First Word art and Last Word art are comparable to the peak of inflated expectation the slope of enlightenment respectively. The First Word art defines a movement and puts it into the spotlight. What follows is a series of imitators who establishes a set of norms. On the peak of the GHC, the technology similarly becomes extremely popular, but soon becomes commonplace and trite.

Last Word art is a second revolution within the movement where the technology or art form is brought dramatically to new heights. As Naimark’s student pointed out, the Last Word art stands the test of time, and the technologies that came during or after the enlightenment are the ones that will be used by future generations. This is probably why Schulze prefers to work in the trough. He wants the progress he made to be the one that sparked the enlightenment and ends up being the lasting one.

I, too, would prefer to work in the trough, as I would feel more comfortable working within an established set of rules, yet I would also feel adventurous making progress in a technology or art form that hasn’t realized its full potential.