The Creativity Crisis
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- ukit0
"Plucker recently toured a number of such schools in Shanghai and Beijing. He was amazed by a boy who, for a class science project, rigged a tracking device for his moped with parts from a cell phone."
In a country of 1.3 billion people, we're expected to believe they beat us in creativity based on a single kid hacking his cell phone. And Europe is better in this according to him because...
"The European Union designated 2009 as the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, holding conferences on the neuroscience of creativity."
LOL. And wait, also...
"...financing teacher training, and instituting problem-based learning programs—curricula driven by real-world inquiry—for both children and adults"
What the fuck does that mean? It sounds like something you'd read on a Microsoft project overview;)
Even if you're able to decipher it, aren't we kind of overlooking the fact that Europe isn't a single country with a single education policy? I imagine the quality of education is quite different in say, Moldova, versus Germany or France.
In fact, nowhere in the article did he offer a shred of evidence to support his broader point - that the U.S. is worse off than other parts of the world. Let's be charitable and assume that this single "creativity test" (sort of a nebulous concept to begin with) proves beyond a shadow of a doubt creativity is declining. Wouldn't it be equally valid to assume that it's falling across the board, given that TV, video games, and the internet aren't unique to America? The Chinese and Japanese in particular love their video games and internet.
So let's look at the outcomes instead. If, say, China was clocking us in creativity, surely we'd see a flood of groundbreaking modern Chinese music and art, that was completely original and different from what the West has produced? As well as, I guess, Chinese cinema, scientific inventions, product design, etc.
Can anyone really say we've seen that?
China has made amazing progress (and being part Chinese I'm proud of it) but it would be a mistake to attribute it primarily to creativity. It's more accurate, so far, to describe China as the "Wal-Mart" of the world, while we have now become more like the Apple or Google or Goldman Sachs. Like Wal-Mart, any company that supplies a large percentage of the world's stuff is inevitably going to be massively successful. But it would be silly to conflate that with them being superior to us in every respect.
- ukit0
Bonecrusher, with cheerful posts like this http://www.qbn.com/topics/635790… it's no surprise you're eager to believe that creativity is in the shitter.
"Design is an ultimately worthless industry and career. Somewhere between selling insurance and baby portrait photography."
Can someone say failed designer?
- neue75_bold0
"Give me the kid with a passion to learn and a curiosity to discover and I will take him or her over the less passionate kid with a huge IQ every day of the week."
(r)at,at,at
take out, trap
- lukus_W0
Creativity prospers when limitations are put in place.
- cannonball19780
People use creativity like it's some godsend miracle solution to everything.
OH NOEZ the whales are dying! Get creativity!
THE GULF! creativity will fix it!
Can I haz marketing? Creativity!The world needs "shut the fuck up" screamed at it through a giant megaphone the size of an asteroid.
- whatsup0
@ bone crusher, that is not necessarily true. Change of art styles reflected many issues of the past from lack of photography, and the eruption within it, need for communication in typesetting technology have been met with unique individual styles from calligraphy to the development of serif and san serif.
- BoneCrusher0
Change of art styles is not the same thing as creativity.
- whatsup0
@ morning star
Creative has never been an exclusive playground as it's doors has been open to everyone. However these so called "exclusive playgrounds" as you call it were developed to foster one's direction towards creativity.It's also a misguided information to sound pretentious, if you think that creativity can be taught to kids of all ages. However, only at a certain age can you really teach a kid to understand theories and concepts because many aspects are due to experience of the world around them. The ones who will truly fail are the true creatives when you think you can put a score on their work.
- whatsup0
@ bonecrusher- you try to come off as smart, but due to your disrespect in your language, you're either a closet fag or a foolish troll.
If you've gone to art school and taken a basic or foundation art history class, you can easily see progression in creativity throughout the ages, since cave drawings and early egyptians.
Creativity can come from anywhere, Newsweek has written many inspiring articles in the past, this one failed to hit the proper target in my opinion through a perspective of a creative person.
im out.
- JSK0
Lets stop thinking this as it pertains to art.
Creative as in inventive in all areas.
- Morning_star0
@ Whatsup.
