Pink's Six Competencies and Screenwriting

[asjah8]

Re: Pink's Six Competencies and Screenwriting

good discussion thread you've started here professor.

i believe years from now, we will look back in books and such and realize we aren't actually entering the conceptual age, but rather, we're in the process of leaving it. history shows sociological patterns are occurring in ever faster mini-stages.

we entered the industrial age on a global level and with the end of the cold war communication took on larger context. then the technology we began to explore in the industrial age got a major boost from the internet. that put us firmly into the information age as it grew and developed a life of its own.

we entered the conceptual age as the over-abundance and easy access of information made every person a potential closet genius and a way to express themselves and relate that to others; ie blogs began to take form; webpages for businesses began to offer review sections for their products to enhance sales based on communicated information; immediate human communication jumped with visual communication and began to rise through things like facebook, im, social bookmarking, etc.

then communication began to move even faster through twitter, and is now expanding communication and visual communication exponentially through 3g networks as global businesses work to keep up with the demand and curiosity they have created. the conceptual age is characterized by enhanced mental stimulation (visual/auditory/mental acuity, etc.) and we've been in the midst of it.

personally, i think we are just now beginning to see the ephemeral edges of a new age rising; the age of meaning. a parallel result of the over-abundance of the information age and the over-stimulation of the conceptual age. people asking themselves what we're supposed to do with all the information excess. what does it all mean that we know so much?

i think simple human stories are going to rise as hw strives to fulfill public need and blockbusters will be forced to depend more on resonating stories in order to sell their visuals in order to meet the demand. films like avatar sold because the story resonated with people and it had incredible effects. the effects didn't supersede the story, they were there to enhance it, and the public responded on an unprecedented level.

anyway, i think the rising trend is there if we just take a step back.

[bioprofessor]

Re: Pink's Six Competencies and Screenwriting

good discussion thread you've started here professor.

...personally, i think we are just now beginning to see the ephemeral edges of a new age rising; the age of meaning. a parallel result of the over-abundance of the information age and the over-stimulation of the conceptual age. people asking themselves what we're supposed to do with all the information excess. what does it all mean that we know so much?

i think simple human stories are going to rise as hw strives to fulfill public need and blockbusters will be forced to depend more on resonating stories in order to sell their visuals in order to meet the demand. films like avatar sold because the story resonated with people and it had incredible effects. the effects didn't supersede the story, they were there to enhance it, and the public responded on an unprecedented level.

anyway, i think the rising trend is there if we just take a step back.

Interesting take on it asjah -

I agree, at some point there's likely to be a revolt against "information excess," perhaps akin to the 60's revolt against war, chemical pollution, etc. I heard on NPR the other day that there's a group of stock traders that never holds onto a security for longer than 3 minutes. Shackled to their Blackberries nearly 24/7 (there's an idiom of the age), they buy it... sell it... buy it... Drill baby... burn baby... drill baby... Indeed, what does it all mean?

I think you're right, stories that force us to look at the vulnerable and less flattering parts of our nature (and learn something along the way) are ripe for the taking. This is why I think the film Wall Street did so well during the greedy 80's, and while its sequel should do very well now. And they don't have to be remose dramas. Comedians (at least the good ones) make a living by making us laugh and think at the same time.

[Ravenlocks]

Re: Pink's Six Competencies and Screenwriting

Cool (albeit sinister) take on Pink's vision. This is not easy to think, let alone witness, but the days of HS/GED-educated line worker are numbered - natural selection at work. I see these guys/gals everyday; jobless, all-American, hardworking, good-hearted, meat-n-potatoes folks who smile, drink their Budweiser proudly, pretend to look forward to a bright future, but who've not a clue the odds that they face. The kid sitting next to them knows C++, can program macros into spreadsheets, speaks two foreign languages, has been to Germany twice on leadership internships, etc.

It's not Solyent Green, but the result, albeit slower, is the same, the systematic elimination of Joe six-pack.

I still want to know where the money is going to come from in this new age. I understand the factory/store/consumer model (although factories in the US are a dying breed - but then, so is our economy). What's the new economic model going to look like?

I'll be surprised if aliens or a sinister power actually swoop in and employ us all to amuse them.

[Optimus]

Re: Pink's Six Competencies and Screenwriting

I think Pink massively overstates what he sees as the eventual coming of the Conceptual Age, and he does so, at least in part, for the benefit of boosting sales of his books and bookings for his high-priced seminars.

I also disagree with asjah8's assertion that we aren't in the Information Age and are already knee deep in the Conceptual Age. It's simply not true and it's more than obvious that we are still in the Info Age and are likely in the thralls of its next level. The Internet, smart phones, advances in microprocessor and flash technology, the recent boom of social networking, all involve and have evolved from information and the demand to have it faster, better, and available in any location on demand.

The last level of the Info Age was what we call the "Digital Age" and was where the Info Age really exploded, in the 90s and this past decade. I've read that the next level, or Age if you want to call it, is being refered to (by everyone but Pink...probably because there's no money in it) as the "Attention Age" and has been spawned by the advent and rise of social media/networking (namely Twitter and Facebook) and will likely continue to boost as networking technologies like Skype continue to take off and pervade.

