An Excess of Voice and Ghost of a Flea

Something my professor said today kind of made me sad.

He described our society as the inverse of William Blake's society in pre-romantic England. Nobody expressed their creativity. Imagination was not a prized function of society--in fact, imagination often got people locked up. Had more people actually read Blake during his life, he most certainly would have been locked up--if not beheaded. (Blake would often stop whatever he was doing and gaze into nothingness, saying he was observing something--like the ghost of a flea--and then he'd quickly sketch it on his cuffed sleeve. See http://www.phespirit.info/pictures/patchwork/p008.htm for this sketch)

In our society, my professor pointed out, everyone expresses themselves. Everyone pours out their hearts in a blog and nobody cares. There is an excess of voice.

You might see why this troubled me.