Winkle Blog

http://goo.gl/D3gP37 

The title of the blog post, “Trying to Reclaim the Old Normal,” presents an interesting concept. The “Old Normal” is essentially last year’s models and styles that still have left an impact on the current culture.  For example, new sayings and new mannerisms that have become common, but were undiscovered a year ago.  The categories used: politics, history, economy, sports and entertainment are the categories of culture that determine peoples’ lifestyles.  No one can no what would be in the parenthesis if they “Rip Van Winkled” themselves in the year 2014.  The speed of progress on Earth is growing exponentially, meaning this experiment could be done over and over with drastically varying results and personal amazments.  The “Old Normal” would be different, more elaborate and extensive.  The shock and awe would increase and eventually it would become hard for the person to reintegrate with their society.  The person could spend the rest of their lives attempting to “reclaim the old normal,” but at that point the old normal might not be worth the time.  It might be better to attack the new lifestyle head on as opposed to trying to retrace history.  The Rip Van Winkle experiment creates the unique opportunity for one to “Sparknote” the past, learning what others already know, instead of living through it.