In a discussion today, a friend was talking about a book he read, of which he has read two others by the same author in the past, on quite similar topics. He was saying how he is a bit disappointed as he has heard some of what is written in the third in the first and second and some of what he read in the second, in the first.
I find this kind of an interesting illustration of and comment upon the consumer society we have created, where we expect "fresh" content continuously, without recognizing the continuity of thought process. We sit down in front of a streaming service with thousands of choices from thousands of creators, but we expect one creator to not only impress us with their creation, but keep impressing us with new creations that are different to the last, which we already enjoyed.
I think that this is a failure of understanding about how thoughts develop and especially when it comes to subject matter experts presenting their ideas as they develop them. They attract us with their specialist skill and then we expect them to impress us with a completely different skill the next time we see them. It is like watching a brilliant football player on the field and then go to watch them play another game and say, "It was okay, but I would have liked to see them dance instead".
However, presenting thought is more like watching the development of a skill, kind of like a piano player progressing through skill levels and different songs, but they still use the same notes and are still siting at a piano. We do not say, "That was nice, but I would have liked them to invent a H note". What we value is the consistency, the skill, the precision and the arrangement and the like, and it all becomes very nuanced.
Using myself as an example, I have committed 4400+ posts to the Hive blockchain and even though I write across many topics, there is still going to be a lot of grouping and overlap, even though none of them are identical. A lot of people think consistent thought is when a person doesn't change their mind, yet I disagree with this, as I see the consistency in the development of a strain of thought, where there is continuity in topic, but it keeps progressing and developing, with each iteration slightly different to the last. It is much like the perfection of a skill and anyone who has truly walked this path will know, there is no such thing as perfect, it is an endless journey.
Even though we are spoiled for choice and there is a seemingly endless supply of new content, we are also human and like familiar, including familiar sources. This is part of the reason why people will keep reading from the same author, but there is more to it than that, as the audience themselves becomes entwined in the story and relate their own lives to it, becoming part of the journey. This happens in film and television, music and art and it isn't only the content, but the performers and presenters themselves that make up the narrative. People have their favorite singers and actors, authors and artists and they follow the "career" of each, often from start to end, embedding themselves as a supporter of the subjects journey, and they are.
For example, I have people here who have been reading and commenting on my content for four years and while they should recognize lots of overlap, they have also seen the progression and have influenced my direction through their engagement. Essentially, we have built a symbiotic relationship, feeding and providing by pushing content to and pulling content from each other in various ways, to create something organic and growing, yet still consistent. I am me, you are you and we are who we are now in the same way we are who we were as children, yet we are still that same person, even though we have changed drastically from the moment we were conceived.
Life itself is a progression much like a musical journey that can weave a rich tapestry of notes together, transporting us through experience. When we are presenting our thoughts, we are putting on display our lives and bringing the audience into the fold of our experience to become a part of the song. We build complexity at times, simplify at other points and increase or slow the tempo, but it is all part of the same story, even though the styles can change or, stay the same for long periods of time.
What I think that we are returning to slowly is to a period where we start to value originality of individual, but also look for continuity of that individual. We are starting to become supporters of human again, not just content pushed out from a faceless algorithm. Yet, this is going to be met with resistance as for a very long time, we have made the creator disposable to the point that many of us do not create at all, fearing we too will be thrown away.
As I was saying to my friend, consumption shouldn't be a passive act, it should be weaving of minds - even if those minds never touch. While we are continually looking for the latest and greatest, what we are missing is the progression it takes to be brilliant, as all we ever see is the final product. I think this influences us into consuming the destination, without remembering that all journeys have a start and all require many small steps.
Press any key to begin.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Nah, I have one called @smallsteps already :)
Legendary customer service call
I've got a guy I read every day (not discounting your totals at all, but Seth Godin is around 18 years without at least one post per day) and the book he publishes every year. I ALWAYS find something new and incredible.
It's pretty grim, isn't it? I know in the US roughly 25% of college graduates NEVER read another book after college. It goes up from there. I'd guess you've partly hit on the why of it...
I much prefer to read. So much so that I don't subscribe to any podcasts and listen to maybe 10 per month. Maybe 10. But I know that I am a rare bird.
I certainly don't know the answer.
How I see it is, the more one thinks, the more one can think. I am not smart by anyone's measure, but I can think about things relatively quickly and formulate a response that is credible to consider. It makes me look like an asshole at times, as I am very rarely short a word or a response.
We have created a pretty lopsided world in many ways and I hope to help some people find balance again.
Watch out, there's an H note!
Good read, as always -- I must admit that I myself also refrain often from creating (or at least sharing) because I'm too exerted internally by this final-product-thinking. Have done a lot of work on dealing with this already, but still a long road ahead.
I actually assumed there would be - because you know, there has to be :D But, I figured people would get the point :)
The polished version becomes a mindset, because we are surrounded by "perfect" on social media and we interact less with people in the real world often enough to see everyone slip and fall.
Once upon a time I was a very avid reader and it's exactly as you say that everyone has their favorite author/s simply because they have had similar experiences, or an author is an answer to their long lost dreams. My favorite author was Wilbur Smith as he was full of adventures in the wild Africa, family dynasties, et al. But I grew out of Wilbur and although he is still popular today with his new books, I just stopped to read period.
Each of us progress over time on the journey from the cradle to the grave and some of us have a way of intertwining our journey with the minds of other faceless beings just by writing about our own progress on our journeys. Of course experiences will overlap as it is a work in progress that started in out childhood.
Just my 2 cents here.
I remember seeing a Wilbur Smith book on our shelf at home, one of my dad's. Growing up surrounded by books, reading was an important part of my childhood, but I have hardly read for pleasure in almost 20 years. I don't know why, but I guess it is time, as I have other things to do.
There is so much overlap between us, it should be surprising that we see ourselves as being so different.
Yes, I still read a morning newspaper every day, just an old habit, my shelves are filled with books, but our work and this PC demands 90% of my time. So reading has moved onto the back seat over the years.
What started my reading was that I was often banned to my room for the whole day and the enjoyment of reading led to a mental escape into other worlds and adventures.
The benefits of reading are manifold and sadly not many seem to realize this. It has even helped you to write the posts that you do today.
Did you ask why they were disappointed about this and did they have an answer?
Hmm, I guess I'm going to be a perpetual disappointment then, oh well XD
I believe that creators/talented people would be less productive if they would stop to consider all the time what others expect from them. People are always projecting things onto others and this can stand in the way of creativity. A net of minds cooperating together without interfering with the individual progress. This sounds like an advanced idea of a society. Not quite there yet, but it would be ideal for that to happen.