@Eva,
Eva wrote:
Of course you can teach creativity. I do it all the time.
Actually, I don't teach people how to be creative, I just figure out ways to unlock it. Everyone is creative in their own way. Anyone who says they aren't creative is lacking imagination, not creativity. And imagination can be "sparked." (Love that word, Osso.)
Here's an example: At the beginning of each semester, my middle school newspaper kids wonder how on earth they are going to come up with ideas for things to write about. I tell them they are reporters, and reporters are very curious people. They notice things everyone else passes by. And they ask questions about everything. I'll show you. See this white board? Who invented white boards? Whose idea was it to buy white boards for the school instead of blackboards? Where are the extra dry erase markers kept? Why are there eight different colors of markers in our room, but only black and blue in the Math room? How many white boards are there in the whole school? Yes, Shelby? How much did they cost? That's a good question. Yes, Dylan? Where did we buy them? There's another. Tristan? Who cleans them? I've wondered about that myself...good question! Caitlyn, you have one? How long will they last? I'll write that one down, too. Anybody else?
Then I give each of them a steno notebook and a pencil, and I turn them loose on the school grounds for 10 minutes. They are to go out by themselves and write down questions about anything they see. Anything they wonder about. I tell them the person who comes back with the most questions gets a prize.
I usually have about 10-12 students in this class. I typically get a total of about 120 questions, and I compile them into a list. Then I tell them that all these questions are possible article ideas, and they've just come up with 120 ideas in 10 minutes! They are amazed. Then I tell them that anytime they can't think of something to write about, they can use this list or just go take another "Reporter's Walk."
And off they go.....
So why not teach imagination while you are at it... There have always been a great number of low intelligence people at any given time judging from history who do quite well learning a few basic skill... There seems to be a fair number of high intelligence people who struggle with basics... Across the board there are creative people who experience it as a disease... They do not fit because they cannot fit... They see things differently, and they feel differently, and all they share with others is beginning and end...You think you can teach, when in fact, many people are slightly creative already, only needing to accept it and practice it... And if I may say so, there is nothing in your list that would unlock creativity as far as I can see... If you compliment as you do, you reward... Such rewards even if disengenuous have their effect.. Let me make a suggestion: Consider natives... Each one was a microcosm of his culture... Each one had all the basic survival skills and knew their myths... Since much of their magic was sympathetic, the ability to represent gave one power, so art and artistry were everywhere... Unlike us, when presented with problems they would not go at it as we do... They might have a smoke, and nicotine actually speeds up neural activity... Or they might fast, and meditate, or sit in their sweat lodge...Inevitably, they would bring the social mind to bear, because the were democratic, and one person's problem was every person's problem... Creativity as we know it is individual... Not so for me; because what others have done I presume can be improved upon, and it is the very act of looking for a better way that is often the key to the matter... Write me a poem... Produce one from another source... Before I am half way done reading it I am usually off on my own tangent, certain I can say it better...And some time I can; but I am not foolish enough to say the product is my own... We build on the past, and must give credit where credit is due.. We tweak it... Paul tweaked Christianity... Caesar tweaked Roman Government.. Napoleon Tweaked Warfare and the French revolution... It does not matter how creative you are, but no one is any good who gets too many steps ahead of other people... I lose people all the time... I have the key to their paradigm and they do not...What good am I to them if I cannot free them???
