# Originality **Domain:** Creativity / Identity / Human potential **Doc Type:** Canonical concept node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition Originality is the production or expression of a perspective, form, connection, or solution that is meaningfully uncommon within its context. ## Mechanism and Significance Originality can arise when a person notices what convention filters out, combines domains that are usually separated, or develops an idiosyncratic perception through sustained practice. ## Evidence Boundary Difference alone is not originality. An uncommon act becomes valuable through insight, craft, usefulness, beauty, truth, or another contextually meaningful achievement. ## Relationships [[wiki/Normality|Normality]] · [[wiki/Creativity|Creativity]] · [[wiki/Abstraction|Abstraction]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “Normal is a statistical idea. Behaviors spread across a bell curve, and "normal" simply describes the crowded middle. Being a little outside that middle can be a sign of originality.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Why Real Love Gives Freedom and Lets Go of Control - Livestream (Dec 2015)* [[reminders/Originality/Being Outside the Crowded Middle Can Signal Originality by Bryant McGill|Being Outside the Crowded Middle Can Signal Originality by Bryant McGill]]