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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
Just imagine what it would look like if everyone on HN posted more than they read.
I think consumption is equally important to creation because the latter cannot exist without the former. Furthermore, too much focus on creation is even dangerous because it could lead to this "productivity hell" where you only evaluate your time in terms of productivity.
It actually can. Experimental art can be very fulfilling, even if you throw it away before showing it to anyone. The essay makes the point that creating things has many benefits that have nothing to do with consumption.
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
Well, if you spend 8 hours creating something meaningful… like working on your startup, building a deck for your backyard, creating some art, or preparing a nice meal… it is quite intuitive that you will feel much more content and self-satisfied than if you had spent 8 hours flicking through Instagram and TikTok, binge watching TV, and ordering food for delivery. So I guess it depends on what you mean by “create” and…
That's surfing / grazing.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
imagine a writer writing more books than they read. imagine a film director directing more movies than they watch. imagine a software engineer writing more code than they read. imagine a musician writing more songs than they listen to. ... etc etc
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…
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) addictive consumption and b) the illusion that consumption can replace a sense of self.
[2]: https://24tet.com
I think consumption is equally important to creation because the latter cannot exist without the former. Furthermore, too much focus on creation is even dangerous because it could lead to this "productivity hell" where you only evaluate your time in terms of productivity.
You don't need to be productive in order to create. I spend at least a joyful hour a day improvising on the piano. I produce nothing in the sense of being "productive". I don't record nor play for others, but nonetheless, I create.
I agree. I can not remember who said we must have more output (create/peoduce) than input (consuming information or products)
The best way to study is to write the main ideas in your own words without peeking at the material. To grasp the material you have to spend a lot of time solving problems, which is you producing a logical sequence of justified steps related to what you consumed (theory).
Feynman method is also a creative process where you produce a simplified explanation of what you want to learn relating it with common knowledge.
We need space to understand things. Al this remembers me of the concept of FOCUS-DIFFUSE found in the book "A Mind for Numbers".
This is such a dangerously wise sounding, but selfzdestructive idea. It reminds me of an old torrent site which had the policy to upload more than you download, which lead to a stanstill, as that obviously isn't possible to achieve, and users getting angry at the best uploaders, as they "stole" upload from them... Just imagine what it would look like if everyone on HN posted more than they read.
Imagine that every active user on HN wrote 100 comments everyday and only submitted the 5 best.
create != share
Great article. The last few years I've started making arthouse games which I create for myself, but release for others to enjoy. I don't seek out profit or create for consumers. Many people have sent me messages about how my games have moved them emotionally and how they didn't know games like this could be made. It's been really fulfilling. Part of this creative process was to shift my mind to less of a mindless con…
I appreciate what you're saying here, but I think calling going to museums and reading essays "consuming" is disingenuous. Taking in information (and being in control of what we take in) is very important, but there is very little salvageable information in commercially oriented content venues. Spending time with curated exhibits and texts written for the purpose of reflection is not 'consuming' in the context of cri…