What Has Happened to Originality?

Listen to the radio and you'll find yet another remake of a classic song.

Go to the multiplex and you'll find yet another remake of a classic film.

Go online and you'll find yet another remake of someone else's opinion or idea.

Arguably, this hyper-connected world is killing our ingenuity and originality as any idea, approach, opinion, or strategy can be simply lifted from elsewhere. Now trust me, I'm a huge proponent of learning from others, but where do you draw the line between guidance, and regurgitation? After all, why bother to learn anything when you can drop it into a search?

Even the simple act of performing a web search means that billions of people will be pulling from the same repository of information. Wikipedia has revolutionized the way that we access facts, but it has also devolutionized the way that we problem solve, research, and deductively reason.

The same can be said for music. Turn on the radio and 90% of what you'll hear you will be remade songs from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Technology has revolutionized the way that we RE-create music, but it has also devolutionized the way that music is created.

So this begs the question...who's to blame? Do we blame technology? Or do we blame ourselves?

First off, yes. Technology makes everything in our lives easier. But given that we are (apparently) inherently lazy creatures, we certainly have no problems indulging ourselves.

I also think it comes down to the fact that because there is so much information passing by us at any given moment, we are actively and passively influenced by all of it... So like a web search, our brains just go for the most immediately accessible, relevant solution that we can get our grubby little neurons on.

Whether Music, TV, Film, Politics, you name it--We simply can't avoid performing someone else's song. That, and in the information age there's the unspoken notion that "'tis better to contribute nonsense than to contribute nothing at all".

Remember when technology use to make our lives functionally better? It seems that now days technology makes our lives conveniently better. Problem is, the way that we think seems to have followed suit in that instead of seeking functional knowledge to create something new that's of value, we seek convenient knowledge because it's easy to replicate.

What are your thoughts?

Why Should You Volunteer?

Since late 2009 I've been volunteering with a program called BUILD. This organization, veiled in entrepreneurial endeavors, is intended to facilitate the pursuit of underprivileged students toward college; many of whom will be first generations students in their families.

Because these students are early adolescent high schoolers however, it certainly doesn't come without challenges. Romance, drugs, stresses of school work, stresses at home, and popularity routinely pepper the conversations that I overhear and I often catch myself playing parent while forgetting that I'm only but 12 years removed from those same discussions. Yet, despite providing a different perspective than what is fed to them by their parents and teachers, they actually provide me with a sort of 90 minute/week oasis from my own adult stresses. Work, relationships, family; all of these things are pushed away when I'm with these kids.

I can only hope that I'm able to marginally do the same for them.

With that, I figured that I'd share a commercial that we filmed for their business, "Sleep Well Pillows". These are travel pillows that the kids have made by hand and have been selling to friends and family. All of the editing was done by my 10th grade kid, Marco (he's the one that stretches into Bria's face!)

Either way, if you're thinking about volunteering, wherever that may be, I highly recommend it. It'll put a new spin on the way that you see your life, the lives of others, and the intersections between each. And besides, spending my Saturday with them was one of the best afternoons I've had in a long, long time.

When a Child Lies: Something to Consider

Since I haven't posted in while, this certainly isn't meant to shed light on anything; rather, to make you think about the following idea.

One might argue that lying is one of our most primitive forms of self preservation. Similar to a child's natural inclination to say "mine" when challenging another for food, lying presents the opportunity to reliably manipulate any situation into one's own favor. While a worrisome milestone, it's also a milestone indicative of growth and socialization. What I want to explore however, is the sophistication and maturity required to lie on someone else's behalf.

I would submit that most children under the age of 5 are incapable of lying for someone else. No matter how well adjusted, it's simply not a cognitive process that has realized itself. Naturally as that child develops, their understanding of the world around them expands from self-preservation, to collective-preservation. There's the benevolent realization that they cannot survive without the assistance of others. Thus, whether lying on behalf of their best friend who makes English class easier or lying to Child Protective Services because they wish to remain out of foster care, there is a high degree of complexity required to manipulate an externalized situation. So given all of that, what's the motive?

Pfff, I don't know!

But I would certainly love to understand more about the true intentions of a child and how they influence and manage a situation constructed through their own falsehood. Are they innocently destructive in this lie? Constructively cruel? Both? Or neither?

Either way, I would personally find it both comforting and disturbing to learn that my kid is able to externalize a lie. While it would be indicative of better socialization and awareness, it might also imply a trajectory of deception that, if left unattended, could be cultivated into a dangerous personal trait. Clearly my take isn't scientific, but it's certainly something to consider. It's easy to see self-preservation in action, but what exactly is going on when such a young mind is capable of manipulation not only for self, but for others as well?