Originality

According to one of my faithful readers, my best posts are my most original and I should post "more original things instead of Lady GaGa quotes and such." Valid point. But what my father might not have realized when he said this was that he had given me a brilliant idea for a post (thank you, Daddy!).

My trusty friend Dictionary.com defines the world "original" as:

o·rig·i·nal

   [uh-rij-uh-nl]  Show IPA

–adjective

1.

belonging or pertaining to the origin  or beginning ofsomething, or to a thing at its beginning: The book still hasits original binding.

2.

new; fresh; inventive; novel: an original way of advertising.

3.

arising or proceeding independently of anything else: anoriginal view of history.

Because when I thought "original post" I thought, "is there such thing?" Is it entirely possible to be truly the first person to have a thought, a certain idea, a certain view on an issue? Technology seems, to me, to be the only thing that could truly be original, as it evolves over time. Ideas might have been had by thousands of people before one person decided to actually execute it. Melodies could have been in many people's heads until someone finally wrote a song for it.

I'm not saying this is exactly how the world works, that all thoughts are thought over and over, worn down to eventually become an overused mediocrity, that there is never anything fresh and novel. No, I do believe there is originality. However, it is interesting to think that, perhaps, there isn't. Maybe we, as people in a wide, wide, modern world must press the boundaries of our minds in order to find originality today. Or, maybe there are more opportunities for novelty in the rolling plains of modern thought with horizons broadened by all who have lived before us.

Hmm. Thoughts on this paradoxical musing of mine?

xoxo

Morgan