"We don't become less creative as we get older. Our creativity just gets more...

[/DG/]

"We don't become less creative as we get older. Our creativity just gets more...

...specialized."

Would you agree or disagree with the above statement?

Recently, we had an art professor come into one of my classes. Although I found the content of his speech rather boring (art doesn't interest me), I greatly admired his passion for his work. I think he may have been an INFP. Anyway, he started talking about creativity and said something along the lines of the quote (I'm paraphrasing a bit) above. I hadn't really heard this perspective with creativity before. When asking most people, I find that they say that most lose their creativity as the age. Fewer say that we retain the same amount of creativity, but many don't like to use it (or something along those lines).

I'm one of those people who never felt I was creative and I'm also one of those who would say that I've lost my creativity over time. Now, if you were to ask me to do anything creative, it is very forced and unpleasant. There was a short time in my life where I would engage my imagination and make up stories, but that was a long time ago. I don't feel that my creativity has gotten more specialized, but I feel that it is simply gone. I hate trying to be creative.

Thoughts?

 

[Eugene Watson VIII]

The brain changes when we age so it balances. Late adolescence - beggining of adulthood is when the lizard brain is suppose to calm down or something. I think the phrase 'looking to nothing' is good if you want to achieve creativity, just let the thoughts flow.

Its annoying to see teenagers challenge their predesseors, but it's okey. I know they just want candy.

 

[Rasofy]

"We don't become less creative as we get older. Our creativity just gets more...
...specialized."

That's like saying erections get more ''specialized'' as males get older.

 

[/DG/]

That's like saying erections get more ''specialized'' as males get older.

Hahaha. I'm don't quite follow, but I'm not sure I want you to explain.

 

[Rasofy]

[...]but I'm not sure I want you to explain.

You don't.

 

[Xann]

It's not that you're losing your creativity, it's that you are losing the desire for reward in activities traditionally seen as being creative, such as art and imaginative play. Since you're most likely an sj, with the functions si and fi, your creativity is most likely being used to understand social norms and understand the patterns and emotions of other people and yourself, an activity while seemingly perhaps not traditionally creative is probably actually utilizing the traditionally creative parts of your brain. You will therefore excel at at least understanding this behavior more than if you were a different type that would use their brain more for art and such.
I read somewhere once that perhaps humans' greatest intellectual strength is actually not in our ability to think creatively, but rather the ability to copy other humans, since they already have so much of the puzzle figured out for us. As we get older we get better at figuring out where it's in our best interest to fill in the blanks with our own special brand of thought. I mean...is it really that creative to get the idea to slap some paint on a canvas when so many others have done it before? It seems to me like most artists and "creative people" are just following the mental schematics of paleolithic humans who copied each other ad nauseum in their creation of basic tools and weaponry, it's just that our standards for what is "useful" has changed to accommodate a wider variety of behaviors and creations due to the abundance of our society.
You shouldn't think that you're not creative per se, just that you have different values in how to use your mind compared to the typical "artiste". Nor do people really lose their ability to think creatively as they age imo, it is more that they naturally lose their desire to think in those ways since it naturally separates them other humans and their social values and expectations. The human brain can only handle so much variation in thought compared to other people before becoming fearful of expulsion from the group etc and getting lost in the clouds, and as a person ages it becomes more and more obvious how the "typical" person behaves socially and so they expend more mental stamina trying to follow this norm. (except perhaps when developing alzheimer's, and apparently there is some sort of mental trimming process that occurs upon reaching adulthood, but i honestly doubt it's that extensive.)
Research has shown the brain has an incredible ability to heal its functioning even when traumatically injured in adults, so with this in mind it just seems rather obvious the lack of creativity seen in most adults has more to do with lack of desire and fear of wasting their time due to not being exceptional more than anything else.

 

[ReflecTcelfeR]

Creativity exists insofar as your environment allows. As you get older it is presumed that you will pick a career to focus upon. As such your creativity becomes limited. Since this is how education is also structured this phrase makes complete sense.

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

"....wacky, funky, conservative, liberal, sinister, holy...." Creativity, passion, love, faith, all manner of expressions of the soul exist outside of time because the soul exists outside of time. Only the body is a slave of time. So one might lose agility or capacity to think as quickly, but creativity would only be affected in this way.

 

[1487610420]

"....wacky, funky, conservative, liberal, sinister, holy...." Creativity, passion, love, faith, all manner of expressions of the soul exist outside of time because the soul exists outside of time. Only the body is a slave of time. So one might lose agility or capacity to think as quickly, but creativity would only be affected in this way.

