Aphorism #27
Talent without opportunity is like electricity without a light bulb.
We like to think of the great artist as a solitary tower of talent, rising from a cultural wasteland.
Not true. Genius is partially created by and utterly dependent on all the peculiar circumstances of the surrounding culture, and its first job is to find the best vehicle of expression available in that culture.
What would have happened to Mozart if he had been born in the Middle Ages? Or 1975? Think about it.
Previous: There is no best way to make art, but there are a lot of better ways.