I love that context, & thank you for it! I remember Robin Sloan calling this random-winner effect "the breath of the gods", and—well, it distorts life in the creative industries right now. It's harder to make a "base hit" kind of project than it used to be, but home runs are still home runs. & because 'base hits' aren't as dependable any more, home runs are even a bit more than that.
At the same time, it means we're in an era where there's so much wonderful work out there to be discovered beyond the hits (if only it gets published). I think we're seeing the beginning of a swing back away from a kind of strong-construction "poptimism" ("things that are popular must be good"); I wonder if it will accelerate as people pay more attention to the way systems create the conditions in which success occurs.
I love that context, & thank you for it! I remember Robin Sloan calling this random-winner effect "the breath of the gods", and—well, it distorts life in the creative industries right now. It's harder to make a "base hit" kind of project than it used to be, but home runs are still home runs. & because 'base hits' aren't as dependable any more, home runs are even a bit more than that.
At the same time, it means we're in an era where there's so much wonderful work out there to be discovered beyond the hits (if only it gets published). I think we're seeing the beginning of a swing back away from a kind of strong-construction "poptimism" ("things that are popular must be good"); I wonder if it will accelerate as people pay more attention to the way systems create the conditions in which success occurs.