My Attributions

Human understanding uses a quirky creative pattern:

  1. Devour information via perception.
  2. Discard all the context of that information.
  3. Try to figure out which information is better than the rest.
  4. Remember it for a while, devour lots more and keep condensing into abstractions.
  5. Barf out that information into creative stuff, often while believing it’s an original idea or trying to hide the evidence.

Nothing ever really changes, but we feel like it does, so nothing I will ever make is truly new: it’s just stuff someone else wrote that I haven’t met yet. I can’t pioneer anything because it’s just a remix.

If something feels familiar, you read the same book I read, saw the movie I was thinking about, or had the same experience as me. Or, maybe you just see the same pattern I see. I’m just copying things from someone I don’t know and don’t realize I’m copying.

I generally don’t like to cite people. We frequently make opinions about a work or idea based on who said or did it, irrespective of its validity or effectiveness. I consider that a crime against the order that represents itself.

But, we still sometimes like to give credit to our benefactors. Some of those people who made an impact on me do deserve honor, so I feel duty-bound to place them here.

Consider this my Wall of Fame. Just remember, though: each of those people were simply reaping their forebears as well.

Please indicate if you think I’m stealing from you, and I’ll happily add your name here. If I had all attributions encoded, I’d have to scour thousands of articles, books, videos, and discussions I’ve consumed at various degrees of consciousness and thoroughness.

Ideas

Long-Dead People:

Still-Alive People:

People I’ve Personally Known:

Collections

I’ve also scraped from the following collection-makers: