Death of Creative Culture

This week, I asked about how the current system of doing things affects the future of technology. I wondered how we can avoid being “locked-in” to certain systems and structures of technology. The answer, according to Lanier, is that we can’t. We have already built too much on top of what was already created. To go back and unlock the system would mean that we’d have to rebuild the Internet, and even then, we would just lock ourselves into other ways of doing things.

Lanier uses the example of MIDI in his text. He says that Dave Smith created MIDI “casually” as a way to “represent notes.” Now it is the very foundation that music in software is built on. This was never Dave Smith’s intention– he was only creating something for his specific use and purpose; but the system stuck, and in order to get rid of it we’d have to recreate all of the software that uses the system– a feat that would be nearly impossible.

I also asked about whether the mob wisdom we discussed last week can co-exist with the individual wisdom Lanier favors. According to Lanier, no it cannot. However, I don’t know that I necessarily believe Lanier’s extreme side of the argument. Lanier believes that the collective culture will eventually make information seem like it belongs to one big book. He says that creativity and knowledge is better shared by an individual who does not have to prescribe to preconceived structures like a Facebook page or Wikipedia article. I, however, believe that the truly creative and intelligent will break free of these molds and make something that doesn’t fit into the standard notions of what a Web page should look like or what information an article should contain. Whereas Lanier believes that mob wisdom is the death of creative culture, I believe that it is only a bump in the road– and that great minds will overcome.

Finally, I wondered about Jenkins’ theories of media convergence and participatory culture in relation to the consumption and creation of media. Jenkins believes that pop culture has largely replaced folk culture and that fans are applying age-old responses to pop culture. Thanks to the birth of the Internet fans have a medium full of endless possibilities. It is important to be able to have fair use of content in order to be able to foster creativity. Participatory culture makes fans, the biggest consumers, want to comment on their favorite media. Commentary breeds creativity and the cycle continues. These are obviously very important elements in the creative process and may be the kinds of actions we need in order to stay away from the inevitable death of creativity for which Lanier argues.

Tags: creative culture, Jenkins, Lanier, you are not a gadget