I think the so-called "Conceptual Age" is one which overlaps and augments the others, rather than being a distinct "Age" all its own. It's a cycle; when society is on the cusp of breaking through to a new Age, the creative class is looked to guide us there. I believe the creative class is getting more attention right now because it is these creatives which help to nurture and grow each "Age" and will likely spur the ideas which usher us into the next Age, whatever it may be. And, these "Ages" evolve faster these days due to advances in technology (which is why the Info Age has grown and evolved so quickly over the past 20 years...hell...it's skyrocketed and hit critical mass over the past 10 years, I'd say).

Right now, it seems that it's the "Attention Age," at least on a societal level. As far as business industry goes, it's probably partly in the Info Age and beginning to be part Conceptual. I say that not only from what is obvious but also from having spent the past 10 years in it at a corporate level. Trust me, whatever changes come, the business industry will likely fight it, kicking and screaming, then adopt it 5 years later and proclaim that it was their idea.

Just my two cents.

[Mark Somers]

Re: Pink's Six Competencies and Screenwriting

One idea I've entertained for awhile now is complete genetic remake. I started thinking about it when I saw a documentary on robotics. At the end of the show the scientists seemed to all agree that robots would be our off spring. Cybernetics is a form of robotics. What if we skip the cybernetic part and most of the robotic part and genetically redesign ourselves, immortality included. Genetically eliminate cancer, all disease and old age too.

[bioprofessor]

Re: Pink's Six Competencies and Screenwriting

One idea I've entertained for awhile now is complete genetic remake. I started thinking about it when I saw a documentary on robotics. At the end of the show the scientists seemed to all agree that robots would be our off spring. Cybernetics is a form of robotics. What if we skip the cybernetic part and most of the robotic part and genetically redesign ourselves, immortality included. Genetically eliminate cancer, all disease and old age too.

See there, you're being conceptual, perhaps on a secondary level - the primary conceptualists being the researchers who are conceiving, testing and developing the technology that you dream about putting to use.

Ravenlocks challenged, "show me the money." How much would you pay for immortality, a cancerless life? And to bring this back to screenwriting & film, how much would you pay to fulfill your conceptual/creative need via film, music, etc? We're still talking market-driven capitalism, just a shift toward an entrepreneurism that feeds the soul. Then again, N. Korea could start WWIII and the whole thing could go to hell.

[asjah8]

Re: Pink's Six Competencies and Screenwriting

I also disagree with asjah8's assertion that we aren't in the Information Age and are already knee deep in the Conceptual Age. It's simply not true and it's more than obvious that we are still in the Info Age and are likely in the thralls of its next level.

hi optimus,

i think 'assertion' is a bit of a strong word to use in context. i merely made an observation based on a theory and presented forth my own theory in return. saying it's not true doesn't hold any more water than my offering it in the first place.

the information age is mutually agreed to have begun with the invention of the telegraph (wikipedia is wrong as usual) back in the 1800s. historical periods are generally named after-the-fact once movements are analyzed and something key to characterizing a movement stands out as a beginning, thus providing an ending to the previous.

really though, there's no need to debate wrong or right because there isn't any definitive answer but only shades of gray. it's a living process and there's always carryover as life builds and breathes with progress. i only suggest that we are again due a period of evaluation and retrospect as we have had in the past following periods of progression.

[Optimus]

Re: Pink's Six Competencies and Screenwriting

i think 'assertion' is a bit of a strong word to use in context.

Um...sorry, I guess?

"(wikipedia is wrong as usual)"

http://news.cnet.com/Study-Wikipedia...3-5997332.html

[asjah8]

Re: Pink's Six Competencies and Screenwriting

it's all good dude.


i never had a single professor that would accept wikipedia as a source. it's a collaborative public wiki with no guarantee of accuracy by learned professionals. a great site though and a lot of fun to browse.

a much safer choice is the smithsonian institute's site where historians carefully review the information before posting it for public dissemination: http://photo2.si.edu/infoage/infoage.html.

[Optimus]

Re: Pink's Six Competencies and Screenwriting

I'm not really sure why wikipedia entered into the discussion in the first place. I didn't use it as a source for anything and never entered the subject of the beginning of the Information Age into the discussion. Seemed like a bit of a strawman when you mentioned it, but that's fine. I checked out their article on the Info Age after you mentioned it and it does link to an article about the Attention Age (imagine my surprise), but there are no sources cited, so I consider everything in it highly suspect.

My info on the supposed "Attention Age" came from an article I read a year or two ago by Richard somebody about, what he called, his "Attention Age Doctrine." Most of it was crap, as it was obvious he was just trying to hard-sell something (much like Pink is doing), but I thought the idea of an Attention Age had merit, though not like the article (i.e. sales pitch) was suggesting.

Anyway, it's still an interesting discussion. But, sometimes in discussions there is debate (part of the natural mechanics of discussion) which, of course, involves disagreement. Nothing to get offended over, I would think, and your reaction was a little befuddling to me, especially given the definition of the word "assert" and the way in which you put forth your opinion.

But, whatevs. It's a good discussion nonetheless.

[asjah8]

Re: Pink's Six Competencies and Screenwriting

ahh, i'm rolling with you now. sorry for any misunderstandings optimus. it can get a bit hairy in the forum at times, you know? i didn't want to give the impression that i won't stand up for myself. it's clear i was way off base and defended when there was no need. good of you to stay level about it. thanks!