Is There Virtue In Originality?
We demonize “copiers” and praise “originality” but humanity prospers through iteration.
Of all the modern-day taboos and social expectations, it’s pretty well known that copying is a big no. You can dye your hair pink and shop exclusively at thrift stores, but if you do this immediately after someone else then you run the risk of being deemed a “poser” that’s “desperate to be unique.”
If you think this phenomenon is arbitrary and pointless, that’s because it is. If you think the example above is just some teen-angst riddled scenario, it isn’t.
Regardless of your views on copying we’ve all been guilty of adapting someone's style, beliefs, ideas, habits, personal traits, and much more into elements of who we are. We don’t completely throw out who we used to be, rather outside elements have an influence in the way we change or grow.
Conversely, we’ve also witnessed people take on the same initiatives as us or maybe dress in a similar style or speak with a similar intonation as us. We’ve all either called someone out for copying or maybe just murmured it through gritted teeth. Regardless, we all seem to be part of a never-ending push-and-pull between copying and originating.
