pete at 2011-06-25 19:30:23:

Chomsky had a seminal take about creativity being tied to human nature, as evidence through his study in linguistics: we are exposed to a very fragmented and disorganized display of information, but somehow at age 2 or 3 we begin to use the information in an extremely systematic manner, using it to deliver thoughts and expressions that are wholly original. the missing gap between the disorganized information we received and the original feelings that we communicate must mean that the creative process is ingrained in our nature.

and the video's actual presentation seemed to be at odds with its own title/conclusion - people are expressing original thoughts using existing language and vocabulary. I don't think that means something is a "remix", it depends on how rigidly one defines "language" and how originality is defined - which I think the video actually supports. for example, edison's originality didn't come from the lightbulb itself, but from what he discovered and how he interpreted existing technology. That doesn't make his invention a "remix"; just because he wasn't a wizard.

Scott at 2011-06-25 20:51:06:

@pete: I took the point more broadly and frankly perhaps wrongly [specific to the actual video]... but I think the meaning is still accurate. That is all ideas are variations on previous ideas. Our creativity is born out of the creativity of others. Sometimes we learn those ideas consciously through study, sometimes we assimilate them on a more subconscious level through mere exposure, and sometimes they emerge from our unconscious, part of that magical connection with the collective unconscious that swirls throughout human existence.

That's why to me brainstorming is so critically important to the creative / writing process. That's so often where I / we get those sudden zaps of inspiration. Where did that come from? It was there waiting for us to find it, but sometimes we're just too damn buys thinking and organizing to see it.