‘Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation’, sniffed the anti-conformist Oscar Wilde. Today we too prize individuality and originality almost above everything else. Mark Earls explores the lie of originality in all its aspects and show the value of ‘social learning’ (copying, to you and me) to help us put unoriginality back in its rightful place. And of course most of what he says will be other people’s ideas. Video by The School of Life

Interesting thoughts by Velocity Partners

Illustrator Rilla Alexander walks us through this classic creative struggle by sharing the story of Sozi – an adorable character who walks us through the arc of an idea. She daydreams, she procrastinates, she sets deadlines, she gets tempted by new ideas, she buckles down and works hard – and finally – she realizes “Her Idea.”

Fiction novelist Karen Thompson Walker shows how fear propels imagination, as it forces us to imagine the possible futures and how to cope with them.

Programming plays a huge role in the world that surrounds us, and though its uses are often purely functional, there is a growing community of artists who use the language of code as their medium. Their work includes everything from computer generated art to elaborate interactive installations, all with the goal of expanding our sense of what is possible with digital tools