February 2, 2010 at 18:08Where does creative come from?
- Transfer
Creative is the most popular adjective in the world of design. Everyone wants to be creative, to find a creative solution for any task. The word “creative” has many synonyms: innovative, gifted, inspired, inventive, original. But what does this super popular adjective really mean? And how can one “incorporate” creativity into oneself?
In Latin, the word "creatio" meant "to create" but was applicable exclusively to the works of God. Only in the Renaissance, when a person fully realized his ability to create and bring something new into the world, this word began to be applied to people.
"Creative" always includes finding new ideas or directions, whether it is a fresh solution to eternal problems, a new art object or form. In other words, a creative thing is always something original and necessary.
Often some character traits of a person speak about his creativity. For example, without self-confidence, you are unlikely to be able to create something new, just as without different views on things and simple curiosity.
One way or another, even with a whole list of positive personal characteristics and an excellent working environment, one cannot count on a 100% creative result.
There are 3 ways to awaken creativity in yourself:
A term first used by Alex Osborne in his book Applied Imagination. Brainstorming is best used in small groups, but you can use one on one with yourself.
A brainstorming session is as follows:
To begin with, the task at hand should be explained and clearly made clear to each member of the group. Someone from the group is chosen to write down all common ideas on the board so that they can be seen all at once and objectively compare / combine / choose.
Brainstorming involves putting forward and recording even the most obvious decisions. Criticism of the proposed ideas is not permissible; each, even the most, at first glance, idiotic idea is accepted and written down along with the rest. Next, the participants must develop all the ideas of each other.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, an American artist who became famous first as a graffiti artist in New York, and then, in the 1980s, as a very successful neo-expressionist, in search of inspiration, used and put together, in the manner of a “brainstorm”, objects and symbols Haitian, African and American culture. Starting with the simplest, colors and shapes, he added more complex elements and combined what he received.
“Out-of-the-box thinking” or “a comprehensive approach” is a creative way to get really fresh and unexpected ideas. It consists in an extraordinary approach to solving the problem and generating ideas that could not be invented by the traditional step-by-step method. In other words, this is a way to solve the problem in "workaround" ways.
Edward de Bono, the man who coined the term “ Lateral Thinking” in the English language, earned fame as one of the most influential figures in the field of creative thinking, innovation and teaching thinking as a science. Edward de Bono considers it very important to avoid the traditional, inherent in the brain, ways of thinking. Here is one of his definitions of the term “non-standard thinking”:“Non-standard thinking consists in changing the general idea of the task and the views on it instead of diligent attempts to solve the problem using traditional views and ideas”
As a demonstration of the use of this way of thinking, we take a simple task, for example, to open the door. Try to come up with an alternative to using a door handle. This will make you look for some creative way to open the door. It can be associated with a traditional solution with a manual door, or, conversely, radically different from it. Reflections on this make you think outside the box and come up with really interesting solutions.
Albert Einstein, whose name has become synonymous with the genius of originality and creativity, once said: “Modern problems will be solved in the future using an approach that has nothing to do with today's approach, which led to these problems.” It is quite obvious that Einstein used the method of non-standard thinking in order to circumvent traditional principles in solving assigned tasks. He also used this method of thinking in the formulation of his theories and theorems to explain to you and me the world of physics.
In his book What a Great Idea, Charles Thomson suggested that the only way to fully understand this world is to look at things from both the positive and negative sides. For example, yin - yang, summer-winter, day - night.
The inversion method is based on the opposite. Make a positive statement negative, try to look at the problem from the other side. This may help you come up with unexpected solutions.
Rene Magritte, the famous surrealist from Belgium painted this picture, which depicts a pipe.
And under the picture, Magritte wrote - “Ceci n'est pas une pipe” (This is not a pipe) . With this unexpected inscription, Magritte makes the observers of the picture ask themselves the question: If this is not a pipe, then what is it?
The answer to this question is the picture. Magritte used the inversion method in order to attach particular importance to the object of her work - the painting, and not what is depicted on it.
Sir Ken Robinson, a well-known 20th-century thinker, argues that most children, by the time they grow up, lose their ability to think creatively. They are afraid to make mistakes; they are weaned from being creative.
Why is this happening?
To support creativity in children means to maintain a difference from society in them, a violation of existing norms and values of society. Being creative means casting doubt on old methods and methods of solving problems and coming up with your own, more convenient ones, and this is not always correctly perceived by society, especially in childhood. Similarities with society and creativity become mutually exclusive concepts.
People whose daily work is to invent creative solutions are well aware of how difficult it is sometimes to explain to society what you are doing and why all this is needed. But don't let them break themselves. Amaze everyone with your creative decisions to make society support dissimilar views on things.
