Newsweek on the decline of creativity in America and solutions. Change-oriented and conscientious programs, staffed with teachers who support and encourage student curiosity, can turn this around.
This really requires understanding what creativity is, which as the article describes is alternating between divergent and convergent thinking, i.e. lots of unique, seemingly themeless ideas coming together to form a solution to a particular problem. It’s not solely genetic, nor does it “grace” anti-social folks with Asberger’s. The most critical paragraph of the article for me is:
They“re quitting because they“re discouraged and bored, not because they“re dark, depressed, anxious, or neurotic. It’s a myth that creative people have these traits. (Those traits actually shut down creativity; they make people less open to experience and less interested in novelty.) Rather, creative people, for the most part, exhibit active moods and positive affect. They“re not particularly happy”contentment is a kind of complacency creative people rarely have. But they“re engaged, motivated, and open to the world.
Kids who are encouraged, engaged, motivated and open to the world. This really requires parents, teachers and politicians – adults, essentially – to stop being narrow-minded, mopey doomsayers. Try to remember when you were a kid.
With that, I return to my own creativity block.
