Investigation Of The Nature Of Creativity
Creativity has always said to have been an inherited or already existent trait, and not one that could be developed or recognized over time. This book presents creativity through the bearer directly, and compares the individual results to draw similarities with the rest of the group to make those extractions more strong based. It deals with the definition of creativity, a group of subjects, and application of those extracts in our lives.
Talking about creativity being a trait for only supreme beings is where evolution comes in. We were always believed to be a religion driven or god driven world, where they decided and shaped the earth in everything that came with it. But soon enough, the tables turned. Men and women framed according to their imagination who they would pray to as their god, and what they were required to do, which makes them the decision maker, the superior being and bearer of creativity. This is where we started ‘’inventing’’ for self-sufficiency and safety. There is an urge, the burning curiosity, the wonder at a mystery about to reveal itself, the delight at stumbling on a solution that makes an unsuspected order visible. It specifically requires you to go on and on, irrespective of the hope of gaining fruit for your work, and maybe, you stumble upon something on the way which may present ideas. An idea cannot be called creative when just the one person who obtained it knows about it. It becomes creative due to the validation it receives, i. e. via a receptive audience of competitive outsiders. According to this, creativity requires three elements to originate; a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty into the symbolic domain, and a field of experts who recognize and validate the innovation. To make this easier, those ideas or innovations would be inconceivable without the existence of prior knowledge and information that stimulated their thinking, but which was the work of someone else. Edison’s or Einstein’s discoveries would not be existent without this theory. It is like saying that the spark needs air and tinder to remain a flame. A big price is paid for creativity to occur, namely attention.
Attention is said to be a limited resource, and to split the small amount given to us into ten other spectrums, is where the need of focus and sense of priority comes in. A great part of this is used up just in our daily routine of survival. Now, to achieve creativity in an existing domain, there needs to be surplus attention. This is the reason that specialization has taken over generalization, and will continue to do so. To be jack of all and master of none is what happens when there is no surplus attention. It is said to be able to have knowledge in all fields is important, but this way you will never gain anything substantial in any one field. On specializing, there is an in-depth study where you tend to stumble upon things unnoticed after crossing the general border, and on the way, knowledge of other domains may or may not be obtained. This is also justified as the reason creativity personalities may be judged as arrogant, selfish and ruthless. Due to the limited attention available which these personalities choose to spend on dwelling further into their work, they tend to have limited or no time to be socially or emotionally present for others like friends and family. This causes others to think this way, when in reality these priorities do not have much to do with the nature of the person.
Several personalities just did not have the time to be a part of this as they spend all their time just on the one project that they are working on, to dwell in further and further, to find reasoning to all their inquisitiveness. It is said that creativity is a study for the elite and unnecessary when there are other important world social issues to be solved. The ideas to solve these issues will not appear in an instant, they require a great deal of attention and creative thinking. Creativity gives a positive aspect to live, which is also important. One cannot just survive on negatives and go onto the path of a pessimist. However, the arts are usually what are kicked off when an educational institute is low on budget or time, which makes the students dull. It is important to make them original and competent for them to face the future with self-confidence. Coming to the stereotype of the tortured genius, it is a stereotype. It was not their creativity that led to committing of suicide or addiction to drugs and alcohol, but a promised artistic scenario which promised too much, gave few rewards, and left the artist neglected or ignored. If you just see what the achievement has been since the time of your birth, not much has happened and you will be left let down. But if you extend your vision to look at the evolution from the stage of an amoeba, man has only progressed, which leaves no reason for pessimism. It is assumed that creativity occurs just inside peoples’ head, when it actually is a process or an interaction between ones’ thoughts and a sociocultural context. It is a systemic phenomenon, and not an individual one. The validation too depends on the kind, which could make it a subjective phenomenon.
Creativity is said to cover too much ground, namely three types of usage. The first one would define one as someone who would express unusual thoughts, interesting and stimulating, brilliant conversationalist, just unusually bright. But these could be defined as bright people rather than creative. The second one would define one as someone who sees the world in an original or novel way and makes discoveries that only they would know about. These could specifically be called personally creative, who may or may not have validation. The third ones would be the ones without qualification because their achievements are public and easily accessible. Coming to terms that are often confused with creativity, the first one being talent. Talent differs from creativity since it is an innate ability to do something very well. Gained knowledge and research has nothing to do with this ability. The other is genius. A genius is someone who is creative and brilliant at the same time. But certainly a person can be creative without being a genius (brilliant). Creativity doesn’t have a ‘what is it’, but rather a ‘where is it’.
There are three components to the creative system, the first one being the Domain. It consists of a set of symbolic rules and procedures and is nested in culture (e. g. mathematics). The second component would be Field, which could be defined as the individuals who are gatekeepers to the domain. They decide whether a new idea should be included in the domain or not. The third component would be the individual person. To be clear, creativity occurs when this individual, using symbols of a specific domain obtains a new idea, and when this novelty is selected by the corresponding relevant domain for inclusion. Creativity is an act, idea or product that changes an existing domain or causes an introduction of a new domain and a creative person would be the one doing so.
