duminică, 30 decembrie 2012

Creativity and its demons



I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve seen people who have big problems when it comes to being creative. It seems to be really hard for people to use their imagination to the fullest. Now, I’m not saying that nobody is creative – that would be wrong. What I’m saying is that most of the times, we basically fail to be creative.
Some psychologists have noticed this too and did some research in this matter. Their study was, ironically enough, pretty darn creative, if you ask me. They made this study on people of all ages, from kindergarten kids to adults, telling them to make a list of all the things they can do with a paperclip. The result was somewhat unexpected – the older you are, the fewer things you would do with a paperclip. One would think that after years and years of school and human interaction, we’d know how to answer such a simple question.
Yet the truth lies in the opposite field. It seems that exactly the education system is to blame. See, we are born knowing nothing. And when you know nothing, nothing seems impossible to you. A kindergarten kid, when he thinks of a paperclip, he can think it is three meters long, and made of chocolate. It that’s the case, there are a lot more things to do with a paperclip than merely holding pages together.
But as we grow up, and as we go to school, we learn what a paperclip is, what it looks like, and what it’s used for. And when you know so much about something, it’s hard to think outside of what you know. The thought of a three-meter paperclip that’s made of chocolate somewhat makes you laugh. I mean, really, why would something like that exist?
This kind of thinking is exactly why we fail when it comes to creativity. And the education system is to blame because it teaches you how things should be done, like there’s no other way to do them. You are encouraged to memorize rather than to think, you are encouraged to do it how the teacher taught you rather than find your own way.
What you should understand from this isn’t that school makes you stupid. School teaches you a lot, if you pay attention sometimes. And all these things are useful, if combined with thinking. What you should understand is that when you’re encouraged to think, you should question everything. Because that’s exactly the where creativity lies – in thinking outside of what you’ve been taught. In questioning even the most obvious answers.

Articol scris de:
Raluca Ioana Văcaru(XI B)

0 comentarii:

Trimiteți un comentariu