Creativity

I am daily amazed at the abundant creativity found all over the internet. As I peruse Youtube submissions, read blog entries (by others), and monitor the endless stream of Tweets that continually bombard my phone I cannot help but marvel at the various ways others have found to create new ways to communicate ideas. I find myself saying over and over again, "Why didn't I think of that," or, "I wish I could do that."

As I sit in Panera sipping my coffee I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never be as creative as many of the artists whose art I find populating the world-wide web. Contentment, for me, must be found in the occasional blog post. Even my feeble forays into the mighty Twitterverse fall far short. How is it that so many are able to convey what they are thinking in just 140 characters or less?! I'm all for brevity, but this seems a bit beyond my reach.

The author of a book I have recently been reading states that we are all philosophers. Advanced degrees and dissertations are not necessary. If we can think, and can communicate our thoughts we are philosophers. How would Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Hegel compete in this age of one-sentence syllogisms? What would their tweets and blog posts look like? Would they podcast themselves on Youtube? Would their wireless words of wisdom take shape through a weekly video upload full of "clips of the week", "video question of the day", or flashy screen transitions?

Now, since we've taken a moment to envision how some of the greatest of human thinkers would interact in this digital age, let me ask one more question. If, in the sovereign will of God, Jesus Christ had been born and lived in 2010 how would He have used this seemingly endless wealth of communication technology? Would He have used it? Would His Twitter account give insiders advance notice such as, "Healing blind man, this AM, downtown"? How many views would a cellphone video upload titled "Dead Man Raised, NO EDITS!" gather in a week? Would He have still been able to teach a mass of people and hold their attention so long that He would need to miraculously feed them all when they grew hungry? Would His message have been cut up into 30-second video blurbs, thus losing much of its meaning?

So, let me try to bring my random ramblings together. I've considered the mass creativity that abounds through the mass of our ability to communicate in new and increasing technology. I've asked how history's greatest thinkers would use this technology if it were available to them. I've pondered how and if the Jesus Christ would use this technology explosion. I am thinking that some of the greatest thoughts ever communicated were done so without instant messaging and email. So, while I will still be amazed every time I come across a highly creative web gem, I will try to also remember that thoughts of true substance might need to communicated with a few more than 140 characters.