The rebirth of the innovative individual

Not all that long ago it was the ‘ordinary’ person who came up with inventions, discoveries and new ideas.

It is only fairly recently, let’s say in the last 50 or 100 years or so, that knowledge became institutionalised. If it didn’t come out of a professional organisation it was without value.

Discoveries were made by pharmaceutical, telecommunication and computer companies – at universities and research institutions, and anything not vetted by them didn’t really count.

At BuddeComm we see the mass media as being much the same. It is easy to forget that it, also, has only been around for 50 years or so. Before that local newspapers, pamphlets etc were produced by local people.

The communications revolution, led by the Internet, has allowed ‘the man in the street’ to regain the status they held in the past. The new era we are moving into facilitates multi-directional flows of communication, innovation and creativity, based on cooperative models rather than on models that are structured around a central command.

That is not to say that this will be the end of professionalism. Our modern society needs quality, and while mediocre material might get an airing it will not gain credence and will eventually disappear.

More important, however, is the fact that this environment allows non-professionals to learn quickly, improve and possibly to catch up with the established professionals.

Just look at the global network NASA has established with amateur astrologists. User-generated content as we know it today did not exist two or three years ago but it is now a permanent feature of most of the respected media around the globe. And amateur blogs are breaking news and providing diverse viewpoints from people at the scene, not only from professional external journalists.

Once again, the one doesn’t necessarily exclude the other – on the contrary – but the innovative individual is well and truly back on the scene and putting their stamp on the establishment, whether government, business or science.

Paul