It is a short, swift path that leads to an opinion. This is no surprise, as each and every one of us needs to make judgments in order to make our way in the world. Opinions are the evidence of this personal compass. Those opinions might be well-informed or they may not, they might be hard-earned or stolen from a single source, but they will exist in any case. I simply don't believe it is possible to navigate a life without some sort of personal compass.
The formation of these opinions, and living based on them, is however rarely enough. Since we live amongst others and want to be considered relevant, we also often feel compelled to share our opinions. And we do. Loudly, vociferously. With passion.
This makes for quite the noisy world in which we must wade. Most of us swim with the current most the time, as the current is swift and it is often enough to be propelled along, what with all we must do to survive. When we do dip our toe and participate in the torrent of opinions, we often get swallowed in the rush, then retreat just to catch our breath -- hopefully not too bruised or battered.
Still, this torrent of opinions, this cacophony of voices, is important. It is how we settle upon our culture. We talk about it, we argue about, we battle in what is sometimes referred to as "culture wars". In some ways, the creation of culture may be one of the more democratic processes in the world. This does not mean the process is always pleasant or civil. This also does not mean that the things with which we can choose from to assemble a culture are always the result of a democratic process; there may be limited options available, created by those with money or power, and governments can severely stifle or muffle a society. But in the end, culture bubbles up regardless, and what bubbles up is what we value from our options no matter how limited they are.
As I stated in a post I wrote last week on the Ruth Carter Stevenson House, no one person gets to define what culture is. When a society lives it creates a culture, intentional or not, limited or not, and that culture in turn presents a way to understand that society. The things we all agree are wonderful and fun and intriguing and relevant become what we invest with our time or resources, and then they in turn become our cultural artifacts.
In this way of thinking, I don't think it makes sense that any one soul could be an arbiter of culture. That would be a fruitless endeavor. Instead, the best one can hope to be is a cultural advocate. The most important aspect of criticism, in this way of thinking, is to aid in the awareness of cultural artifact selection.
In the act of a society being a society, many cultural artifacts will be made. Most of the selection of what we deem worthwhile from all these many options will be done intuitively. We live our lives, we respond, we choose reflexively, and culture happens. Criticism at its best gives a context or a background for all this. Criticism allows us to step back and think about what is happening -- to pause a moment to reflect about what is happening intuitively -- and perhaps provide space to decide if that is what we want.
It is very important to remember something: criticism needs a cultural artifact to criticize, otherwise criticism cannot exist. Criticism does not add to culture, it just helps us reflect upon it, and perhaps deflect its path. The true route to culture remains the making of the cultural artifacts themselves. The act of creation is all important because a society can only choose its culture from the wider range of artifacts created within it. This idea that something has to be created first leads to the sneaking suspicion that we all know and feel: criticism is not as vital as the act of creation itself. It is not that it is necessarily easier or less important, but just that in a pinch the reflection can always come later. The creation of artifacts is more important.
Culture is the window into a society, its good and its bad, so this is why all the making — and then all the opining and criticizing — are important. The culture artifacts that remain are like a mirror to our society, and an accurate one at that. Choosing those items with care is extremely relevant.