Creativity can be manifested only in existing domains. Domains too are limited. There are certain things which may even be domains, but just don’t come up in the level of hierarchy, such as those involving an act of care and compassion or of an insight to human nature. Coming to the subjects chosen for this book, a large number agrees that luck plays an important role in creativity. It is not the only reason for their success or progress, but a big one. This could be humbleness, but it does have a lot of logic to it. They all say that had they not been at the right place at the right time, they probably wouldn’t have had the achievements they did. It is not only them who have these ideas or are capable of being creative, but it was their luck that they did not get kicked off when the field received their piece of invention, like the 90% that did. Had they been off the list, it would be someone else in their place, probably more or less successful than them, which does not make them any less or more creative. They happened to be in the right spot and things panned out for them. Although certain domains show their traits in the person earlier in life, such as superiority in physics, as compared to painting or philosophy.
For most people, domains are the way they make a living; plumbing, medicine, business, etc. But for some, namely the creative ones, they enjoy working so much in the boundaries of the domain, that they would continue doing so even if they weren’t paid for it. The domain in itself is rewarding for them. Quantifiable measures of domains also play a role of importance. We tend to believe that things that can be measured are real, and things that can’t are not. Things like intelligence can be measured using tests, but the caring nature of a person cannot be measured using any test. These quantifiable domains now a days are just taken more seriously. Talking about the creative person himself, there are no particular characteristics that define a creative person. There may be guys who drink too much, girl chasers, workaholics, it lacks consistency. You could be a happy outgoing extrovert or an introvert.
The first trait that could actually make a difference would be genetic predisposition. When ones’ brain is more sensitive towards light and color, it is more likely for them to become a painter, and so on. A sensory advantage is certainly not necessary, e. g. Beethoven being functionally deaf, but a special sensory advantage such as an early interest in the domain could an important ingredient. ‘’Without a good dose of curiosity, wonder and interest in what things are like and in how they work, it is difficult to recognize an interesting problem. ’’ This according to me is of extreme importance in the talk of creativity. Access to a domain and to a field is equally important here. Access to a domain could have luck playing a major role, along with sheer hard work too. Interest and the urge to want or learn is the key here. Nevertheless, few people could just be tossed outside the circle by fate. Access to a field is of utmost importance here, because if one is not able to interact and communicate with others, the idea will never get the validation it needs, and one will just remain personally creative. For the novel not to be ignored or ridiculed, it is important to present, communicate and convince. Complexity of creativity and creative subjects, there are certain qualities that are existent in all of us, but we are trained to show just one side of the extremes.
A creative individual is more likely to show both sides either at the same time or at different times, depending on the situation. The first trait is that creative individuals are known to have a great deal of physical energy but they are also often quiet and at rest. They work long hours but still manage to get the rest and outing that they need. The second trait would be their tendency to be smart, but naïve at the same time. The People who bring about an acceptable novelty in a domain seem to be able to use two opposite sides of thinking; convergent and divergent thinking. Convergent thinking can be measured by IQ tests, whereas divergent thinking is the ability to produce a quantity of ideas. The ability to tell a good idea from a bad one is what is of utmost importance. The third trait highlights the ability of being responsible along with irresponsibility, to be playful and disciplined. The only requirements here are a brain, and the willingness to spend time thinking, with no guarantee of an outcome. There are certain tricks that people have pulled here, psychologically. Telling ones’ self that there is a job that has to be done and then putting a scenario to it, like telling yourself that you are in jail and you have nothing to do but that, helps. Creative people alternate between imagination and fantasy and rootedness in what is real or a sense of reality.
The fifth trait states that they alternate between extroversion and introversion. There are certain tasks which need to be done in solitude, whereas certain need people around. These personalities are extremely and humbly and proud, both at the same time, this being the sixth trait. They know others’ works and hence can put theirs into perspective. They are aware of the role of luck in their achievement. Looking back is only a source of finding fault or recognizing mistakes, and not looking back at the amount they have achieved. But they are definitely aware of what they have achieved, which is a great deal. Now comes in the topic of masculinity and femininity which the seventh trait defines. Usually there are certain traits that are masculine that men will show, and feminine traits that women will show, and neither will do the opposite. But in the case of these personalities, both tend to show traits of their own as well as the opposite gender. This does not define their sexuality, but there are situations which demand either, for which both need to be present.
The eighth trait defines them of being people who will not just play it safe. They will go beyond the safe boundary to see what comes out of it; it is of interest to them. They are thought to be rebellious and independent but in actuality, they cannot be creative without being conservative and traditional, and at the same time rebellious and iconoclastic. Coming to the ninth trait, they are extremely passionate about their work, but could seem objective about it. It is important for one to be able to detach from their work, to take criticism about it, which is difficult to do. It is something to be aware of.
The tenth and the last trait recognized is the openness and sensitivity of creative individuals. It often opens them up to extreme pain and extreme joy as well. They have a low threshold of pain; things can bother creative people easily. It would be safe to say that those who can be a part of both polarities can be margined under the term creative, and are capable of being inventors of novelties. Lastly, to define enjoyment, there are certain things that go unnoticed, but are present at the time of enjoyment. At every step, something is clear to you. There is immediate feedback at every step of the way, having a balance between challenges and skills. At this time, distractions are excluded from consciousness. You lose all sense of time and action and awareness become one. Self-consciousness is lost. Flow in creativity, or in anything you do, is of utmost importance. However, it does differ from enjoyment. It is important to have clarity of what ones’ goal is and to know how well one is doing to maintain the flow. When one loses all self-consciousness and sense of time is when one has hit the point of a certain flow in creativity.
Creative people naturally live exemplary lives and show how joyful and interesting complex symbolic activity is. We live with the hope of educational institutes and experiences bringing out more of this optimism, balance and practicality in our future, for our future and not just rely on passive entertainment.
