Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V - These are three keyboard shortcuts that have killed creativity, plagiarized content, stolen ideas and imitated originality. Is technology and the Internet to blame for this?
There used to be a time when information didn't move at the speed of thought and people didn't have the immense amount of resources that are present now at the click of a button. Today all it takes is a search query to find endless data. As a result creativity has basically become a three step process - Cut/Copy/Paste.
Is the Internet to blame?
This is a hard call to make. Because in a way the Internet has at the same time assisted in expanding creativity as much as contributing to the rise of stolen ideas. Those that do use the Internet to learn know it is a wonderful resource which can virtually educate you without having to buy a single book {Of course the importance of general education can never be undermined}. But those that use it to create copycat works are expanding the problem to such an extent that coming generations will just think, it's OK to do so.
Take into example web design, it's not hard to find a freelancer on any job board that will do a 5 - 10 page website from scratch for under $300 {sometimes even under $100}. All they do is go to a template site for design ideas, use a cookie cutter CSS template, add in the text and a free script for a menu, images and they're done. I could do one in under 8 hours myself {not that I do}. This devalues the work and other people doing the same thing for what it actually is worth, more than $300 for sure.
As for software, the popular ones can be easily found on torrent
sites. Freelancers around the world would probably charge as much as corporate setups do if they had to cough up $400 for a website builder, $700 for Flash, $650 for Photoshop and so on.
Inspired Creativity
Inspiration is not a crime, but inspiration doesn't mean copying something and passing it off as your own eureka moment. If you're going to be inspired make sure you can say to yourself, "Yes, this is original even if it is inspired". Not, it looks like something I've seen before. Remember, people like seeing purple cows.
You can't re-invent the wheel, don't even try to. Because it can't be done. Instead try to think beyond the wheel. Think, Why do I even need the wheel?
Be the reference
When you start thinking outside the box, you don't turn to references anymore. You just become your own reference. You start attracting other people because you dared to be different. You might even start seeing people getting "inspired" from your work.
Cut/Copy/Paste will just keep you at the starting point, it won't even let you enter the race. This holds true for writers, designers, business people heck even stock brokers.
Don't follow. Lead.
Subscribe to my full RSS feed.
Incoming search terms:
- shortcut for cut and paste
- cut copy paste shortcuts
- cut and paste shortcuts
- shortcuts for cut and paste
- copy cut paste shortcuts
- copy paste cut shortcuts
- cut copy and paste shortcuts
- cut and paste shortcut
- cut and paste short cut
- cut paste shortcut
Related posts:
WordPress Themes Special Offer
iSphere from Sharper Image
Search Me, Likes Me!
Are you connected
Be A Rockstar Freelancer
No the real culprit is laziness. People want success but don’t want to work for it. Point-blank. I need my cut, copy, paste man! Don’t take that away from me!!
As an artist working in animation, Cut, Copy & Paste have helped me a whole lot to speed up the first stages of production. Tools don’t kill creativity, but the wrong use or abuse of them does. I consider myself balanced between creating a world of my own and checking for consistency and believability with the real world around.
It really is amazing how blog posts come at the perfect timing. Just last night I had three modules in a website that were pretty much identical, but to save me effort and time I decided to keep them as three instead of taking the extra 30 minutes or so to combine it into one module and using creative ways of changing variables here and there. The code would have been a lot more efficient, but copy/paste and find/replace deemed a lot easier at the time.
I need to go back and combine them today.
Good post, thanks.
Well This is one thing I can honestly say is obvious bullshit. Copy and past are nessisary tools to better educate generations… creative comes from within… you cannot kill it. Others can not kill it for it is not there’s to kill. It is Ours to nourish & protect or to rape & abuse.
I do not know what it really is about it weblog that turns me off so a great deal, however you just do not seem to acquire me excited. I dont know if its the lack of content or just just how you authored it. However you seriously do not seem to realize that your audience may not agree with you. Youre genuinely just as well out there for me.