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Dartz's avatar

When I was young, in university, I spent some time studying Asian Art. Much Chinese and Japanese art and painting are copies of earlier works. The assumption was that the "first" was the best, and that it was impossible to do better, and you should just attempt to make as good a copy as you could. [They also used red seals for proving authenticity]. I had a really hard time wrapping my ossified brain around the idea that the "best" art could only be copies of prior art. As I studied more history I came to see that the periods in Japan and China when this was most prevalent also seemed to coincide with periods of political stagnation and decline. I think this may be analogous to your thoughts on nostalgia weakening creativity.

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Ralph Faust's avatar

While I agree that this is a bleak picture, it may not be quite as bleak as we are usually reminded, because of the selective reporting involved. If I were looking for more hopeful uses of billionaire money, I might look at what is being done by Ms. Jobs, or Ms. Bezos, people who have received money but not with the same ego investment as the "creators". I'd guess that they have done a much better job, from a societal perspective, than Musk or Zuckerberg. They just aren't seeking or receiving the same media attention.

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