Comments on: Of Originality and Theft

By: Frozen Toothpaste » OPW: The Great Gatsby

Frozen Toothpaste » OPW: The Great Gatsby — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:02:08 +0000

[…] mentioned recently that The Great Gatsby has the best first and last lines of any book I know. So on today’s […]

By: Axton Marshall

Axton Marshall — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:54:08 +0000

Reminds me of that classic Emerson lament, “All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients”.

The role of cryptomnesia in the evolution of thought is really interesting. Your funambulist metaphor reminded of yet another quote, from Norman Mailer. Paraphrased, “If they read it and understand it, they think they already knew it”.

By: leslie

leslie — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:56:58 +0000

I have experienced hearing a new word, absorbing it, and then seeing it everywhere! It certainly had been there before, but it wasn’t “on my radar”, so I missed it.

With the blogs, I notice a similar topic occuring simultaneously on unrelated blogs. I think that speaks to what you said about people being aware of similar influences.

The confirmation bias is a fascinating article. Thanks for pointing that out.

By: david

david — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:40:23 +0000

That’s a fascinating point. My first instinct would be to say that you and another artist have similar influences—TV shows, artists who catch your attention, things you’re reading—and thus the same novel idea, but I don’t know how likely that is.

I’ve also noticed a similarly curious phenomenon—the occurrence of big words. I’ll see a “big” word appear in writings and programs in close succession and then disappear. I think this, and perhaps your thing as well, is partly the zeitgeist—the ideas and trends going round at the time—and also confirmation bias—after noticing or using a word/technique, you’re on (unconscious) alert for it’s recurring.

By: leslie

leslie — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:11:23 +0000

There are times when I “come up with an original idea”, for an art piece, or a bit of writing, only to discover that it is being created simultaneously by someone else.
I have long avoided doing “artist’s workshops” to learn other artist’s techniques, for fear of the accusation of “copying”, the cardinal sin of art making.
I wonder what others’ thoughts are about the phenomenon of simultaneous creativity. Are we all tapping into the same Muse, but don’t know it? Do we think it’s just ‘our’ muse?

I love the B. Franklin quote.