How can you not recommend a film like Everything is a Remix? It's well made, it backs up every argument with footnotes and references in the form of real movie clips, interviews, and photos (all attributed, and wisely so), and it makes reasonable points. Find the full documentary here: http://everythingisaremix.info
Part Four is specifically interesting to me because it covers everything from evolution to loss aversion, and this progression leads us to wonder: what is not a copy? After all, we're all copies of the original and our ideas, of course, will not only be similar but sometimes so similar that we have ask if this is "copying" or subconscious referencing or merely showing appreciation through mimicry.
My take on this is (and it wasn't mentioned in the video so I'm not stealing!) is that not only are we territorial about our work but we also have a form of Protestant Work Ethic guilt (can be shortened to PEW, that stinks) because we believe that hard work is its own reward and that laziness is a form of sin (and here we can bring the Catholics in on the argument too, with their concept of the deadly sin called 'Sloth').
Here's the thing and the thing is here: minus the religious connection, I agree. If you copy and paste someone else's writing or programming, that is indeed lazy and we should frown upon it. You should have to work to have success. You should have to mine your deepest creative impulses for new thought. But (and like a Kardashian, this is a big BUTT), if you can improve on an existing model while also giving credit to the original idea, that is great! That is evolution! Adaptation! So, if you follow both steps, then I say, live long and prosper!
Post Jay. I haven't gotten a chance to watch the video yet but here I am commenting anyways. Without even watching the video, I would say that I am in agreement with you. If an existing piece of art, tech, writing,or any other medium can be expanded upon and/or improved then I am all for it. Of course, the original creator should be given credit for the work they have done. However, I think it is the natural process of things and reason we as a species have come so far in all facets of creativity, is by taking existing ideas and expanding on them, which often leads to branching out and creating new concepts. Like you alluded to “we are all copies of a copy" and our ideas are inherently linked to past ideas. I’ll have to watch the video later this week and if my view changes then I’ll come back for another comment. ha
ReplyDeleteYeah we both agreed in our posts on this issue. I think your main point that if we can improve on something that was created before but give credit where it's due, is right on the money. One small criticism of this post would be for the few punctuation mistakes. They take away from your otherwise solid writing.I know they are sometimes hard to catch in your own work (I'm sure my blogs aren't squeaky clean either) but it's usually a good idea to try to edit as much as possible before publishing. Good stuff overall though!
ReplyDeleteZak, I'm not sure which punctuation errors I made. I reread the post and besides the joke about PEW, I couldn't find any mistakes. Could you help out?
DeleteBrother, I think you killed it with this post! I feel like copy and pasting it to my blog hahaha. I also think that if something exists that is awesome, why not make it more awesome if you can? Just give credit!! Punctuation? Who cares! Great read.
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