I understand where you're coming from BUT Creativity is not and should never be the exclusive playground of a selected few who grace the halls of an Arts based School - it should be encouraged throughout society, at any and every age, whether in a maths lesson or working in a factory.
Creative pursuit's are, by definition, subjective - which is essentially why Van Gogh died a poor man. The issue is: the ability to apply a creative way of approaching everyday situations is declining in the USA. The product of a trained artist, designer, choreographer or whatever is entirely irrelevant.
- BoneCrusher0
"So they want to give the "uncreative" people the creativity?"
Only an insecure, uncreative moron would think that creativity is something that can be given and taken away, like some scarce resource.
- JSK0
USA?
- BoneCrusher0
whatsup, you are a borderline idiot.
whatsup said: "So they want to give the "uncreative" people the creativity? Why not boost the people who are already creative? "
Because the uncreative drones are a problem, for society, for the economy, for our politics, and for our personal well-being.
whatsup said: "Do numbers, facts and figures inspire or even teach you to be more creative?"
Yes, they absolutely can. Creativity can come from anywhere. The most useful creative solutions actually address those facts, figures, and numbers. They improve our lives in real ways.
whatsup said: "In fact, I believe it's been on a rise ever since man drew on walls."
You have no proof of this. This is purely your guess, and probably based on some idea of technical mastery, rather than any true notion of creativity.
whatsup said: "If I score 100 kids one year, and again in ten years on creativity, I'm bound to get different results based on the types of people. "
No shit, that's not the point of the article nor the study. The point is to study changes in generations, not individuals.
whatsup said: "So the facts in the article were left up for interpretation and not for inspiration so I thought it was boring."
It's in fucking Newsweek, not the Louvre. The article isn't supposed to make you creative or "inspire" you, you fucking dolt.
- i_monk0
decisionman:
The first draft of Inception was written shortly after The Matrix/eXistenZ/the 13th Floor/Dark City premiered.
All 4 movies deal with the idea of layers of awareness and reality; two of them include alterable architecture/cityscapes, and two of them end with the revelation or suggestion that there is yet another level beyond what was perceived as 'reality' the characters returned to.
That said, there are no new stories, and everything is a rehash of something told around a camp file 4000 years ago.
- JSK0
USA USA USA USA USA!
- whatsup0
@ morning_star- i never said it was wrong. In fact the researchers in the article would agree that art schools already posses the needed creativity that they want to teach in schools...
"Researchers say creativity should be taken out of the art room and put into homeroom."
in other words art students already possess these needed creative skills that the business world desire. All the many art schools around the world, exploding with creativity and they want to harness it. So they want to give the "uncreative" people the creativity? Why not boost the people who are already creative? People like you, I, and the people on QBN who are already creative. Do numbers, facts and figures inspire or even teach you to be more creative?
Creativity is not on a "downfall" then. In fact, I believe it's been on a rise ever since man drew on walls. If I score 100 kids one year, and again in ten years on creativity, I'm bound to get different results based on the types of people. Not everyone possesses the skills of the creative. People like Van Gogh died a poor man before anyone could realize how awesome he was. But then again, how in the world do you score creativity?
So the facts in the article were left up for interpretation and not for inspiration so I thought it was boring. There are lots of creative people in this world as art schools keep pouring thousands of them out every year.
- BoneCrusher0
"If you think about it, "American" education, creativity, test scores, etc. was never really an issue prior to the 1980s. Why? Because it's all relative. The bar has simply been raised with the steady influx of Asian immigrants since the early 1980s. (Korean, Japanese, Indian, etc.)"
Also FUCKING wrong. Some of you are amazingly stupid.
- Morning_star0
@ Whatsup
Could you enlighten us with your specific insight into the validity and interpretation of the facts? It seems that if it doesn't agree with your way of thinking it 'must' be wrong? Robots indeed.
- whatsup0
@ Bonecrusher- "reality?" are you serious?
What is presented is a twisted form of facts to state a false sense that creativity is on a downfall based on skewed information. You might not understand this because you probably believe everything you hear on TV and media without questioning it. Good luck as you join the ranks of the other mindless robots losers.