On originality
Apr. 25th, 2026 03:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
posicScott D. Clary writes in Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/scottdclarypage/posts/pfbid0341Q4rRExLKRui89wJHQVwsrSVUWsDskofkgMCPGYjwvzWiZwQNZktaYsXdo1AWA8l :
Something I realized about originality: Nobody is original. Everybody is a remix of the five people who influenced them most. The trick isn't being original. It's choosing your five inputs deliberately instead of absorbing whatever the algorithm serves you. Curated inputs produce distinctive outputs.
***
Well, I do believe that I am original. I am not a remix of any five people. Which five people? Vaintrob and Finkelberg? Tsygan and Feigin? Beilinson and Voevodsky? Eilenberg and Moore? Serre and Grothendieck? The notion is ridiculous as applied to me.
And if you don't believe me about myself, you can consider any one of the ten people mentioned above. Who of them is/was a remix of whom?
Вообще, наверное, вряд ли какая-либо постановка вопроса иллюстрирует разницу между бизнесом и наукой ярче, чем эта.
Something I realized about originality: Nobody is original. Everybody is a remix of the five people who influenced them most. The trick isn't being original. It's choosing your five inputs deliberately instead of absorbing whatever the algorithm serves you. Curated inputs produce distinctive outputs.
***
Well, I do believe that I am original. I am not a remix of any five people. Which five people? Vaintrob and Finkelberg? Tsygan and Feigin? Beilinson and Voevodsky? Eilenberg and Moore? Serre and Grothendieck? The notion is ridiculous as applied to me.
And if you don't believe me about myself, you can consider any one of the ten people mentioned above. Who of them is/was a remix of whom?
Вообще, наверное, вряд ли какая-либо постановка вопроса иллюстрирует разницу между бизнесом и наукой ярче, чем эта.
