Remixing Culture – discussion
I have been reading about RO culture and about RW culture. I got the impression that both of them are important, but the RW culture is more valuable because it fosters creativity from an early age. Children develop their taste in everything and patterns of behavior while growing up. Lessig thinks that reading is important because it is fundamental, but next step is writing (Lessig 87).
RW culture invites the audience to respond (Lessig 85), and that is what makes it more valuable for humanity than RO culture. Of course, the base is needed, but the further development is necessary for progress of any kind.
Law is such that it encourages RO culture and holds back the development of RW culture. It will continue to exist, but law considers it pretty much illegal (Lessig 100). It is crucial to understand the importance of RW culture, because it is the driving force of human creativity. There is no advance if we don’t have free and unlimited access to every piece of work that was done by our predecessors. We may have it, but it is considered to be piracy.
“Jazz musicians create by building upon the creativity of others before” (Lessig 103). This fact is applicable to every other form of expression as well.
One point in the reading was very interesting for me. I agree with Lessig that blogs are very important because “they give millions the opportunity to express their ideas in writing” (Lessig 92). People with no opinion need a leader and that leader is most likely to be a dictator. Therefore, in order to have democracy, a country needs to adjust the laws that encourage RW culture.
Works Cited:
Lessig, L. (2008). Comparing Cultures. Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy (pp. 84-116). New York: Penguin Press HC, The.
You say that: “There is no advance if we don’t have free and unlimited access to every piece of work that was done by our predecessors.” So I’m curious then, do you believe that these great works done by our predecessors were only accomplished because they had free and unlimited access to every piece of work that was done by their predecessors? I’m not so sure this was even possible before the advent of the internet. It is true that most great art is derivative of what came before it. That said, I don’t believe that it is necessary for an artist to explicitly use parts of other artists’ works in order to create something that’s innovative. I’m not opposed to this idea of remixing culture, in fact I think many great things can come from it, but I don’t believe that it’s crucial for the advancement of the arts. Furthermore, I think that each artist should retain control over their creations such that they’re the one who decides if their work can be remixed or not.