Monday, June 16, 2008

Are you a Creationist?

Are you a creationist – a believer in ex nihilo?

Or maybe you are an evolutionist – the origin of origins is not your worry…you care for where it is all going and what happens to the fittest who survive.

Or could you be a cynic – not really caring that much about the past, and as the future is fuzzy anyway – give me today and I am happy.

Religion, politics and human development aside – focusing only on ideas and where they come from – I find myself to be grounded in the cynics’ camp…with a twist.

Currently in Cannes. Surrounded by legions of creative directors, copywriters, art directors and wannabes – swimming through oceans of creative work – it’s hard if not impossible to find an idea that you haven’t seen before.

But wait!! Before you jump – I said idea…not execution, use or application. In fact, I have seen many fresh and exciting and interesting and, yes, new ways to look at and interpret the “old.”

The Greeks understood this early in their history and identified a limited number of plots that can be written to – think about the millions upon millions of variations on themes we have seen since then. Neither Shakespeare nor Rostand nor Pinter nor Cervantes was daunted or demotivated or limited. Rather they accepted the challenge, learned what they could and wrote on.

In my view, this notion ties tightly back to the entire discussion of networks and what they do.

And here is why:

There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don’t know.
~ Ambrose Bierce

So while we might have seen it all – that doesn’t mean we know it all…and there is a lot under that sun…

From Sunny Cannes…

Posted by David on 06/16 at 09:09 AM
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