https://twitter.com/mistermircea/status/908838936046456832
1/The intersection of Technology and Art.
2/Art, music & literature teach you to see, hear, feel and think. They show you the world, yourself, and how to orient yourself & act in it.
3/In generations past it was always the arts, literature and music that were at the forefront of reshaping culture and shifting its norms.
4/Movements in art, music and literature both influenced and reflected the times, operating predominantly as a reaction to what came before.
5/Artists saw first the limitations of the past, the insufficient ways of old, and sought to express that to usher in a new & better future.
6/David Bowie said in an interview that the Internet was the end of the global phenomenon of musical icons that defined a generation.
7/He was right. The internet gave us the option to shape our own individual tastes and preferences apart from the dictates of mass culture.
8/As globalization and access to information increased so did the segmentation and polarization of individuals and groups.
9/The radio & MTV after the 00's had less effect on culture. Musicians of all kinds split into niches and subcultures, as did all arts.
10/This permitted a flourishing of original work that occasionally seeped into mainstream culture, but was more often for a small audience.
11/There is no longer one market for Art of any kind—there are millions of niche markets with a negligible net impact on global culture.
12/There is one aspect, however, in which we are all being shaped and influenced the same way, sharing the same cultural reality:Technology.
13/In the past two decades Technology has replaced the role of Art in culture. Tech shapes culture, but it still doesn't know the rules.
14/Technology has created a cultural shift in our collective experience of reality, and part of it is also a shortened attention span.
15/This, of course, is not something that technology itself should be blamed for. Technology is merely used as means to an end.
16/Some thoughtful people like Steve Jobs understood the role of Art and sought the intersection of Art and Technology in their products.
17/Steve was a visionary because he wanted Technology to have the same cultural impact as Art, and to also serve the same benefit & purpose.
18/His goal and outlook was to be guided by the principles and function of Art both in the design and the utility of Apple products.
19/In that he succeeded, and for that reason Apple became one of the most loved, recognized and profitable companies in the world.
20/Technology only forms part of the equation. Technology is a means; it gives you the how. Art, music and literature show you the why.
21/Art was responsible for reacting to culture in the past, paving a new way. In this age, that role is up to Technology to fulfill.
22/A reactionary shift to a culture of short attention spans and inability to do deep work might come from Technology informed by Art.
23/ Or—more optimistically, perhaps—it would be Technology as another form of Art, which it certainly can be, although it isn't there yet.
24/The problem is that short attention spans also form a culture in which deep work in Art has no bearing; thus creating a vicious circle.
25/Art (In which I include literature and music) functions to broaden our perception and restore us to our humanity via our senses.
26/But with shortened attention spans we cannot hope to pay enough attention to reap the benefits that the deepest work of Art provides.
27/Without these benefits of Art (or Technology as Art) culture stagnates, and its movement remains a downward spiral, externally dictated.
28/A Technology that seeks to serve the function of Art is a humane Technology—one which enables culture & humanity to flourish and expand.
29/The reaction to the current economic model of Technology will come from Tech-Artists who see its deleterious function and object to it.
30/Such a technological counteraction mirrors the artistic counteraction of the past and is imbued with the same values & ideals.
31/Art alone can't do it; it has too little influence. Technology could, if it learns the rules. And that might be to the benefit of all.
32/ FIN. Hat tip @naval for prompting this train of thought. Link to David Bowie's interview below (Worth watching). @naval "This may be the last generation that has a powerful tool like the Internet, and the focused attention span to do deep work."
33/ David Bowie on the impact of the Internet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaHcOs7mhfU