Three Lessons for Coming Up With Original Ideas

“Work” is an aestheticized term in our media discourse. We associate work with beautiful desk setups, highly curated morning routines and a deep pride when we stay past our allocated work hours. The ideal human becomes an efficient working machine, while the ideal student becomes the one who spends the least amount of time producing the most amount of intellectual work.

My thesis advisor, during our first meeting, expressed his concerns about the future of university culture. “Just wait until you start marking essays from undergrads”, he said, “it’s repetitive work. Sometimes I wonder if the same person wrote all these essays under different names.” 

This repetition my professor alluded to results from vulgar readings or vulgar critiques. In literary criticism, for example, theories that were innovative in the 1960s are now routinely used in undergraduate essays. However, since the discourse has shifted from genuine critique to efficiency, it’s easy for students to sacrifice deeper insights to turn in work on time. French writer Michel Butor observed: