The Science Of Creativity – Homework!

I was going to deconstruct an article on creativity I just read in Newsweek.

Instead, I’m just going to say you need to read it for yourselves.

Get past the scary call to action about creativity declining in the United States. (Scary for those of us who live here at least) This is one article where the really interesting and useful stuff is in the second half.

As you read keep in mind:

• Creativity is about the creation of something original and useful – don’t limit your thinking to fine art categories.
• Creativity can be learned and encouraged in every part of the educational process, possibly improving overall effectiveness more than when limiting to traditional categories.
• The need to be creative is a deep, neurological need.

Kudos to Po Bronson and Ashley Merry at Newsweek for a great synopsis.  Creativity is messy, which means there’s plenty to argue about in the article. But given how central creativity is to our humanity, putting the discussion front and center seems like a good idea.

The article is: The Creativity Crisis, Newsweek, July 10, 2010 by Bronson and Merry.