Archive for March 25th, 2007
Although strongly facilitated by computers and the Web, crowdsourcing has been used in other fields without the use of the Internet. Of course it is a lot easier and much more efficient, but I would like to highlight a system that beautifully and naturally utilized this approach.
That system is calligraphy.
When was a new style of calligraphy invented? Who invented it? We only know the period, and a group of people who were active in creating that style. There are the big influential calligraphers, and the other ones with small contributions. The “source code” of calligraphy is contained within the letter itself. The length and height of a letter is determined by a certain number of dots above or beside each other. Popular opinion and taste are what determine which improvement is to be adopted, and with time, a certain style evolves. Who created it?
The Crowd…
