Learning remixed.

I absolutely enjoyed the documentary-ish series, Everything is a Remix,  four short films regarding how ideas, things, creations evolve through remixing. The link is here. Kirby Ferguson is a New York based filmmaker who has presented at many big companies, workshops, and lecture. This concept and the vivid imagery throughout the series is intensely informative. There is evidence that almost everything has been remixed such as most of Led Zeppelins music, they were ripoff’s! Ferguson provides us with a large variety of examples of different ways in which creation can begin with one simple idea. Comparisons to illustrate the remixes gave me a sense of deeper understanding of what it means to create thousands of ideas from one simple idea. I wasn’t surprised by this concept because it does seem tough to be original with so many people creating things. I was surprised at how closely many of the Hollywood mega hits were comprised by movies that came before them. Ferguson’s voice (I am assuming) tells us that many things are copied, transformed, and combined which makes so much sense.

Ferguson shares that we learn by copying-emulation, and that when we take ordinary rules of thought to existing material we create. A quote that stood out to me in addition to the last sentence was that we must be fluent in language of our domain. Ferguson introduced me to LUCA-last universal common ancestor, and the idea that the best adapted life forms prosper by copying, transforming, and combing. In other words even through evolution we were remixing! It is highly likely that many people are working on the same ideas all over the place and it is through combination of ideas that many scientific breakthroughs have been created. The basic elements of creation in their simplest form: copy, transform, combine.The more I think about everything around me it seems that all have been produced in by the basic elements!

Are Meme’s really having an impact on social evolution as Ferguson’s suggests? As we discuss more in class I believe that Meme’s and many other forms of digital media have and will continue to shape our social spaces. Considering the original purpose of copyright was only supposed  to inspire creation and last a short time it would seem that the systems of laws doesn’t identify with many of the legality’s of ownership of intellectual property. Another piece that stands out to me is when Ferguson’s states that “Public domain was robust and the core belief was for the common good.” Over time things have changed and there is less diversion. There is more focus on loss rather than gain.

Towards the end of the series we learned about the trolls of the copyright and patent industry. People swoop in on others ideas and or products and profit by legalizing claiming things are “theirs” essentially. I have heard of this before, not sure where but, I still found it so sad that there are people capitalizing on other peoples blood,sweat, and tears. Overall I just wanted to share that I found this to be excellent. I am now following Kirby Ferguson on twitter and look forward to watching his TED talks. I admire his tenacity to illustrate this insightful concept and appreciate the quality of his digital presentation.