Deterritorialization. I like this word. Quite the tongue twister if you ask me, and God forbid if I had a stutter. I had to look up the meaning of this word, and it has several different meanings depending on who you ask, but for me, it’s simply a fancy word to describe the change in history. Steve Mentz wants us to rethink, and in return, can ignite a change in the way we view or interpret things. The world is quite literally an open ocean, and so should one’s brain.

“Thinking in terms of cyclical flows rather than linear progress makes historical narratives messier, more confusing, and less familiar. These are good things. (ixvi) Steve Mentz is inviting you to have that hard conversation or think of an unforeseen or unpopular “opinion” and bring it to life. Simply put, there are no wrong answers. He expertly uses the ocean as an example to think beyond the sea, beyond the planet, beyond what we know as life, and allows our feelings, thoughts, and emotions to “flow.” The ocean may be a scary place, but nothing is more unnerving than having these linear thoughts that keep us stagnant and allow history to repeat itself. We often try to see the world or life through a different lens, but Mentz challenges humans to create that lens.

Just like Emerson is to nature, the ocean is Mentz’s version of Emerson’s nature. We take so much from the ocean and other outward things, but it’s time for the ocean to give back to the scholar, offering new ways of thinking and imagination. It’s a scary and confusing concept to embrace, but one would be doing a disservice if they didn’t try. Drowning in one’s linear thoughts could be a slow and painful death.