"How To Be Creative" from gapingvoid.com
On the verge of turning 40, a series of blog postings I discovered on "gapingvoid.com" this week proved very helpful. While it did not answer these questions/concerns/worries outright, it certainly did provide a framework for self-evaluation, goal setting, and "keeping-it-in-perspective" strategies.
Lots of excellent material and commentary throughout this blog ranging from corporate/organization business models, impact of blogs, the notion of organizational/personal/financial success, and the process of creation. The philosophies, while they may be geared toward specific areas (business/advertizing), still apply freely to other areas.
One of my favorite quotes from the site in "#5. You are responsible for your own experience" reads:
"Nobody can tell you if what you're doing is good, meaningful or worthwhile. The more compelling the path, the more lonely it is."
posted by Anonymous at 10:59 AM
8 Comments:
"Nobody can tell you if what you're doing is good, meaningful or worthwhile."
Isn't that the creed of the nihilist? Or the sociopath?
"Nobody can tell you if what you're doing is good, meaningful or worthwhile."
Hmmm...how do we know that an action is good or bad? Heavy questions - this looks like a job for an ethicist!
I agree with Amiga3000 that one cannot look exclusively to others for a definition of what is good. What if 'they'- the outside source of moral legitimacy - are themselve wrong (Nazis, terrorists, corporate motivational experts,etc.)? Conversely, if you base good entirely on your own judgment, you can get away with murder (ask Stalin who he answered to).
A lot of folks, Kant for example, thought that the rules for determining 'good' were independent of you as an individual and anyone else who says they know better. Doing good, to Kant, was a matter of rational inquiry. Lying, for example, is wrong because it deceives others. It's 'wrongness' has nothing to do with whether you feel it is good or another party feels it is bad. Conversely, any Ayn Rand fans out there might about the notion that some things are objectively good or bad.
Ohhhh, I wish I had more time to respond!
Amiga, OK - just so long as I don't see you waving a Molotov Cocktail and shouting "Anarchy Now!" Heh heh.
"High work rate!" indeed. I expect no less from anyone in the tight 5...
BTW - Kant is very interesting, but kinda weird sometimes (and this coming from someone who thinks he understands "Duty"). Mighty Q - this canonly be solved over an ale or two...
Uh, our blog, not my blog.
Reminds me very much of "Do what thou willt shall be the whole of the law." (Aleister Crowley) Not that there's anything wrong with that....
I thought I would add a comment only so that every donut had a comment on this topic.
The only thing I can think of adding (and this is tongue in cheek) is that the Catholic Church tells me what is good, meaningful and worthwhile. This is from both a creative and a moral/ethical standpoint.
MJ, you said "this CONONLY be settled over an ale..." [emphasis is mine, space omission is MJ's] Reading through that quickly I didn't realize that you had omitted a space and thought you wanted to discuss canon over an ale.
Isn't Canon law best discussed over ale anyway?
Sherry I thought.
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