Cross-posted from my Substack, A Flood of Ideas: https://mflood.substack.com/p/lets-stop-pretending-we-are-original

Why Be Original?

Our society values and promotes original thinking and novelty. Or at least it pretends to. The result is a lot of pretended originality, a kind of Emperor’s New Clothes where everyone is the Emperor. Consider:

Academics, though they are primarily paid for their teaching of undergraduates and graduate students, are expected to undertake (what is perceived to be) original research if they are ever to land the vanishingly rare, endangered, and on the way to extinction tenured positions.
Artists need to be perceived as “daring,” “bold,” or “original,” if they are to achieve fame and success. It’s almost unthinkable to read a profile of a rising artist that describes them as “highly traditional,” or “strongly influenced by the Old Masters.”
In business, entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, unless they are under criminal investigation, are described as bold visionaries, original thinkers, and people who “think outside the box.” Whether they follow sound business practices, make wise long-term decisions, or are honest dealers seems to be not worth mentioning (not until the indictments are opened, anyway).
Speaking of business, during the mid-1990s to early 2000s, a second-tier computer manufacturer made the most of its outsider position by associating its products and whole brand with the phrase “Think Different.”(1)
Psychologists and self-help/motivational gurus claim they have analyzed what makes people original thinkers and promise - through their articles, books, and public talks - to make us original thinkers as well. Their titles should give you cause to doubt whether their promises are honest (e.g. “Five Things That Original Thinkers Do Every Day Before Breakfast”). Also, the people who claim to teach original thinking don't seem to do much of it themselves.
Job advertisements in a wide range of industries ask for original thinking and innovative problem solving skills, even in areas where innovation mostly generates fraud (Enron exercised highly original thinking in their accounting, for example). In job interviews, candidates are often expected to describe ways in which they solved problems with ‘outside the box’ thinking. As I wrote, innovative problem solving is even now being asked of vinyl siding i

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