This-essay is a8412121.htm which is available at the
web-site www.essayz.com. See more notes at the bottom.
Previous-Essay <== This-Essay ==> Following-Essay
By-Months By-Years By-Words
Webs of Like-&-Un-Like ESSAYS <==> Like-&-UN-Like This-One
==========================================================
%BLOCKED CREATIVE PERCEPTIONS 841212
We often wonder why some people are creative, when
most are not. Perhaps we should wonder why most people
are not creative, what blocks their creativity? Of course
it appears absurd to assume that the ability to be
creative is natural and that lack of the ability is
abnormal, needing explanation. But absurdity is a
function of fundamental assumptions. What is absurd in
one era, becomes obviously true in a later era, and vice
versa.
Before Newton it was absurd to assume that the
natural thing for an object to do was to continue moving
in a straight line at constant speed, and that departures
from such continuation in steady motion required an
explanation. It was natural to assume that the natural
thing for objects to do was to come to rest; or in the
case of heavenly objects, to move in circles. That
which requires explanation changes from era to era.
Why might most people be non-creative? We usually
think they lack ability, but all people have some kinds of
abilities; yet do not use them creatively. They do not do
new things. They keep on doing what others and/or they
have traditionally done, unless they are forced to do
otherwise. They obey the law of inertia. But that is
just a description, not an explanation.
Perhaps people are not creative because they are
afraid to be creative. Fear may chill any creative
instincts. As infants and young children they may have
been taught by fearful adults to fear being creative---
by being put down when they were genuinely creative,
when they did genuinely new things. They learned it does
not pay to be different; it pays to conform, to
be traditional. They learned not to be creative by
being punished when they were creative.
It makes a tremendous difference to assume that
children are naturally creative and are taught not to be
creative. Making that assumption will lead to
fundamentally new patterns of belief, thinking,
attitudes, and behavior on the part of parents, teachers
and wise leaders. What difference does it make that the
assumption is likely to be self-validating? So also
is the assumption that children are naturally non-
creative. On what grounds should we pick one assumption
over the other assumption?
(c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in
www.essayz.com Search for Integrity and Honesty
(On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)
==========================================================
Lines beginning with a percent sign are KEYWORDS for use
in ESSAY-System Searches. Their terminal digits are dates
of writing in the format @yymmdd#, where @ = a means 99,
@ = b means 20, and # = is a within-date essay-count.
Links to date-adjacent essays are near page top & bottom.
Find the following links by clicking on CENTER when CENTER
near the top or bottom of a web page of essayz.com
1. Go to HOME PAGE of essayz.com
2. Find brief-essays via keywords
3. Find brief-essay about ADDICTION
4. Search-Helps related to ABOVE-LINK
5. GoTo Action & Information Center
6. Find Regular-Essays via Year/Month
7. Find Regular-Essays via Word-Starts
8. Find Regular-Essay about LOVE
This-essay is a8412121.htm which is available at the
web-site www.essayz.com. These 5 lines echo top lines.
Previous-Essay <== This-Essay ==> Following-Essay
By-Months By-Years By-Words
Webs of Like-&-Un-Like ESSAYS <==> Like-&-UN-Like This-One