Great post, Josh. I've been thinking a lot about what, in my own head, I've categorized as "creativity versus originality," and your description of "edgecraft" is going in that mental folder.
Your mention of creativity vs. originality also sparked something for me. In my mind, one distinction between creativity and originality has to do with the frame of reference. Creativity is focused on the "doing," the actual work of creation, whereas originality is concerned with comparing a certain creative output to the existing corpus of existing material. In this light I feel drawn more toward being creative rather than being original, but of course there is some tension here. In relation to edgecraft, this feels like it frees us up to do more remixing of existing materials without needing to worry too much about whether it is "original enough." If you've got other stuff in your "creativity versus originality" bucket that might add color to this train of thought, I'd love to hear it!
I also think that "edgecraft" is a good example of why being a generalist can be an advantage. Having a broad palette gives you a wider array of sources of inspiration to draw from. And maybe by being more creative (i.e., focusing on the doing without being too critical of the originality), we actually end up getting to the originality as a by-product too.
Great post, Josh. I've been thinking a lot about what, in my own head, I've categorized as "creativity versus originality," and your description of "edgecraft" is going in that mental folder.
Thanks David, I'm glad you liked it!
Your mention of creativity vs. originality also sparked something for me. In my mind, one distinction between creativity and originality has to do with the frame of reference. Creativity is focused on the "doing," the actual work of creation, whereas originality is concerned with comparing a certain creative output to the existing corpus of existing material. In this light I feel drawn more toward being creative rather than being original, but of course there is some tension here. In relation to edgecraft, this feels like it frees us up to do more remixing of existing materials without needing to worry too much about whether it is "original enough." If you've got other stuff in your "creativity versus originality" bucket that might add color to this train of thought, I'd love to hear it!
I also think that "edgecraft" is a good example of why being a generalist can be an advantage. Having a broad palette gives you a wider array of sources of inspiration to draw from. And maybe by being more creative (i.e., focusing on the doing without being too critical of the originality), we actually end up getting to the originality as a by-product too.