Democratiziation of the Creative Impulse

Definition

Media is creating forced creativity by putting digital cameras in the hands of individuals. Forced creativity makes people increasingly digitize their lives because media takes up space, and people like to share digitized bits of their lives. By allowing consumers to upload images, a panopticon of creativity is formed. Talent is not encouraged to develop except in small groups like Photoshop competition forums or networked groups.

A friend of mine who is an engineering student and electronic musician coined the the term "if I just try a little harder" syndrome to explain what is affecting the hyper-modernized individual. They try a diet, and it fails, and then they tell themselves they will try even harder. "If I were just to try a little harder" on a photo, or an essay. Of course, trying hard is a future event, or a past event. It is a self-referential event that, because of its detached reflection, can never manifest in the present moment.