Kas -- you're missing the point. The process you're talking about is not what shapes society.
Culture is not defined or redefined by regular individuals, but rather by EXCEPTIONAL individuals, especially exceptional artists. For example, take clothing. You have someone like George Armani pulling the strings behind the scenes, and then you get shops full of Abecrombie and Fitch (or whatever) models wearing clothing, and the general public assumes that is "awesome" and buys it. Fashions are not lasting like cultural development, but there is a fairly small number of influential individuals in teh background shaping them for a long time; same goes for other things.
Painting, poetry, literature, music -- these things are defined by exceptional artists. Some mediocre band did not define modern music, it was the Beatles, Elvis, U2, etc. These people do have a "routine" for life, getting up, eating, doing stuff and going to sleep, but while they are doing things they have a disproportionate influence on the rest of us. With some truly exceptional minds, such as Einstein, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Homer, and Mozart, they had not just temporary and substantial influence on their own societies, but rather permanent and indelible influence on the future as well.
Most "regular" people take these people's inventions and use them and remember them in their everyday mundane life. If Mozart's music was not listened to by "regular" people, nobody would remember Mozart anymore. But if it wasn't for Mozart and people like him, our existence would be far more drab and lifeless.
Culture is not defined or redefined by regular individuals, but rather by EXCEPTIONAL individuals, especially exceptional artists. For example, take clothing. You have someone like George Armani pulling the strings behind the scenes, and then you get shops full of Abecrombie and Fitch (or whatever) models wearing clothing, and the general public assumes that is "awesome" and buys it. Fashions are not lasting like cultural development, but there is a fairly small number of influential individuals in teh background shaping them for a long time; same goes for other things.
Painting, poetry, literature, music -- these things are defined by exceptional artists. Some mediocre band did not define modern music, it was the Beatles, Elvis, U2, etc. These people do have a "routine" for life, getting up, eating, doing stuff and going to sleep, but while they are doing things they have a disproportionate influence on the rest of us. With some truly exceptional minds, such as Einstein, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Homer, and Mozart, they had not just temporary and substantial influence on their own societies, but rather permanent and indelible influence on the future as well.
Most "regular" people take these people's inventions and use them and remember them in their everyday mundane life. If Mozart's music was not listened to by "regular" people, nobody would remember Mozart anymore. But if it wasn't for Mozart and people like him, our existence would be far more drab and lifeless.