When thinking of paradigm shifts, two ideas come to mind. The introduction and evolution of the internet, and the evolution of language that is acceptable.
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If the introduction of the internet is chosen, the story that would be told is how the market evolved online, the ease of meeting new people that you don’t know, and the risks associated with the internet. The focus would be on the life of the internet, so the early 70’s until modern day.
Image Credit: Oxford English Dictionary(OED)
If the evolution of language is chosen, the story that would be told is how certain words become unpopular in modern culture, and explain what triggered this shift by analyzing societal norms and tendencies. The focus would be from the early 40’s, to modern day, as a significant shift in the usage and meaning of words occurred during this time period.
Understanding how the internet came to fruition merits an investigation because without it, almost all of our modern day technologies would fail to work. For instance, computers would just be expensive metal parts thrown together, and internal infrastructure like bus routes and trains wouldn’t work, because they all run off the internet in some way shape or form. In addition to that, the ease and convenience of online shopping has also transformed and revolutionized a new market for consumers. Therefore, this specific shift, although quick, has been extremely influential in the creation and advancement of modern technologies.
The evolution of language is also important to analyze, because we use it everyday to communicate to others. Viewing the trends that describe which words get put away or gain new meanings, would allow us to predict which words may receive condemnation or a new meaning in the future. In addition to this, looking at words that have already been condemned can help to understand what that type of society was going through at the time. This can then be used to help predict what type of society the future will have to deal with.
Overall, these two paradigm shifts, the evolution of language and the introduction of the internet, are huge examples of a shift in society that has been caused by a generation with newer and better ideas and notions.
I think that you have two great ideas for the paradigm shift essay and TED Talk, and I think that either one you choose will provide you with more than enough information to be able to compose both an essay and speech that fulfill the time requirements. I especially like how you chose a pair of topics that all of us as audience members can relate to, just as you mentioned. I even think that there may be a connection between the two ideas, as I feel that people talk more informally while online than in person. I think that it would be interesting to investigate if the rise in the internet led to a more rapid shift in language.
Those are two very interesting ideas for a paradigm shift and I’m excited for how you’ll tackle two ideas that are so loosely related. When talking about the internet, our current generation thinks about Google, YouTube, etc. It’s what we were born into; it’s how we remember our childhood and teen years. However, not everyone alive has been born into the technological age– some have had the luxury of seeing it blossom from a seed and grow into what it is today.
When talking about the evolution of language, well, language is changing everyday. The words that we use today may very easily disappear and become obsolete, and obsolete words now may spring into mass use.
No matter what you choose, I’m very interested in seeing how you tackle the ideas.
Good luck!
I believe the evolution of language is a very interesting paradigm shift you could focus on in your essay and TED Talk. Although the evolution of the internet is a huge paradigm shift, it also is one that many people know about. I believe most people wouldn’t think of language in terms of a paradigm shift, so it would definitely be a topic people will be interested in hearing. Great thinking!