SLIDING ON SNOW HAS taken on many forms over the last 70 years, and each technique is often touted by its participants as the “best” way. While this ideology brings a sense of empowerment, it can also enable a dangerous way of thinking: an “I’m right and you’re wrong” mentality, where pride goes hand in hand with belittling the alternatives.

We, humans, live and grow up in “time-bubble eras,” from the ‘80s, ‘90s, and other revered decades, to the timeframes that define our “X, Y, and Z” generations. During these periods, trends move cyclically through innovation, acceptance, standardization, and normalization. Depending on where in that cycle we land, we can find ourselves doing something fresh and new, or the same thing as everyone else, just because it’s the norm. We want to be a part of and excel in the tried and true.

But just because something has been tried for a while and is generally accepted, does that make it true?