I dunno - this sounds like you’re assuming that people operate in a vacuum - if your action (or inaction) inspires greatness in someone else, I think you’ve served a positive purpose to society, albeit an indirect one. If beautiful, and yet bitchy, muse X had not been sitting around bitching about her hair/nails/poodle (whatever), tortured artist that’s into that sort of thing would not have painted masterpiece X, and the world would miss out on a masterpiece.
It’s impossible to say what will inspire greatness in a person, however, I don’t think you can rule out plain old beauty, just because it happens by accident.
Well, sure, up to a point. There need to be (I suppose) different compartments for this sort of thing. A world full of people who valued the “practical” people, but had no value for the “creative” people would be dull indeed. They have different functions. **
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Ooops - I think you misunderstood (or not) - I’m saying I have more respect for the job of the cancer researcher than I do of the Muse, not he artist that is inspired by said muse.
True, true, and such a muse deserves some amount credit for that. I never said that they were a waste of human flesh, I was just saying that the person who sits around being beautiful (and perhaps bitchy) is not exerting the same amount of effort and achievment as the people who are sticking their necks out, and doing something. In fact, they deserve not much credit at all. After all, all they’ve done is happen to be at the right time at the right place.
So - if all they do is sit around and be beautiful and bitchy (for instance), they may deserve some small credit for inspiring some dysfunctional tortured artist. But so what? Most human beings ought to (IMO) aspire to just being that. And, after all - beauty is fleeting. How many years will their beauty inspire? And when it ceases to inspire, what will they do with the rest of their lives?
OK, I did misunderstand! Thanks for clearing that up.