Beck Novaes

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Everything is a Remix: Part 4 … System Failure

Kirby Ferguson is back with part 4 of his amazing series on the derivative nature of the creative process. I’m sad to see it end. If, for some reason, this is the first you’ve heard of this series … GO WATCH THEM ALL, DAMMIT.

It’s a series that focuses on traditional creative media, and it’s chock full of pop culture history and draws surprising connections between some of mankind’s greatest modern works. But the true beauty of the series is that these principles of derivative creativity can be applied to almost anything.

So here we are, on a science blog, wondering how this mantra fits in. Everything is a remix. Perhaps nowhere is this truer than in science. Scientific discovery is rarely, if ever, de novo. In fact, scientific philosophy of the 20th century and beyond actually requires that scientific progress build upon what came before.

Never forget that we are creators, we scientists. And perhaps we are more comfortable with the remix than other disciplines? Until we invent a drug or something like that … then we sin with the best of the idea hoarders. Of course, it’s never that simple, and protections of intellectual property are double-edged.

Integrate the ideas in this video series into your creative philosophy, in whatever you do. As artist Austin Kleon said, “You are a mashup of what you let into your life.” Remember that, in all the good and bad ways it applies.

(via Vimeo)