No Idea(')s Original

Do you ever wish that you grew up before the intellectual revolution? I always read books & thoughts that are widely-studied today, & can't help but think "I could've thought of that & written it down on paper."

With that in mind, it follows that being classified a genius isn't always a matter of capability - it's mostly a matter of order. The first one to think of something gets to coin it.

For example, did you know that someone came up with a similar theory about natural selection first? Darwin even read it - he was just the first to get his work published (that, and he an explanation for evolution as a mechanism).

I'm not saying that these geniuses aren't respectable, and I'm sure as hell not calling myself a genius...but sometimes I wonder how my life would've turned out if I was born a couple of centuries ago.

Imagine being in a time where you could come up with stuff, publish it, & call them YOUR ideas. Anyone after that (even if they never heard, read, or were influenced by your work) would be plagiarizing. & even if they weren't blamed for that, their work would hold substantially less merit.

It's only now that I finally understand the saying: "no ideas are original"

Or if you have one that is, you have to go to school for 8 years, become an understudy to someone who has a doctorate, take time off doing research. And only then will your work hold some value.

But at the same time, I can't complain that there's so much knowledge or information available. I suppose it's a love-hate relationship.

But then again, maybe it's a good thing - nowadays, for something to get acknowledged...it really does have to be something else. I'm just tired of coming up with ideas & solid arguments, only to figure out someone published it hundreds of years before I even could.

I'm growing weary of having to say "I could've thought of that." If only I was born when slavery existed, women were treated as subordinates to men, humans had no rights, the world was in chaos, and philosophy wasn't so extensively developed.

If only.

Peace,

- knowledge


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