I went to the BBC Free Thinking festival over the weekend to hear Mike Figgis talk on the subject is there too much culture?
The Oscar-winning director produced a very interesting, if a little confused, argument that seemed to conclude, through many twists and turns that there isn't too much culture so much as too much OLD culture.
He seems to think we worship historic cultural icons to the detriment of modern creativity, that we haven't moved on in the last 50 years the way we did in the previous.
That the difference between 2007 and 1957 is nowhere as acute as between 1957 and 1907.
Figgis believes the culture lake has been dammed by man and has stagnated - is doomed to die and we should start a new lake, leave all that old culture where it is to fester and get some nice fresh water bubbling in.
What, I wondered, would we do to stop man damming the new lake? Isn't it our human nature to look back?
Anyway, as far as the next 12 months in Liverpool is concerned, you can't have too much culture. The more the better. I want to splash around in the largest manmade lake of culture this country has ever seen - even if my swimming skills leave a little to be desired.
Time to dig out those old armbands and buy a new swimming cossie.
