IS ANYTHING TRULY NEW?

THE PARADOX OF ORIGINALITY: ARE WE BUILDING THE FUTURE WITH THE PAST?

In a world that constantly craves the "next big thing," every fresh idea carries whispers of the ages past.

This week at The Institute of Arts and Ideas, London, some prominent thinkers including Stanley Fish a literary critic, legal scholar, and public intellectual; Claire Hynes, Associate Professor in Literature & Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia; and Martin Puchner Harvard Professor and philosopher, debated whether in the grand symphony of human creativity, is anything truly new, or are we merely remixing the echoes of the past?

From fashion and fantasy to business and art, it can feel like every “new” idea has a familiar echo, a déjà vu of something that came before. Our hunger for originality meets the reality that every idea stands on the shoulders of older concepts, and every invention reimagines past creations. But does this mean there’s no true originality? Or does it reveal a deeper beauty in how ideas evolve and re-invent themselves?

Take fashion, where every decade brings a revival of an era. Right now, the 90s are having a moment—cargo pants, chokers, and crop tops are back with a vengeance. But are they really “back,” or did they ever leave? The same threads reappear over and over in our closets, often with subtle tweaks but the same DNA. Why?

Fashion, like language, is a living, breathing narrative that we collectively write. When designers bring back bell-bottom jeans or retro jackets, they’re not necessarily trying to rehash the past. They’re looking to the familiar for comfort and continuity while layering on new materials, cuts, and cultural significance. Fashion acts as a time-traveling storyteller, allowing each generation to reimagine and reinterpret an era’s style, giving it new energy while paying homage to its roots.

In the words of designer Coco Chanel, “Fashion changes, but style endures.” The innovations might lie in the details, the ways each piece fits into today’s society, culture, and technology. The broader story of clothing is the same—identity, self-expression, community—but each generation tells it in its way.

Storytelling, from ancient myths to today’s blockbusters, might be the most obvious example of the paradox of originality. Think of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces, a book that describes the “monomyth” or “hero’s journey.” The premise? Nearly every story across time and cultures follows a common arc: a hero ventures out, faces adversity, overcomes trials, and returns transformed. Star Wars, Harry Potter, and The Odyssey—are all rooted in the same ancient narrative structure.

But here’s where it gets interesting: while the plot skeleton may be the same, the specifics—the characters, the settings, the voices—bring infinite variations. J.K. Rowling reimagined the hero’s journey in the halls of a magical boarding school, while George Lucas took it to a galaxy far, far away. By infusing old tropes with new cultural influences, settings, and details, creators make something that feels both timeless and uniquely fresh.

A great metaphor here is a kaleidoscope. The patterns are made of the same fragments, yet every twist reveals a new image. The stories we tell might use pieces of the same myths, but each twist of the cultural kaleidoscope yields something singular, something that feels new, even if its foundation isn’t.

Business innovation might seem like the land of groundbreaking new ideas. But dig deeper, and you’ll often find that the seeds of today’s startups and breakthroughs were planted decades or even centuries ago. The iPhone was revolutionary, yes, but the technology it drew on was a culmination of innovations dating back to telegraphs, early computers, and the pioneering dreams of people like Nikola Tesla and Alan Turing.

Consider how many “new” business models are simply re-interpretations. The sharing economy that gave rise to Uber and Airbnb? That’s just an updated version of ancient trade systems and the barter economy, updated with the power of mobile technology. Tesla’s electric cars may seem futuristic, but they’re built on principles pioneered by the likes of Ferdinand Porsche, who invented the first hybrid car over a century ago.

These so-called “new” ideas draw their strength from history. Each entrepreneur may be remixing old concepts, but in layering them with the tech, culture, and resources of today, they’re creating something that feels both familiar and transformative. In this sense, the question isn’t so much whether an idea is truly new, but rather how the past is re-envisioned to meet the needs of the present.

Fantasy stories take us to new worlds, yet many are echoes of ancient lore. Greek gods became modern superheroes; Norse legends inspired characters like Thor in the Marvel universe. The fascination with these mythic figures remains, but we bring them into the 21st century with contemporary issues, values, and challenges.

The original Greek gods had human flaws, serving as metaphors for human nature and morality. Today’s superheroes—Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman—aren’t gods in name, but they’ve inherited the mantle. They wrestle with similar themes of power, justice, and moral ambiguity, making ancient ideas accessible and relevant to a new audience.

Here, the concept of remixing applies again. The elements—power, morality, heroism—are the same, but they’re rearranged to fit the context of modern-day dilemmas, from political power struggles to personal identity crises. This combination allows us to engage with these characters as if they were new, even if their origins are as old as civilization itself.

So, is anything truly new? Maybe “new” isn’t the right word. Perhaps a better question is: How do we add our unique voice to the story that’s already being told? Originality isn’t about abandoning the past; it’s about layering it with our present insights, shaping it through our unique perspectives, and finding new connections.

We see this in fields as diverse as architecture and music. Architects might use age-old materials like wood and stone, but they design shapes that echo modern values and environmental awareness. Musicians sample and remix previous hits, adding contemporary lyrics or beats to make an old song resonate with today’s listeners.

As the saying goes, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” But perhaps the beauty lies not in creating something wholly original but in the endless re-imagining, the alchemy of transforming the old into something that feels, even if only for a moment, completely new.

Originality, it turns out, might be more about perspective than novelty. Just as a prism refracts the same light into a rainbow of colors, every creator, thinker, and dreamer brings their own vision to the familiar. What makes an idea fresh is less about its parts and more about the way they’re woven together with new insights, cultural shifts, and personal experiences. We’re remixing the past, yes—but in a way that allows each generation to see itself reflected back.

In the end, perhaps our greatest innovation is not the creation of something entirely new but our ongoing ability to reinvent, reframe, and reimagine. And in doing so, we transform the old stories into something that, for each of us, feels entirely our own.

TO GO DEEPER CONSULT THE FOLLOWING SOURCES:

The Institute of Arts and Ideas. “The Crisis of the new: Is the idea of the new a fantasy?” 4 November 2024. https://iai.tv/live/iai-live-november-2024/the-crisis-of-the-new.

Steele, Valerie. Fashion, Italian Style. Yale University Press, 2003.

Breward, Christopher. Fashion. Oxford University Press, 2003

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton University Press, 1949.

Barthes, Roland. Mythologies. Hill and Wang, 1972.

Johnson, Steven. Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. Riverhead Books, 2010.

Shapiro, Carl. Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy. Harvard Business Review Press, 1999.

Leeming, David. The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. Oxford University Press, 2005.

Brooker, Will. Batman Unmasked: Analyzing a Cultural Icon. Continuum, 2001.

Bloom, Harold. The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry. Oxford University Press, 1973

Eco, Umberto. The Open Work. Harvard University Press, 1989.

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