• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Creativity

GZA

Resident Snot-Nose
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
1,771
MBTI Type
infp
Are you creative, and in what ways are you creative?

How do you think creativity works in the mind?

Are there ways to increase creativity?

Is creativity correlated to intelligence and/or mental illness and depression?
 

Jeffster

veteran attention whore
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
6,743
MBTI Type
ESFP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx
Yes, it's one of my strong points. Though I haven't been using my creativity enough lately, been doing other stuff.

But I have written a bunch of lyrics, created all kinds of radio formats, done a lot of audio editing, taking existing shows and putting clips together for compilation CDs - like back in May I gave my mom a CD with old radio shows from her childhood on there, with some news clips from the year she was born and stuff like that.

When I was a kid, I made up entire sports teams with players I made up, I had the entire lineups written out and kept track of the team's place in the real standings of the real leagues. I was just talking at work today about how I made a basket for basketball in my room using a trashcan and putting some stuff in it to soften the blow, and used a tennis-ball-sized plastic pumpkin as a basketball. I also made up entire television networks with the schedule for the week, had all the titles of the shows and cast lists for them.

I try to put my creative stamp on everything I do. My work can seem like tedious paperwork, but I find ways to change up the way I do stuff, and I get different opportunities to talk to people on the phone all day and make up new words when people ask me "how are you?" like "I'm superfantabulisticlicious!" :D

I have absolutely no idea how creativity works in the mind. For me, it's random bursts of inspiration, usually followed by leaving projects unfinished because I have moved on to creating something else. :blush:
 

Sling

New member
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
132
MBTI Type
N358
hmm..As far as creativity goes, my brain likes to produce elaborate plotlines and plans without any intentional encouragement. Like a vivid movie playing in my head 24/7. I can actually harness it if I want to, usually in the form of music or writing. Sometimes inventions. I suck at art and crafty things like that.

I think creativity is what happens when some mental process that allows random thoughts, meanings, and memories to form together.

Intelligence and creativity definitely do hand in hand. Mental illness can be kind of a broad term, but I'd say schizophrenia is creativity amped up and running wild. I'd speculate dreams are probably from the same source as creativity too.


"Marvel is the motivation of imagination"
 

ThatsWhatHeSaid

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
7,263
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w4
Are you creative, and in what ways are you creative?

With ideas (intellectual) with words (expression, persuasion, and humor) and with stuff (artsy crap).

How do you think creativity works in the mind?

I think it emanates from a place of silence. If it sounds mystical, it is. Take a place of peace and mix it with some sensitivity to how to combine things to produce a desired result and viola. It's essentially a place of low expectations and high sensitivity to artful combinations.

I think, though, that artistic creativity and intellectual, although related, are somewhat different. Artistic creativity doesn't require comprehension in the same way that intellectual creativity does. Still though, I think they both come at moments of being settled and not trying too hard.

Are there ways to increase creativity?

Yeah, practice and study people who are creative.

Is creativity correlated to intelligence and/or mental illness and depression?

Death Keith Simonton (UC Davis) would have a lot to say about that. He's written extensively on the subject, being a self-proclaimed genius. I don't know about mental illness and depression, but it would somewhat fit what I was saying above. Although depression usually sounds terrible, I think it provides relief from pressures and stress and lets people sink into themselves without fear of where they're gonna go (because they're already at the bottom, anyway). Not everyone, but some people. As for mental illness, maybe with manic depression and schizophrenia, yes. Mania would be conducive to all sorts of mental feats, and schizophrenia would probably assist creativity too by unhinging the mind.
 

Siúil a Rúin

when the colors fade
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
14,037
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
496
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Are you creative, and in what ways are you creative?
I am creative in the areas of aesthetics and expressive communication - primarily in sound.

How do you think creativity works in the mind?

This is a loaded question, but in its simplest terms it has to do with being able to work within a wide spectrum of thought. One must be free spirit and merciless critic. There is also an exchange that occurs between the conscious and subconscious mind. The subconscious mind can actually work on solving problems. Being able to access one's full mind, I have found, results from a combination of filling the mind with a rich pallet of experience, information, understanding, and learning how to allow the resulting synthesis and intuition to flow without judgment at the creative moment of inspiration. Then we must use our knowledge base to critique what we have produced, think on it again, let go of our sense of judgment and allow inspiration to flow freely again. This is a difficult cycle to master, but I have found it is quite necessary to achieve my best potential in creativity.

