Kirby Ferguson’s Everything Is A Remix Part 3 has got everything right. He discusses basically the invention of everything and how even though it may seem “new” it’s really just an improved combination.

In discussing creativity, Ferguson says that the 3 elements of creativity are: copy, transform, and combine. Everyone copies someone else to some extent. You learn and form your own ideas by looking at what someone else has done or said. If you transform that idea and combine it with the others that are out there, you can come up with something improved. It isn’t going to be new because nothing is new, just a combination of old things that have come together to create something great. He says, “By connecting ideas together, creative leaps can be made.”

Ferguson uses the computer as his example. Before Apple came out with the Macintosh there was the Xerox Alto and the Apple Lucy. These were both personal computers that were not as successful as the Macintosh. Xerox created a more personal computer known as the Star. Apple combined the Star and the Alto to create the Macintosh. This combination helped the Macintosh become successful in the long term. The Mac is able to transform all the ideas it copied into its own, like the one button mouse and the stay-put menu bar. With all of these combined, the Mac become a successful personalized computer.

I agree with Ferguson when he says that everything we learn is copied. Someone is always going to have the same ideas as us and nothing is ever really going to be new. These creative breakthroughs did not come about on their own, but as a part of copying other peoples work, transforming it, and then combining it all together.

I found this video to be very insightful and look forward to hearing what Ferguson has in store for us next