What’s in an original idea – and how far does creative ownership go?
Avery Mann, as some of you might have noticed, is a play on Everyman.
When I started this blog, I was a little nervous putting myself out there. I felt more comfortable going incognito, so I chose a pseudonym. The meaning behind the name was, in fact, an original idea – the protagonist from a short story I wrote for fun, a few years ago. It was born of my mind, whilst in playful thought.
However, as I had pointed out to me by a relative (they can be so unreservedly honest, can’t they!), and subsequently in Googling, it exists in multiple incarnations, out there, from the minds of others. That’s not a surprise. With a world population of nearly 7.9 billion, and written history stretching back almost 5,000 years, with the Sumerian cuneiform script, and the oldest legible texts surviving from around 2,600 BCE – its understandable that many ideas can originate separately, simultaneously.
Mesopotamia, circa 3100–2900 BCE.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
A prominent example of this is Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution, conceived individually and independently by the lesser known and nowhere near as widely accredited British anthropologist and biologist, Alfred Russell Wallace.
The occurrence is called multiple discovery or simultaneous invention.
Invention, discovery and rediscoveries have been conceptualised across history, whether concurrently, or in isolation many generations down the line, pointing to the inevitability of it all.
Thank you Avery Mann, for lending me the moniker. I can claim you as my own, but only in principle. Our relationship, it turns out, was never mutually exclusive.
Since giving a platform to artistic creation, freeing some of my most well kept sensitivities, and expressing my thoughts in unconcealed words, I’ve felt an overwhelming gratitude to those who have read my writing, and shared their support with likes, comments and follows. Every one goes noticed – thank you. The positive response has gifted me the confidence to be peel back the shroud further.
From now on, I will be attaching my real name to my work, at least in part.
My name is Darius.
I wear it, during my brief time inhabiting this world, at the patronage of Persian Kings, including Darius the Great, King of Kings, who ruled the Achaemenid Empire at its height, from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE.
Persepolis, circa 500 BCE
Darius III, reigning from 336 BCE until his death in 330 BCE, was the final Persian King of Kings, murdered by his own relative, after his defeat to Alexander the Great.
Image credit: Berthold Werner (Ancient World Magazine)
I’m not nearly as distinguished or bathed in grandeur as my namesake predecessors. Let’s keep it down to Earth – I will stay open, honest and genuine, with myself, and you. I’m realistic – I realise how infinitesimal my existence is, but, I’m here to make it count – stay passionate, where it matters, challenge myself to think about the big questions, whilst appreciating fully the small things in life. Ill never stop loving learning. I would gain a great satisfaction, in the continued introduction to great writers and thinkers out there, to celebrate and share this experience with. Maybe, we’ll like each other’s work – a different kind of multiple discovery.
Let’s connect, you can call me Darius the Mate.
What is life without community? I would love to connect with other nicecissists out there. Seeing as you’ve got this far, that’s probably you! Reach out, drop me a message, let me know what you think in the comments, and of course, give me a follow for more – nice!
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