
Why, in China and Japan, a copy is just as good as an original - jonbaer
https://aeon.co/essays/why-in-china-and-japan-a-copy-is-just-as-good-as-an-original
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basicplus2
"the copy is closer to the original than the original, for the older the
building becomes, the further it is from its original state. A reproduction
would restore it, as it were, to its ‘original state’"

"We might also say that originals preserve themselves through copies. Nature
provides the model. The organism also renews itself through continual cell-
replacement. After a certain period of time, the organism is a replica of
itself. The old cells are simply replaced by new cell material. In this case,
the question of an original does not arise. The old dies off and is replaced
by the new. Identity and renewal are not mutually exclusive. In a culture
where continual reproduction represents a technique for conservation and
preservation, replicas are anything but mere copies."