The creative lurking in you is already striving for freedom. So let him out!
The translation of this article is also available in h1h1.ru .
In Latin, the word "creatio" meant "to create" but was applicable exclusively to the works of God. Only in the Renaissance, when a person fully realized his ability to create and bring something new into the world, this word began to be applied to people.
"Creative" always includes finding new ideas or directions, whether it is a fresh solution to eternal problems, a new art object or form. In other words, a creative thing is always something original and necessary.
Often some character traits of a person speak about his creativity. For example, without self-confidence, you are unlikely to be able to create something new, just as without different views on things and simple curiosity.
One way or another, even with a whole list of positive personal characteristics and an excellent working environment, one cannot count on a 100% creative result.
There are 3 ways to awaken creativity in yourself:
Brainstorm (Brainstorm)
A term first used by Alex Osborne in his book Applied Imagination. Brainstorming is best used in small groups, but you can use one on one with yourself.
A brainstorming session is as follows:
To begin with, the task at hand should be explained and clearly made clear to each member of the group. Someone from the group is chosen to write down all common ideas on the board so that they can be seen all at once and objectively compare / combine / choose.
Brainstorming involves putting forward and recording even the most obvious decisions. Criticism of the proposed ideas is not permissible; each, even the most, at first glance, idiotic idea is accepted and written down along with the rest. Next, the participants must develop all the ideas of each other.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, an American artist who became famous first as a graffiti artist in New York, and then, in the 1980s, as a very successful neo-expressionist, in search of inspiration, used and put together, in the manner of a “brainstorm”, objects and symbols Haitian, African and American culture. Starting with the simplest, colors and shapes, he added more complex elements and combined what he received.
Thinking outside the box
“Out-of-the-box thinking” or “a comprehensive approach” is a creative way to get really fresh and unexpected ideas. It consists in an extraordinary approach to solving the problem and generating ideas that could not be invented by the traditional step-by-step method. In other words, this is a way to solve the problem in "workaround" ways.
Edward de Bono, the man who coined the term “ Lateral Thinking” in the English language, earned fame as one of the most influential figures in the field of creative thinking, innovation and teaching thinking as a science. Edward de Bono considers it very important to avoid the traditional, inherent in the brain, ways of thinking. Here is one of his definitions of the term “non-standard thinking”:“Non-standard thinking consists in changing the general idea of the task and the views on it instead of diligent attempts to solve the problem using traditional views and ideas”
As a demonstration of the use of this way of thinking, we take a simple task, for example, to open the door. Try to come up with an alternative to using a door handle. This will make you look for some creative way to open the door. It can be associated with a traditional solution with a manual door, or, conversely, radically different from it. Reflections on this make you think outside the box and come up with really interesting solutions.
Albert Einstein, whose name has become synonymous with the genius of originality and creativity, once said: “Modern problems will be solved in the future using an approach that has nothing to do with today's approach, which led to these problems.” It is quite obvious that Einstein used the method of non-standard thinking in order to circumvent traditional principles in solving assigned tasks. He also used this method of thinking in the formulation of his theories and theorems to explain to you and me the world of physics.
Inversion
In his book What a Great Idea, Charles Thomson suggested that the only way to fully understand this world is to look at things from both the positive and negative sides. For example, yin - yang, summer-winter, day - night.
The inversion method is based on the opposite. Make a positive statement negative, try to look at the problem from the other side. This may help you come up with unexpected solutions.
Rene Magritte, the famous surrealist from Belgium painted this picture, which depicts a pipe.
And under the picture, Magritte wrote - “Ceci n'est pas une pipe” (This is not a pipe) . With this unexpected inscription, Magritte makes the observers of the picture ask themselves the question: If this is not a pipe, then what is it?
The answer to this question is the picture. Magritte used the inversion method in order to attach particular importance to the object of her work - the painting, and not what is depicted on it.
Finally
Sir Ken Robinson, a well-known 20th-century thinker, argues that most children, by the time they grow up, lose their ability to think creatively. They are afraid to make mistakes; they are weaned from being creative.
Why is this happening?
To support creativity in children means to maintain a difference from society in them, a violation of existing norms and values of society. Being creative means casting doubt on old methods and methods of solving problems and coming up with your own, more convenient ones, and this is not always correctly perceived by society, especially in childhood. Similarities with society and creativity become mutually exclusive concepts.
People whose daily work is to invent creative solutions are well aware of how difficult it is sometimes to explain to society what you are doing and why all this is needed. But don't let them break themselves. Amaze everyone with your creative decisions to make society support dissimilar views on things.
The creative lurking in you is already striving for freedom. So let him out!