The Creative Deficit and the Phenomenon of the Creative Dream

I was thinking about this in the shower the other day. Forgive its simplicity or pretentiousness… I sort of lost my original thought towards the end, as it was replaced by a myriad of questions and ideas. i.e., this entry probably will not make much sense. The last paragraph is kind of nice.

Innovation. -It means improvement, modernization, originality, advancement, enhancement, rejuvenation. It involves creating new ideas, processes, devices, sets of values or changing or improving upon existing factors.

I think we can actually “learn innovation.” That is, we learn how to think about innovation, we learn how to innovate, we can learn to use innovation, and we can learn to how understand the causes which contribute to its successful program and so on. We innovate to curb the extinction of (or ‘fix’) “what” is pre-innovatory -what innovation is targeting, what such ideas, processes, devices and values are being created for.

We “learn innovation” from (a) existing factors, (b) undetermined factors, (c) determined factors, and (d) non-existing factors. -Existing factors are those that include past or current failures, past or current problems, past or current successes. These factors can be obtained by observation and careful study of history or modern times. Undetermined factors are obtained through the inquisition of variables which haven’t been proven to affect a given idea, process, device, product or set of values. Innovation is inspired through the course of trials or tests and on-going processes. Determined factors can be concluded by careful study; they are the results of tests or trials. Non-existing factors are ones which have nothing to do with the targeted idea, process or value, etc. -They do not exist within the current focus. Innovation is learned by not focusing on its target, but through values surrounding it. (email me for examples of these factors).

Creativity is different. Creativity is an ability and a mental phenomena. It is the ability to generate new knowledge. It invokes the imagination and can lead to innovative ideas. However, innovation relies on abilities whereas creativity itself is a manifested, innate capability. Thomas Edison was a creative man. Before his time, light bulbs did not exist -one could not conceive of their reality. Their shape, their original form, were imagined and created by Edison. An innovative writer is someone who builds upon previous works (ideas) or writing styles, and makes them new or attractive again. A creative writer is someone whose ideas and writing style appear as if from thin air - never before seen in the real world. A creative artist is one who can imagine a Biblical scene and paint it without ever being there. An innovative artist is one who creates the scene in a different way or who sees it differently. This may be all too simplistic a comparison. However, it leads me to wonder about the nature of creativity and whether or not we are experiencing a shortage of creativity today.

I realized last semester how many “rely-ers” I am surrounded by. And perhaps I am also a rely-er… I haven’t decided. I think I am much of the time. -These are individuals who rely on other people’s information, other people’s opinions, existing ideas and facts, known solutions and so on. There is nothing wrong with being a rely-er. We need to rely on this repository of knowledge; otherwise we’d be stuck in the stone-age without any base for progress.

However, rely in moderation. I think reliance impinges creativeness. For example, there was a problem that was noted and communicated by person A. Person A could not get past it. They asked Persons B, C, D, etc for their opinions, and spent a great deal of time evaluating what was said, but could not come up with a solution to this problem. Person A used the ideas of everyone -and put together an innovative strategy, and yet the problem persisted. The thing is, Person A had many great ideas on their own, but could not trust that their creative approach had any meaning or value, and that their own ideas could actually improve the problem.

Do we actively make the distinction between innovation and creativity? Do we automatically place creativity beneath existing knowledge? Do we all ‘have’ creativity? Does innovation have a shelf life?

I feel sometimes we are trying so hard to fix and upgrade things that are inevitably going to disintegrate. At the same time, we give up on our creativity and passions with the even the smallest of doubts. We do not have enough faith that we are creative enough to overcome our own obstacles and to find our own ways to get through difficulties. We forget that our dreams -which are phenomena that have not been manifested in the real world, are very possible to attain. They are reachable. They are there if we want them to be there, and they are possible only when we want them to be possible. They do not rely on your ability to innovate existing processes that will enable their existence in the real world. They simply rely on your ability to create them, and to create your own primordial arena for their development. They are the rely-ers of your own mastery.

I hope someone out there knows what I am trying to say.
I am still dreaming.