Bloom's Ted Talks: A Comparative Essay

No matter the subject matter in which the concept of originals is discussed, they carry a valuable connotation. Taken for face value, and without a mindset well versed in any social science, originals are merely seen as items, tangible or intangible, that are more expensive than forgeries and less common as well. However, after reading “Time Maps” by Zerubavel and watching Bloom's Ted Talks speech, it becomes evident how their approaches of historical continuity exemplify how originals act as mnemonic facilitators that draw a bridge to connect noncontiguous spaces. Their theories are heavily embedded within each other; however, at the same time, the paths each one takes to achieve their theories do differ. Evidently, Bloom and Zerubavel theorize …show more content…
Bloom’s brief sixteen minute speech acts as a perfect predecessor to Zerubavel’s historically dense text. Because their methods of explaining historical continuity differ in the slightest, their distinct results portray the same final thought; however, encompassing different illustrations. Bloom does not stray too far away from his main concept of essentialism causing the fascination of originals, and Zerubavel includes essentialism as one of the driving forces that gives originals their valuable connotation. After reading Zerubavel and listening to Bloom, I cannot say that there is a single concept that one supports, and at the same time, the other refutes. It is beneficial to read two different theorists with two different methods, one modern and the other more historical, hypothesize the same concepts. It allows for a more broad and applicable understanding of a topic, and in this case, one that is very obvious when actually thinking in the abstract. Nonetheless, Bloom and Zerubavel argue, collectively and successfully, that the evocative function of originals caused by human essentialism bridge and integrate a periodic fusion of the past giving the illusion of historical