Scientific America reports on research into creativity:
This research has important practical implications. It suggests that there are several simple steps we can all take to increase creativity, such as traveling to faraway places (or even just thinking about such places), thinking about the distant future, communicating with people who are dissimilar to us, and considering unlikely alternatives to reality. Perhaps the modern environment, with its increased access to people, sights, music, and food from faraway places, helps us become more creative not only by exposing us to a variety of styles and ideas, but also by allowing us to think more abstractly.
What about when increased technology creates an increased chance of discouragement? This can happen when you are more easily able to find out about other people who have already created your ideas or when you are able to receive more criticism from others based on more available means of communication. Can these aspects actually discourage creative ideas or the individuals who might have pursued them had it not been for the advancement of technology?
Thanks for the reminder, Joel, that creativity doesn’t necessarily require brillance; sometimes it requires only the willingness to expose yourself to the unfamiliar.
Ah, the science of creativity. One might suggest this is an oxymoron. I had an art teacher who taught visual formulas for drawing and another who made us draw with our eyes closed. So many approaches, all have merit.
Inspiration is such a powerful spark. In the end, maybe creativity comes from the willingness to simply follow where a spark leads.