Remixability
The concept of creating work that others can use as ingredients to create their own things, rather than creating finished, self-contained products.
Origin in This Discussion
Presented by: Scott Moehring
Inspired by: Kevin MacLeod - "the most prolific composer you've never heard of"
Kevin MacLeod's Model
- Created 2,000 pieces of royalty-free music
- Released under Creative Commons
- One song: 31.6 billion plays
- Used in countless TikTok videos, Facebook Reels, etc.
- Website: http://royaltyfreedoc.com/
Core Concept
Instead of:
"Perfect, self-contained" products that are "never to be taken apart" and don't get "a life of its own"
Create:
- Ingredients or recipes
- Things other people "can and want to use"
- Things that enable others to "create things that are theirs"
- Work that has "a life of its own through interactions with other people"
Scott's Application
The Universals Frameworks:
- Turned into a deck format
- Made modular and movable
- Can recombine pieces
- "Changed it for me"
- "Hope that it's going to make it actually more usable for other people"
Related Philosophy
Gil Friend connected this to the quote: "It's amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit"
Gil's reflection: "Revolutionary Legos" - building pieces that self-propagate rather than complete strategies, feeding the development of multiple strategies around the world.
Connection to Other Themes
Curiosity and Attention
Scott noted in chat: Curiosity may be declining not from lack of interest but from lack of available attention:
"I am a highly curious person, and yet I'm engaging less because I have less available attention. We have killed boredom with the constant stream of information everywhere, and I think one symptom shows up as a loss of curiosity."
Implication: Remixable, modular tools may help reduce cognitive load and enable creativity despite attention constraints.
Environmental Neurodiversity
Scott's hypothesis: People with ADD/autism have developed "robust techniques to filter and focus" that may now be needed by neurotypical people overwhelmed by information flood.
Connection: Remixable tools may be part of the coping strategies needed.
Contrast with Traditional Models
Traditional creative/business model:
- Create complete, polished works
- Maintain control and attribution
- Finished products
Remixability model:
- Create components and building blocks
- Release control, enable adaptation
- Seeds for others' creations
- Focus on use value over attribution
Examples Beyond Music
- Pete Kaminski's Field of Sheaves - smashing together frameworks
- Open source software
- Creative Commons content
- Modular frameworks and toolkits
- Educational resources designed for adaptation
Philosophical Implications
Question: What changes when we optimize for:
- Remixability over completeness?
- Usefulness over credit?
- Ingredients over meals?
- Seeds over gardens?
Value Shift: From controlling complete works to enabling others' creativity
Related Concepts
- Creative Commons
- Open Source
- Field of Sheaves
- Revolutionary Legos
- Curiosity and Attention
- Environmental Neurodiversity
Participants
- Scott Moehring (presenter)
- Gil Friend (connected to broader themes)
- Kevin MacLeod (inspiration)
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