Are there ways to increase creativity?
Yes. Study a variety of examples of created works within your area of interest and understand how the systems work. Appreciate contrasting types of creative output. Attempt first to mimic, and then to create your own rules. Intuition must be honed, or it is merely snap judgments.

It is also important to work within our means. Every human being has some capacity for rich, expressive, creative thought. Not everyone has the technical or intuitive skills to write a symphony, but may realize and sing a new lullaby. Maintaining humility of thought, understanding our limitations is part of the foundation to growth beyond those limitations.

Is creativity correlated to intelligence and/or mental illness and depression? I will have to think on this one. I am aware of the stereotypes, and there have certainly been intensely creative people with mental illness. It is possible that both intelligence and certain types of mental illness can allow an individual to examine connections and relationships between ideas that another person may not consider. On the other hand, it is a deeply entrenched stereotype that we tend to nurture and pay more attention to than when we see examples of mentally healthy creative people.
 

LostInNerSpace

New member
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
1,027
MBTI Type
INTP
Are you creative, and in what ways are you creative?

How do you think creativity works in the mind?

Are there ways to increase creativity?

Is creativity correlated to intelligence and/or mental illness and depression?

It's funny you should ask. I just rewrote this from an earlier post of mine:

The brain can be thought of as a self organizing information system. Similar thoughts and ideas are stored close to each other in clusters but not necessarily linked. People basically think in straight lines--or at least on a single path. One thought leads to the next, which leads to the next. Think of a field of thoughts with train lines running through the field. Thoughts stored close to a track are likely to be most similar to those on the portion of track that is closest. To find such divergent thoughts one must jump off the train as it runs through the field. You essentially want to introduce an element of randomness into your thinking. This is based on Edward DeBono's ideas about creativity.

The idea is that thoughts closest to the track are not truly random. They are thoughts that may in some way be related to the main "train of thought", i.e. sound similar but have different meaning.

The technique works well but does require some practice.
Humor and creativity are closely related. We tend to find funny thoughts that are divergent but in some way similar to thoughts on our "train of thought". If you substitute something somewhere in the chain
of thoughts for a closely related but unexpected thought, we often find that funny.

I am an idea generating machine. I wish I could tell you some of the things I've cooked up, but I can't.
 

01011010

New member
Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
3,916
MBTI Type
INxJ
Are you creative, and in what ways are you creative?
I like to build things. What I build varies, anything from computers to flower hair barrettes.

How do you think creativity works in the mind?
I'm not sure. It feels entirely random to me, if that means anything.

Are there ways to increase creativity?
Get in touch with whatever the individual's source of creativity is.

Is creativity correlated to intelligence and/or mental illness and depression?
It can be linked with all three and none at all.
 

surgery

New member
Joined
Sep 28, 2007
Messages
257
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
Four
My creativity only extends to listening to music, apply the lyrics and beats to my own life, feelings and thoughts then and then imagining a "music video" for that song. Then again, I'm not so sure how creative that actually makes me, since I never write my own lyrics or poetry.
 

spirilis

Senior Membrane
Joined
Jul 5, 2007
Messages
2,687
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
9w1
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I guess my "creativity" is mostly in the ability to apply frameworks or systems that I am already aware onto things where they've never been applied or associated with before, but make sense together. Like seeing the intrinsic structure in something and discovering just what kind of "structure" it is, considering other things with similar "structures" in a very abstract scope and seeing what I've learned from those other things and what I can apply to this new thing.

And far more recently, I've found a creative spark in considering & expressing more sensory stuff, like photography and music. (I'm currently toying with the idea of mixing the two somehow... like still photography captioned by lyrics)
 

Mole

Permabanned
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Messages
20,284
Creativity, Empathy and Presence

The problem is that creativity is passe.

Both creativity and empathy are products of literacy.

And the Age of Literacy is passing.

