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  The fox condemns the trap, not himself. -  William Blake


Epochs Redux (say that three times fast)

There have been many exciting epochs in human history (name three. 6 marks. show your work) but unfortunately a lot of them were wasted on the people who lived through them. You see a lot of the folks in those epochs didn't even know they were in one!

This is startling to us now in the midst of the Information Age (so-called), what with our cell phones and Facebook and Twitters and Google and so forth (Ed. we apologize if your favorite app was left off this list but we are not doing it very sincerely). We are now used to knowing everything and knowing it instantly. Any other way of operating is stymieing to us. How could they not know we think? What was wrong with them? Were they stupid?

a row of mascots posing for the camera

Well, the simple answer is: yes. Yes, they were certainly stupid but they were also ignorant. They were just not aware of the signs. This ignorance is what kept them from fully enjoying the benefits of living through or in an epoch (name two. 8 marks). Sad really. But ask yourself this question: Do you know the signs? That's what I thought.

You yourself could be living in an epoch and you wouldn't even know it. You are as ignorant as those folks in the past. So how does one know when one is living in an epoch? I am about to tell you.

The first thing that might tip you off to the fact that you are living in an epoch is this: are there an awful lot of interesting things going on? I don't mean in your personal life or in your neighbourhood. I mean interesting political, cultural or artistic things. Is, for instance, there a whole new style of music being made? If so this might be a clue.

Second are there a lot of cultural historians milling about and taking notes? Cultural historians LOVE epochs. Writing about them, visiting them, lecturing on them. If you are living in an epoch there is no way there won't be at least one or two cultural historians within shouting distance.

Art_historians_Sydor_and_Viches_2010

How can you spot a cultural historian you ask? Well, it used to be that they could be singled out by their ascots and tweed blazers but that is no longer so much the case. Now over-sized glasses are sometimes a tip-off but they are more easily spotted due to their serious demeanour combined with a wry half smile. They also tend to nod a lot and make hmmming noises.

So that's it. Interesting things, cultural historians and there you go - you are living in an epoch. Enjoy!


Uncle Glennie's Storytime

Avoiding work? Familial obligations? Chores? Why not wile away the hours watching almost 130 videos of Uncle Glennie reading his stories. Sound like fun?


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