The rise of ubiquitous computing has cemented ubiquitous
reproduction (UR) as a defining feature of contemporary
human environments. UR is most obvious on our televisions
and smartphones but has homogenised most material aspects
of our lives. Emerging technologies such as 3D printing and
robotics will ensure that this trend intensifies. UR is an issue
of global scale that is relatively intractable to qualitative
treatment. This paper introduces a novel quantitative
approach to cognitive science and to analysis of UR. The
approach uses the finiteness of cognition to establish a
minimal ontology with which to model cognitive diversity
under UR. It demonstrates that, despite widespread
valorisation of diversity, cognitive diversity must be declining
at a global level. The implications of this for creativity are
that the arc for creative impact is growing shorter as the need
to be immediately intelligible promotes the formulaic at the
expense of the interpretable.