Until Al gets you.

 

[sprinkles]

Creativity isn't lost, it's killed. People get into a results oriented and structured life where somebody or some thing must direct them and tell them what to do. They lose their internal direction and only act by inertia caused by outside pressures.

We're already seeing kids - not adults, kids - who can't get their head around a game like Minecraft. In Minecraft the game drops you into a massive world where you can do what you want, and change everything, down to the last block of dirt and last flower, and it does so without a word. It has no plot and it has no purpose, but it has everything you need to do something amazing.

Yet some people can't get into Minecraft because it doesn't tell them what to do. They have no internal direction. They can't spontaneously move themselves to act, and they expect a purpose or an external call to do something. These same people can play a game where they are a part of a Special Forces unit which is ordered to go behind enemy lines and assassinate the enemy, and they love it because it's an outside directive telling them what to do and where to go, but if you drop them in a sandbox with no orders to follow they become lost and can't do anything.

There are a few however who can relearn how to give themselves internal direction and after a bit of adjustment, they take off when dropped into this situation and they don't look back.

 

[Andy]

...specialized."

Would you agree or disagree with the above statement?

Recently, we had an art professor come into one of my classes. Although I found the content of his speech rather boring (art doesn't interest me), I greatly admired his passion for his work. I think he may have been an INFP. Anyway, he started talking about creativity and said something along the lines of the quote (I'm paraphrasing a bit) above. I hadn't really heard this perspective with creativity before. When asking most people, I find that they say that most lose their creativity as the age. Fewer say that we retain the same amount of creativity, but many don't like to use it (or something along those lines).

I'm one of those people who never felt I was creative and I'm also one of those who would say that I've lost my creativity over time. Now, if you were to ask me to do anything creative, it is very forced and unpleasant. There was a short time in my life where I would engage my imagination and make up stories, but that was a long time ago. I don't feel that my creativity has gotten more specialized, but I feel that it is simply gone. I hate trying to be creative.

Thoughts?

In some ways the various bits of your brain are like the muscles of your body - they ware out as you get older, but the bits you use the most stay the freshest and most pliable. If you never done anything creative, then suddenly try to become an artist... Well, it's like trying to take up bodybuilding at 50 after a life time of dedicated couch potato excellence.

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

It can become more specialized, but also develop a broader perspective. Creativity that requires a physical attribute can diminish in its execution as we age, but the more abstract forms like writing or composing can definitely deepen. Those more abstract types of creativity can require life experience for many individuals to deepen. Even Mozart's music took on more emotional complexity as he aged, but not to say that child giftedness can't be incredibly deep in its own way.

This topic has many layers to it and there isn't a one-dimensional statement that could sum it up, but my comment pertains to some aspect of creative development.

 

[Such Irony]

...specialized."

Would you agree or disagree with the above statement?

Recently, we had an art professor come into one of my classes. Although I found the content of his speech rather boring (art doesn't interest me), I greatly admired his passion for his work. I think he may have been an INFP. Anyway, he started talking about creativity and said something along the lines of the quote (I'm paraphrasing a bit) above. I hadn't really heard this perspective with creativity before. When asking most people, I find that they say that most lose their creativity as the age. Fewer say that we retain the same amount of creativity, but many don't like to use it (or something along those lines).

I'm one of those people who never felt I was creative and I'm also one of those who would say that I've lost my creativity over time. Now, if you were to ask me to do anything creative, it is very forced and unpleasant. There was a short time in my life where I would engage my imagination and make up stories, but that was a long time ago. I don't feel that my creativity has gotten more specialized, but I feel that it is simply gone. I hate trying to be creative.

Thoughts?

I think some of it might be due to environmental influences. When growing up, most of us have had moments where people (parents, teachers, etc.) told us things like "that won't work", "this is the right way", "it's not practical or feasible", "it's dumb", "it's a waste of time", etc. Such messages squelch the creative impulse.

I think kids growing up eventually learn that it's better to be a practical, results-oriented person and to eventually learn the "right" way to do something. So that could be why small children often seem to be the most creative as they've been exposed to less of the creativity killing messages.

To keep our creativity as we age, we need to unlearn some of our upbringing and realize that in many situations there isn't one right or best way to do something.

I think fear of failure plays a part too. Someone wants to write a story but is afraid that others won't be interested in it or enjoy it. Or try creating a piece of art and you can't get it to look the way you want it to.

