A Rebirth
People reference culture and society as both the cause and the result of the way people behave. Psychologists ponder the paradox of "nature vs. nurture" to try to gauge just how profound the effect of society really is. The European Renaissance is an interesting study because, among other things, it is an example of a very radical and aggressive reconfiguring of culture. In its very name, meaning "rebirth" (Wikipedia), signifies its extreme significance. Why was this dramatic rethinking of art and science so effective in overtaking Europe? To oversimplify almost to a fault, it may be suggested that there is something about good ideas that is contagious. No doubt the underlying optimism of the previous statement misses the mark of its vaunted brother realism, but in a way, it is reflective of the way the business world seems to work. Buyers and users won't flock towards products and services that are sub-par or unintuitive. Meanwhile, history is fraught with evidence to suggest that bad ideas can be contagious as well. It is the hope of humanity then, that the ideas that ultimately stand the test of time are those that edify and not destroy, create, and not devolve. You know what ideas I mean: "good" ideas, of course.
Comments
Yeah, good ideas are contagious. Really good ones are sometimes the ones people like to quarantine. And keep to themselves for profit and gain. For example, take to the telephone. Three were 3 inventors who could claim that they invented it. But it was Bell who had enough political pull and the know how to register his version for the patent.
Posted by: Davonne Thomas | November 19, 2007 08:19 PM