Groupthink

Dear Cain,
I completely, completely, completely agree with your argument that groupthink is it an all time high and decreasing creativity. "Lone geniuses are out. Collaboration is in." There is no longer individual work, everything has become group work. All of my classes now consist of groupwork instead of individual work. Groupwork and creating relationships is great, but too much of it puts a damper on individual's creativity. I personally come up with better ideas when I am alone than when I am in a group. When I am in a group I rely on the team to come up with the ideas and then I just agree with them.  Just as you quoted Picasso, “without great solitude, no serious work is possible.” In groups, team members are subject to groupthink and creating relationships that slow down the work process. I agree with Mr. Wozniak's advice to "work alone... Not on a committee. Not on a team."

This can tie into Keen's article, "The Cult of the Amateur", and Shirky's article, "Personal Motivation Meets Collaborative Production". Keen talks about how in today's society everyone wants to be an artist and there are now a myriad of amateur productions, but really only talented people can be artist. I disagree with his harshness towards individuals wanting to be artists, but I agree that there is too much mediocrity. Just how everyone now wants to be an artist and how now everyone wants to work collaboratively, the truly creative and talented ideas are decreasing because too many people are involved and everything is becoming amateur work. Shirky's article discusses the creation of Wikipedia and how a group of scholars collaborated to create this online encyclopedia that can be viewed and edited by the public. As great as this idea is, it can also create false information. The collaboration of Wikipedia and allowing anyone to edit it can cause individuals to put false information in the articles. I can easily click edit and make up any random shit I want on an article and someone could easily believe it because they believe it is a reliable source. I believe teamwork is great, but teamwork is great for sports and when support and assistance is needed. The truly talented and creative ideas come from the individuals who chose to work alone.

Yours Truly,
Taylor Palehonki