“Is the work we publish online only validated once it is viewed/consumed by others?”

Honestly I thought this question was a very simple one, with two distinct answers, based purely on how you quantify validity. Less -y words now.

One: financial. Physical and tangible benefits to you: the writer. External feedback defines the validity of the work.

Two: Personal. The classic artists’ struggle. The purely internal motivation. External criteria need not apply. It is valid for simply existing.

Hence, work is only valid by way of how you want it to be valid, usually falling into one of those two categories.

A lot of what else was discussed I agreed with. I had noticed the steep increase in eBooks recently, particularly on my train rides to Uni where I see more Kindles than paperbacks nowadays, in regards to the replacement of physical books.

One particular point however was somebody mentioning the ‘Simplification of language’ and the assumption that it is this generation that has become dumber. Adrian’s retort claiming that this generation is in fact the smartest, I also agree with.

What is simplifcation of language but condensing the assumed knowledge of the past? PBS Idea Channel looks at ‘exceeding our being’ at the 3 minute 30 second mark in the video below.

That brief graphic I feel best explains our continuing evolution as humans, and as knowledge. Where past ancestors would have simply known how to till soil to grow food to hence survive, today we understand – or have quick access to via google – this knowledge as well as understanding how to use Facebook and smartphones and how to operate a car. Knowledge carries through generations, so this ‘simplication of language’ seems to better represent a condensation of past knowledge, and a more efficient way of communication as we go forward into the future.