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Create More, Consume Less (2021)

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Re: Create More, Consume Less (2021)

#41

Post by BehindBlueEyes »

DinaCoder98 wrote: post #25
gandalfgreybeer wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're looking at "consumption" that is directly related to something productive. When one reads code, it goes towards writing (and all other examples you showed); that is essentially productive However, what if I spend more time on Instagram and Twitter (consuming that won't lead to creating) over writing code. What if I spend more hours watching cat videos on Youtube over actually learning or making somethi…

> What if I spend more hours watching cat videos on Youtube over actually learning or making something? That doesn't sound that bad in itself. In my experience falling into this trap many, many times over my life, it's something that's rather easy to recognize as harmful—just difficult to climb out of if it's an established habit. So—consumption of unproductive content per se strikes me as less of a problem than a) a…

This. As long as platforms optimise for engagement e.g. to get more add revenue, it seems unfair to blame folks who enjoy cat videos for watching too many of them and not doing something more creative/productive. I wish there was a better/easier option to be able to watch just enough cat videos that one needs, in between "time disappears in a black hole of habit forming retention features" and "never touch that platform again".

Re: Create More, Consume Less (2021)

#42

Post by gspencley »

beryilma wrote: post #38

I think this is an often incompatible ideal. I think it should rather say "Create more than you consume" or "Do not consume without creating something in return" using any useful definition of creativity. The amount of consumption by people that most of us would consider creative is often staggering. I will give one example. Take Adam Savage of Myth Busters. Have you seen his studio? He probably has million-dollar wo…

As someone who fancies himself highly creative, I will also point out that creativity doesn't happen in a vacuum.

To give an example, my wife and I are part-time performing magicians. Recently we took a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. The themeing of those theme parks... by which I mean the environmental story-telling, the concept of dark rides and walk-through attractions, the live special effects and illusions that go into a lot of their attractions was extremely inspiring to me ... and got me thinking about how to apply some of those ideas to magic shows. Had I not been a "consumer" at those parks, I would have been closed off to that inspiration.

A common piece of advice given to young magicians is "find something other than magic." The point is that we don't need more copy-cats doing the same tricks. We need people with new and fresh ideas. While, philosophically, I'm not a subscriber to the idea that there is no such thing as "true originality", I will admit that it's rare. It shouldn't be controversial to say that most of the time creativity means taking existing ideas and combining them in novel ways. If you try to artificially restrict the amount of time that you are exposed to things that exist in life, you are artificially limiting the amount that you are opening yourself to new ideas and concepts that others have come up with.

I know from experience that you can consume "too much" and not produce enough. For me, specifically, I recognize when this starts to happen by my emotional state. I typically get restless and recognize that I've been spending too much time watching tv, or that it's been a while since I've made something or worked on a new routine or show idea. How much is the "right balance" is going to be highly individualistic.

And of course some people might "only" consume and not really create at all. As long as we're not talking about the rare cases of people living parasitically off of the productive output of others then I'm hard pressed to say that it's necessarily a bad thing. Not everyone has that creative drive and that's OK.

Re: Create More, Consume Less (2021)

#43

Post by runeb »

beryilma wrote: post #38

I think this is an often incompatible ideal. I think it should rather say "Create more than you consume" or "Do not consume without creating something in return" using any useful definition of creativity. The amount of consumption by people that most of us would consider creative is often staggering. I will give one example. Take Adam Savage of Myth Busters. Have you seen his studio? He probably has million-dollar wo…

Similarly, see the often massive personal libraries of authors, or the record collections of musicians. The best musicians I know also consume a staggering amount of music.

Re: Create More, Consume Less (2021)

#44

Post by nate »

Definitely enjoy the overall point of the article. But something interesting that's happened in my life is that I've started creating more because I've started consuming more (as some other folks are pointing out in this thread). Maybe it's because I've changed my form of consumption. I've spent 10 or so extra minutes per day reading each night that I had applied to social media consumption. One of those books inspired a thought that became another habit I started, and now I built a whole iOS app I'm launching soon just because of that bit of inspiration I consumed. What's the whole point of this, I dunno, maybe it's not even "consume better". But more like constantly diversify your consumption. "consume different => create more" Don't get into ruts. Keep your consumption fresh. Social media your jam, at least read some different people etc.

