Did you ever look at a piece of modern art and think:
‘Well I could’ve done that!’
The thing is, you probably could.
If we sat you down next to the piece, gave you all the necessary materials and allowed you enough time, without any formal training you’d probably make a very good replica.
But that’s not the point!
This might be a stretch and you might be too young to remember but imagine what it would be like to find your destination without Google maps.
You’re driving down a street you don’t know the name of, you have no idea if the turn is left or right.
The upcoming left turn looks promising!
It turns out to be a dead end.
You try the next right turn but it leads to the motorway and you don’t want to get back on the motorway.
All the houses look the same and you’re desperate for a landmark or a sign or something, anything!
You ring the friend you’re visiting to help you out but you’re surrounded by completely generic terrain, there’s nothing odd or interesting you can reference.
It looks like you’re just going to have to rely on a method of trial and error coupled with your best guesses.
Now compare that to using Google Maps, where all the cognitive energy needed is to follow the directions and even if you can’t manage that the app corrects itself! Providing you with a new recalculated route in seconds!
The original artist has to grapple with being lost for 99% of the project whether as the copier follows directions.
Thomas Duggan 