Against the Cult of Originality: Emerson on the True Nature of Genius

Originality is a short order scam.

Look back through history, and you will find most great works are the reprocessing of time honored classics for modern consumption.

Cultural appropriation is how civilizations thrive, remix, and invigorate themselves.

Let’s look at a few literary traditions:

Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Dante, Milton, Hess, Nietzsche, … Tolkien, and so on to name a few.