Conquista - The Cycling Quarterly Issue 5 | Page 8

TA L E N T, C R E AT I V I T Y A N D T H E E T E R N A L P U R S U I T O F H A P P I N E S S
I heard an interesting statement the other day. It was on the radio, or I read it, I don’t
quite recall, anyway, apparently there will be more photographs taken in 2014 than
the sum total of all photographs ever taken in every previous year all added up. I’m
not even sure that’s actually a fact, but it sounds kinda plausible.
It stuck in my mind because, similarly, a few months ago I heard another claim, on
the radio, or in the pub, whatever, that more books will be published in 2014 than
the sum total of all books ever published in all previous years all added up together.
Moores law suggests that the microchip capacity doubles every two years.
Technology is rapidly advancing and converging. The average smart phone is now a
mini computer, a great camera, and an alarm clock, equipped with GPS and all those
Apps. There’s an App for just about anything you can think of, and plenty things you
would never think of.
We live in an age where a couple of blokes of average intelligence, living in different
countries, can publish a global magazine in their spare time, and be shortlisted
for an industry award in their first year, with little more than a sense of adventure.
Connectivity, rapid information exchange, and social media all make this possible.
And a fair few late nights.
Thanks to Instagram everyone with an iPhone now thinks they can be a
photographer. And since the advent of Kindle, everyone who ever believed they
“had a book in them” is now self-publishing. But where is the quality control,
and importantly, does it really matter? My local newspaper has fired all its
photographers and instead given iPhones to their remaining journalists. Progress?
Perhaps…
What is talent, and who are we to judge? A dictionary definition, and I don’t mean
the Urban Dictionary definition of ‘talent’, (oh no, that’s something completely
different) might be ‘a natural ability to be good at something’. The definition makes
no reference to what that something might be or place a value on it, stating whether
it should be considered worthwhile or not. Yet we, throughout our established world
order appear to prioritise certain talents above others. The reasons behind this
are debatable, but according to the revered Sir Ken Robinson, the system we have
devised seems primarily to serve Universities in their production of Professors.
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