What is Creativity?
I recently wrote about How to be More Creative, but I think I should have clarified what exact creativity is first. So, thanks to a nice article on creativity I have been inspired to share my thoughts on the matter.
Creativity is nothing horribly unique only to the gifted few. Creativity is simply the answer to the willfully asked question, “can this be done differently?” Edward de Bono calls this a ‘Creative Pause’. That is, before you go on to do something, pause and ask this question. If you can answer it in a way that brings out something new and useful, you are creative.
Really then, creativity is a way of thinking. When you make this question part of your normal, everyday thought process you open yourself up to becoming a creator; someone who is creative everyday. The hard part is remembering to pause to ask yourself the question.
So, are you creative? Some call it thinking outside the box, but it’s much more straight forward than that. Just stop to think before you act. Creativity is waiting inside all of us.
Thank You for the Reminder…
It is superbly refreshing to be shown that no one is really original. Well, at least that no one is so original that what they come up with has never been seen before.
This video(third in a series of four) demonstrates that everything is inspired by something and that the way we become inspired is by first copying something already out there. Am I the only one that felt a certain stigmatism about copying other people’s ideas? Really, our society and technology wouldn’t be what it is today without copying other’s ideas. This is one reason I feel very dark about patents and copyrights. I understand the business logic for them, but despise them based on my more altruistic motives.
So, without further delay, I give you Everything is a Remix – the elements of creativity.
Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson
Added bonus:
this video exemplifies how drastic differences(smoke signals vs video chat) are more obvious than gradual changes(PC vs Apple). This should make you giggle a little bit, if you have any humanity in your soul. 