This is the age of information, and also the age of expression.  It's quite amazing to me that we have come so far that we can support so many artisans as a society.  Back in the day when everyone had to toil in the fields, hunt or care for the children to pull his/her own weight, so few creative minds were allowed to flourish because everyone was too busy keeping themselves alive to do anything else.  Once humanity figured out enough ways to store food and make daily life more efficient, other trades emerged.  These days, many individuals are able to do and pursue what they wish because we have such an abundance of resources, and now they can share those talents with the world.  Sure, plenty of it is shit, but it's also creating a boom of inventions and new ideas.  I would call that progress.  I can deal with the bad musicians, artists and poets if it means the once-ignored artisans can contribute beauty and function to the world.  And it also means that we're doing really well as a society.

Many things from the past were lost because of the strict competition and secretiveness of artisans.  Damascus steel, for example, was one of the strongest metals human beings have ever forged, but the process of making it has been lost to the ages.  The people who knew how to make it died off and took their techniques to the grave so no one else could profit from them.  Copyrights and patents usually combat that now.  It is often more profitable to share your inventions with others these days.  You have the law to protect your intellectual/physical property for as long as it allows before it's up for grabs.  Once someone else gets a hold of it, they usually improve upon it.  With a few exceptions, it not only makes more money, it encourages progress and innovation.

"not everyone is remarkably talented at picking out people who are remarkably talented."

@coolmonkey@xanga - Oh, I try not to make claims like that. I just know when I'm being sold something I don't want to buy.

its more or less the same. think about it, before the internet, no equal opportunity really existed, it was very much about "survival of the fittest" ,still only the best rose through hard work and diligence in their respective arts, and many who deserved the chance didnt receive it and our cultures became defined by the likes of galileo, davinci and monet. in todays society however, we have too much of an equal opportunity heck, i could even sing something stupid and post it on youtube, and if the idiots of our society like it, then i can become famous. the internet has left no room for "art" to have a legitimate definition. the difference is, that the inopportunity of those days sans internet filtered the stupid from the talented, and therefore our culture is bareable. but on the flipside, todays society and its equal opportunites have raised monsters amongst artists, (kesha, snooki, gaga....just to name a few) of whom im afraid will re-define our culture for the next generations to come. do you want people to remember us by kesha or antione dodson's "run and tell that" some decades from now?  i think not...  ( i know i'll be turning in my grave, screaming : I NEVER EVEN WATCHED JERSEY SHORE!!!!! dont define my generation by it!!!!)

nonetheless thoughful post! enjoyed it