I seem to have found a pattern....

Edward Winklemann stirring up a bit of Hornet's nest.

"Wallowing in self-pity is apparently so much more comfortable than changing the world. I get it.

I don't respect it. But I get it.

I loathe the state-sponsored systems in some countries that result in warehouses of mediocre art no one wants.

I'm not suggesting anything so cliched as "true artists have to suffer to reach deep and create their best work," but I do think that when it's too easy to be an "artist" that it draws more and more untalented people to its feeding trough ... ultimately, culture itself gets watered down to the point of being boring and banal. I do feel that competition (for the limited rewards and resources available to artists) brings out innovation and hard work, and those lead to better art."

Marcus Westbury doing a bit of the same.

"It used to be simple. Now the boundary between amateur and professional - between creation and consumption, between artist and audience - has become incredibly blurred.

[The internet] is becoming both the most significant means by which the public are engaging with and exploring the traditional arts and the fastest-growing means of creation and distribution of new art and creativity itself.

Of course, a little knowledge is also a dangerous thing. The downside of the internet is that it is full of factoids, context-less bits of knowledge, self-perpetuating myths and often-repeated mistakes.

Once I would have been surprised to find someone who had written something that had been reprinted in a foreign country ... From amateur young creators who are technologically savvy, I increasingly expect it.

Creativity is a part of the human experience ... A society with a strong culture of curiosity and creativity will always be healthier than one full of passive consumers and a creative elite."

This from Barry Cohen, former Australian Federal Arts Minister in the Hawke government.

"In an occupation where there is no shortage of egos it's easy to declare oneself to be an artist and expect the world, or the government, to provide you with a living. It's nonsense and the sooner the arts community stops whining about how their talents are not being rewarded the better."

Seth Godin weighs in with....

"The net has spawned two new ways to create and consume culture.

The first is the wide-open door for amateurs to create ... The second [are] clickers, stumblers and jaded spectators who decide in the space of a moment whether to watch and participate (or not).

I'm guessing that more than half the people who started reading this post never finished it.

Should I write blog posts that increase my traffic or that help change the way (a few) people think?

If you create (or market) should you be chasing the people who click and leave?

My fear is that the endless search for wow further coarsens our culture ... The interesting question here, though, is not how fast is too fast, but what works?

Find the right people, those that are willing to listen to what you have to say, and ignore the masses that are just going to race on, unchanged."