Quote:
Originally Posted by ReallyGoodIdeas  Quote: |
Originally Posted by Keith You can only be great compared to those around you | With respect, I don't think greatness is a comparison thing. That just makes it "keeping up with the Jones's, PD style"! |
Just because Greatness is judged by comparison doesn't necessarily mean that the way to
become great is by comparing yourself to others. To become great you must be exceptional compared to everyone else, and you can't do that by following them. So 'keeping up with the Joneses' isn't enough.
There's actually a third corollary I should've mentioned:
(1) You can only be Great relative to other people
(2) Everyone can lift themselves to a level that would currently be considered Great; therefore
(3)
New and higher levels of Great become possible
Filipo Brunelleschi was a Great painter - he painted more realistic paintings of man-made structures than any other artist using an invention of his own - one-point linear perspective.
When other artists (Leonardo Da Vinci amongst them) copied Bunelleschi's technique were they 'just keeping up with the Joneses'? In a way. They strived to better themselves, and they did so based on the standards of those around them. But they then built on and refined that knowledge to reach new and greater heights of their own.
Nowadays, not only one-point, but also two and three-point perspectives are routine in art. What was once great is now mundane. So the art world goes off in search of
new 'Greats' to conquer.
The bar is raised through 'coopertition' and that's not a bad thing...