Should you compare your work to the work of other people?
Yes. No.
Yes, because craft will always be a set of skills worth assessing and, if the skills match your needs, worth acquiring.
Yes, because other people might reach depths of individuality, thought, and emotional courage that you have not yet fathomed. Their willingness to peer through telescopes at the world, and through microscopes into the pits of their own personal hells, can strengthen your own resolve to face your own obsessions.
No, because the concerns of other people are not necessarily your concerns, and because their techniques will not suit your intended purposes.
No, because other people can gain popularity when they reflect the Zeitgeist back to itself, when they provide, not interrogations, but echoes of any fads or delusions that have gripped the public. From this you can only learn what not to do; learning to work as you need to work is a task both separate and central.
Yes. No. Choose with caution.
