Seth Godin claims the Internet is “raising the bar for fabulous” globally. I tend to agree. The increased competition to stand out in a global online community should produce “higher highs” of creativity.
There’s a conundrum here, though. Is this phenomenon purely due to the network enabling us to find more things that are “cool”, or are more & better fabulous things actually being produced as a result of this competition? Or some combination of the two?
And, in a broader sense, are we rewarding glittery, fabulous, attention-seeking works of creative genius at the expense of some of the more boring-but-important stuff?
I think Godin’s assertion needs more data, but it’s thought-provoking…
Your last comment on the fabulous being at the expense of the more boring-but-important stuff reminds me of something else I read lately, about our society having spent a whole lot of time worrying about orwel’s 1984 fears and not enough about huxley’s brave new world.
I don’t think it’s particularly dire straits or anything at the moment, but the average Joe is definitely being bombarded with a whole ton of irrelevant crap these days, so I guess we can only hope humanity is developing filters that let us continue to see things that are of true lasting value to us, even through the haze of momentary distractions.