It's an interesting aspect of this thread how it relates to ideas of originality, which long ago meant something like "coming from an old established source" but which now usually means novelty, personal vision.

Another interesting thing is how we deal with criticism, whether it's meant to help, or simply snub. Really good stuff seems to arise when people can deal with each other critically somewhere between the rat-packish mutual admiration of I love this guy--and I mean that! on the one hand, or You Suck! on the other. In college critiques it always seemed to me that being a star student or a hopeless case both got you ignored, though the former was preferable at the time. Good criticism is hard to do.