I think people are creative in different ways. People see the stereotype as someone who's artistically creative but that's just one of the many ways to be creative. You can be creative by coming up with new theories to explain the phenomenon around you or even come up with a better way to organize your sock drawer.

 

[UniqueMixture]

Neurologically you become less apt to solve problems efficiently, but you become more adept at dealing with higher order abstract concepts that are more difficult to solve. I would say creativity increases it just becomes bounded by reality.

 

[ReflecTcelfeR]

What's wrong with focus?

 

[Ginkgo]

Creativity isn't lost, it's killed. People get into a results oriented and structured life where somebody or some thing must direct them and tell them what to do. They lose their internal direction and only act by inertia caused by outside pressures.

We're already seeing kids - not adults, kids - who can't get their head around a game like Minecraft. In Minecraft the game drops you into a massive world where you can do what you want, and change everything, down to the last block of dirt and last flower, and it does so without a word. It has no plot and it has no purpose, but it has everything you need to do something amazing.

Yet some people can't get into Minecraft because it doesn't tell them what to do. They have no internal direction. They can't spontaneously move themselves to act, and they expect a purpose or an external call to do something. These same people can play a game where they are a part of a Special Forces unit which is ordered to go behind enemy lines and assassinate the enemy, and they love it because it's an outside directive telling them what to do and where to go, but if you drop them in a sandbox with no orders to follow they become lost and can't do anything.

There are a few however who can relearn how to give themselves internal direction and after a bit of adjustment, they take off when dropped into this situation and they don't look back.

I used to be an adventurer like you but then I took an arrow in the synapses.

 

[ReflecTcelfeR]

Creativity isn't lost, it's killed. People get into a results oriented and structured life where somebody or some thing must direct them and tell them what to do. They lose their internal direction and only act by inertia caused by outside pressures.

We're already seeing kids - not adults, kids - who can't get their head around a game like Minecraft. In Minecraft the game drops you into a massive world where you can do what you want, and change everything, down to the last block of dirt and last flower, and it does so without a word. It has no plot and it has no purpose, but it has everything you need to do something amazing.

Yet some people can't get into Minecraft because it doesn't tell them what to do. They have no internal direction. They can't spontaneously move themselves to act, and they expect a purpose or an external call to do something. These same people can play a game where they are a part of a Special Forces unit which is ordered to go behind enemy lines and assassinate the enemy, and they love it because it's an outside directive telling them what to do and where to go, but if you drop them in a sandbox with no orders to follow they become lost and can't do anything.

There are a few however who can relearn how to give themselves internal direction and after a bit of adjustment, they take off when dropped into this situation and they don't look back.

A drive to act has nothing to do with ones ability to be creative. Without it they cannot act or have the possibility, but that does not mean they won't be creative.

They can't build something in a virtual world, therefore they aren't ever creative, or capable of being creative?...... I feel like I shouldn't have to explain why this assumption is wrong.

 

[Mole]

Creativity is over. When everyone and their dog is creative, we know creativity is over.

In fact creativity is now the content of presence. Yes we are now present on the electric telegraph, the telephone, the radio, the television, and the internet.

And the content of our electric presence is creativity. Yes, it is only the literate individual who is creative, and now the literate individual is the content of the electric media.

 

[sprinkles]

A drive to act has nothing to do with ones ability to be creative. Without it they cannot act or have the possibility, but that does not mean they won't be creative.

They can't build something in a virtual world, therefore they aren't ever creative, or capable of being creative?...... I feel like I shouldn't have to explain why this assumption is wrong.

It's just an example of the seed that creativity is, being able to initiate autonomously. Without that internal 'spark' that allows spontaneous initiation, one is not creative, whether it's in art, science, or whatever. Experience shows me that the same are not creative anywhere else either.

I'm not referring to people who just might not be good at this but are creative elsewhere. They aren't creative anywhere - they can only emulate and respond to things. It's not that they don't want to do this either, they can't, which is shown by the fact that some want to but must ask people to direct them.

 

[sprinkles]

Creativity is over. When everyone and their dog is creative, we know creativity is over.

In fact creativity is now the content of presence. Yes we are now present on the electric telegraph, the telephone, the radio, the television, and the internet.

And the content of our electric presence is creativity. Yes, it is only the literate individual who is creative, and now the literate individual is the content of the electric media.

My cousin was illiterate, but made his own system for recording things on paper and came up with his own way of handling money also. He just did it himself out of necessity because he had some kind of problems in his brain that wouldn't let him read or count normally. It was unprecedented and nobody could teach him this, he invented it.

Creative and also practical.