Once, I was dunked under the water at a youth group pool party. Immediately afterwards, someone cannonballed directly on top of me. For what seemed like an eternity, I was underwater and upside down.
It was probably no more than a few seconds.
But with the noise and the flailing bodies in the water, I had no idea which way was up. For a moment, my brain and body seemed frozen in conflict. There were so many bubbles, and I was so turned around, that I couldn’t feel an instinctive pull to the surface. No one noticed me. Just as alarm bells began ringing in my head—when I was teetering on the edge of panic——my feet found the bottom. I pushed against it as hard as I could, launching up through the water and into the sunlight.
Sometimes it feels like I’m in that pool again.
And you’re all there with me.
The chaos, the constant noise, the feeling of being suspended and upside down…that’s what this historical period feels like.
News streams from every source.
People screaming their opinions at other people who are yelling too loud to listen.
Constant debates which lead nowhere.
And the rest of us, disoriented, underwater.
Historically speaking, our immediate and endless access to information (and each other) is unprecedented. In 2024, there is almost nothing we don’t know or can’t find out. We know what our neighbors had for dinner, which gaming computer has the best reviews, and the immediate thoughts of every celebrity and politician on social media. We can adapt our news networks to our personal biases, our streaming networks to our personal tastes, and our radio stations to our personal favorites.
This would have blown our ancestors’ minds.
It would have been unfathomable.
But I’m not convinced it’s always a good thing.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes, my lungs are bursting for air.
The Homeschool Historian 