Brain Pickings - Latest Comments in Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

Peter Han — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:31:51 -0000

I get the impression that memory (past experience) seems to be predominant in the act of creativity. I think that in addition to memory, there is a mental workspace that pulls from our various memories and then plays with them in ways that can be highly unpredictable and novel if we are open to incorporating external stimuli into such play. Also, there are heuristics and metaphorical manipulations that enrich such playing with our memories. The manipulations are a vital component of creative output. Thanks for your work on this blog. I find it captivating and rewarding.

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

Jonathan Miller — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 06:12:55 -0000

Hard to read some of these examples as less than outright copies, but often 'knockoffs' are less are less outright steals, are subconscious copies or the result of 'convergence'. More thoughts here: http://bit.ly/aH8ilQ

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

Gwenn — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 13:44:28 -0000

Culture is created by imperfect imitations over time. The imperfections create flaws sometimes, but they can also be innovations!

http://www.gwennseemel.com/...

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

Maria Popova — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:15:33 -0000

Vasant:

Very interesting. I've always been a science-grounded cynic, but over the past few months, I've gone into Matthieu Ricard's (French scientist turned Buddhist monk) research – and it's fascinating. I think the whole theory of consciousness may be the missing link between art and science, bridging causality and creativity – that which causes us to create one thing and not another, see this as beautiful and that as ugly – so you may be on to something.

Besides, isn't speculation the fundamental backbone of innovation?

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

Vasant Kumar — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:56:05 -0000

Maria - I am a huge fan of your work!

On Creativity - I wonder if cognitive neuroscience will someday confirm what Eastern Mystics have believed - that all that is known and will be known is a stream of consciousness that we become aware of at various times in the continuum of Life. It is certainly a seductive hypothesis that explains Newton and Laplace arriving at Calculus independently for example with no one questioning the integrity of either. Maybe in a Bergsonian sense (Henri Bergson) the brain acts as a valve regulating the access to such a flow of creative consciousness! Just speculating :-)

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

Maria Popova — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:18:15 -0000

Spoken like a true creator. Right on.

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

Eric — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:06:03 -0000

This is only depressing if you still cling to the idea that creating something absolutely unique and original is somehow possible. The moment you let go of that... you will feel better. Besides, even if two things are similar, doesn't mean they're not different. Also, all art is meant to communicate something, either for a purpose or because the creator feels the urge to express something. That is a good enough reason to do something, so originality is irrelevant if you focus on the purpose.

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

Maria Popova — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:27:28 -0000

Allen:

I suppose, to the extend that "memory" is a literal interpretation of events past. But I was referring to a broader concept that encompasses everything -- experiential memory, sure, but also emotional memory, the pool of fleeting thoughts that once crossed your mind too quick to congeal into ideas and now come back to fully evolve and ripen.

It's semantics, really, but yes, I do agree that the novelty of thought does exist.

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

bukoff — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:59:48 -0000

Isn't saying "Everything is a memory" a little strong? Don't truly new thoughts/ideas/images get created in our heads from a fusion/association of existing memories--allowing us to think of new things beyond the sum of the memories that are there?

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

Maria Popova — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:45:20 -0000

Danae:

Well, think of it this way -- everything is a memory, including your own skills. Creativity is simply the ability to pull the right resources from memory at the right time (be they your own skills or the inspiration for your work), that's all there is. So don't be too hard on yourself.

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

danae — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:40:19 -0000

I always have this weird feeling where I don't know if I am creating something in my mind or if I am just remembering it.
I want to be original and I usually work an idea so much that my final designs are something really different from my initial drafts. But somehow, I still have that feeling and I don't like it. It makes me really insecure in my work. :(

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

Logo Design Guru — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:24:18 -0000

nothing is original anymore. that's part of the fun of being an artist is to take an idea and create something new and different out of it. Good luck out there artists, creativity can be fickle.

Re: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

RinconCasino — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:23:45 -0000

that is weird the originality is lost