Imagine if you had a song, novel, or any piece of art for that matter that was already well liked by a majority of people. Now imagine if everyone was free to modify this piece of work to improve it in their eyes. What if people in turn were able to rank these derivative works of art? What are the odds that the most popular spin-off from this ranking process would be a work of art better than the original? If you believe, like I do, that we all benefit from a world where art is able to capture humanity’s true essence, than why, if this process does truly improve the end product, are we not embracing it as viable way to produce and refine art? Now imagine, instead of a song, novel, or piece or art being the centerpiece of this process, you have the design and evolution of an entire city as the central focus. Could we actually harness this collaborative filtering process to improve our built environment, perhaps even making it more sustainable?
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May 9, 2007 at 8:42 pm
DRJ
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Emperor Joseph II: My dear young man, don’t take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It’s quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that’s all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect.
Mozart: Which few did you have in mind, Majesty?
May 31, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Seraphine
I agree with you about being able to improve and use other people’s ideas, to a point. I mean, there are so *few* truly original ideas anyway. But using someone’s idea as the beginning of a new idea is far far different than simply copying someone’s idea, even if you do put it in a new “doll’s dress”. There is sometimes a tricky line.
And of course, you always have people asking “What’s in it for me?”