Re: Create More, Consume Less (2021)

#45

Post by famahar »

TooGhosty wrote: post #40
famahar wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you. I host all my games on itch.io. It's a friendly community that's generally into more alternative approaches to game design. https://farfama.itch.io/

I really love the aesthetic of your games. Would you mind sharing what tools you use to create them? I've been interested in spending more time on game development as a hobby recently.

Mostly Unity3D. I've amassed a huge list of assets, shaders, plugins, vfx, and tools that have aided in my workflow. It's hard to think of all the tools I use within Unity at the top of my head. I might make a blog post one day about my workflow but for now this is a pretty good starter list to get you started:

https://github.com/michidk/Unity-Script-Collection

and if you need free assets, I made a blog post about creative commons resources.

https://itch.io/blog/478317/life-as-a-creative-commons-indie...

Re: Create More, Consume Less (2021)

#46

Post by digging »

zcw100 wrote: post #31

New age hustle culture.

I just think the article is a bit confused.

If it only urged the reader to "regularly create something" it would be spot-on. I don't think any comparison to consumption is necessary at all. It seems like the target audience is someone who doesn't make a practice of creating for their own sake, in which case, yes they will feel/think/create better by practicing creation.

Re: Create More, Consume Less (2021)

#47

Post by RetroTechie »

gspencley wrote: post #42
beryilma wrote: post #38

I think this is an often incompatible ideal. I think it should rather say "Create more than you consume" or "Do not consume without creating something in return" using any useful definition of creativity. The amount of consumption by people that most of us would consider creative is often staggering. I will give one example. Take Adam Savage of Myth Busters. Have you seen his studio? He probably has million-dollar wo…

As someone who fancies himself highly creative, I will also point out that creativity doesn't happen in a vacuum. To give an example, my wife and I are part-time performing magicians. Recently we took a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. The themeing of those theme parks... by which I mean the environmental story-telling, the concept of dark rides and walk-through attractions, the live special effects and…

> I will also point out that creativity doesn't happen in a vacuum.

"Remix culture".

Less-creative people only consume, or are content with making a minor twist to something they encounter.

More creative people take inspiration from 1001 existing things, actively seek out particular ones, and transform bits & pieces into something new.

Gifted artists do that, but don't shy away from transforming the tools & technology used, as well. Sometimes creating truly unique works, or breaking open entire new fields (like a game designer starting an entirely new genre of games). This also happens in science.

Of course we should cherish such gifted artists. But I'm convinced everyone's got a creative streak - it's more like a skill that can be grown & enhanced.

Re: Create More, Consume Less (2021)

#48

Post by j7ake »

For many artists and scientists, consumption is directly linked to creation.

Musicians spend their free time consuming the latest music, scientists read the latest journals, writers like Stephen King read novels while waiting at grocery line.

The key is that consumption id done by many in direct benefit for future production.

Re: Create More, Consume Less (2021)

#50

Post by inglor_cz »

coldtea wrote: post #32
krrishd wrote: post #3

every prolific creator i've seen in practice has been a far more indulgent consumer than the average person. that, and in the chicken and egg of inspiration and production, i've found that production is usually wrung out of a surplus of inspiration. it genuinely surprises me how popular and intuitive this "create more than you consume" meme is

> every prolific creator i've seen in practice has been a far more indulgent consumer than the average person You'd be surprised. It's a common cliche in musician interviews for example that they don't listen to other music for large stretches of time. Authors do read more than the average person, but the average person wouldn't read to save their life (the average american reads like 1 book per year according to sta…

I write quite a lot (finishing my 9th book by now), but I read orders of magnitude more. Perhaps 100 times as much, roughly, when considering my younger years, when I didn't write at all and only read voraciously.
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