We are entering the age of the telegraph, the telephone, the television and the internet.

We are entering the Noosphere.

And the Noosphere produces Presence.

As we drive forward into the future, we look in the rear vision mirror and see creativity and empathy.

But as we look through the windscreen, we see Presence.
 

Schizm

New member
Joined
Sep 10, 2007
Messages
134
MBTI Type
INTP
I like to stare at the crazy things I see in wood contours and nature or in 3d things. I'm taking a drawing class soon and I hope I learn how to communicate my ideas, visually. I used to be real poetic but not so much poetry for poetry's sake. It's just when I get in that visual, creative state of mind, my brain likes to have a running dialogue, like stream of conscious thinking. I don't know if this is creative but I like to problem solve "mechanically". Like one time, I used floss to lock a door from the outside so when I left my passed out friend's apartment, it would remain locked. It's always fun to improvise in a tight situation.
 

bluebell

New member
Joined
Apr 30, 2007
Messages
1,485
MBTI Type
INTP
Are you creative, and in what ways are you creative?

Depends what you mean by creative. I'm occasionally creative when painting and drawing, but this tends to be nonverbal/unconcious.

I'm also somewhat creative with problem solving and finding new ways to connect different concepts/facts or coming up with new systems. This is most obvious at work, but I do it a bit outside work too.


How do you think creativity works in the mind?


No idea, to be honest.

Are there ways to increase creativity?

Expose yourself to lots of information and concepts and spend time thinking about how these can be connected. In terms of art, practice without imposing 'shoulds' on to the process. Exposure to different fields of art also helps with this as well - new ideas can come from combining different styles and ideas.

Is creativity correlated to intelligence and/or mental illness and depression?

In terms of mental illness, I guess it's possible that depression or whatever can help fuel creativity as a means of emotional expression.

In terms of creativity with ideas and concepts, mental illness is more of a hindrance than a help. My mind functions much better when I'm not anxious or depressed. Intelligence probably helps with the quality of the creativity, but I have trouble teasing apart the difference between intuition and intelligence, so... I'm not sure.
 

"?"

New member
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
1,167
MBTI Type
TiSe
Are you creative, and in what ways are you creative? I have been told by others that I am very creative in resolving problems. I don't see it as being creative, but taking practical steps to resolve an immediate problem with expediency. I say it's not creative because most likely I have suggested the same resolution before, but changed it to meet the immediate needs. I think that the Promoter/Executor (ESTP) description on bestfittype.com says it best, “I can take a prior experience and lay it right on top of what I’m doing today and carry it all forward, and it’s a snap.” This is an indication that my creativity comes from usage of my auxiliary function (Se).

How do you think creativity works in the mind? Since we all use one introverted and one extraverted function better than others, I think this depends on what introverted function you prefer. My Ti , as Lenore Thompson puts it is not geared toward free association creativity. I create with my Se and my Ti organizes it. In fact I think the only function that is capable of internally generating creativity is the Ni. Again contrary to popular belief we all use it in some form.

Are there ways to increase creativity? There are ample books on the subject. Years ago I read Shakti Gawain’s, “Creative Visualization” and other books. Generally people who have a clear pipe line to their intuition will be more inclined to trust their creativity because it is connected to our intuition. This again goes back to how developed your Ni is in my opinion.

Is creativity correlated to intelligence and/or mental illness and depression?[/QUOTE] I think creativity correlates with intuition, internal (Ni) external (Ne). It has nothing to do with intelligence.
 

The_Liquid_Laser

Glowy Goopy Goodness
Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Messages
3,376
MBTI Type
ENTP
Are you creative, and in what ways are you creative?
I've got a minor in drama, and I've done quite a bit of acting and directing. Also I've been the DM in D&D many times and I've created several of my own worlds. Additionally, I think I have some latent musical talent that I've never developed. I change the words to songs a lot, and sometimes I make up songs on my own, but I don't have the training to play them on an instrument. Those are some of the more obvious ways that I demonstrate creativity.

How do you think creativity works in the mind?
I think raw creativity comes from the perceiving functions: Ne, Se, Ni, Si. Overall I think Ne and Se have a slight advantage toward creativity since they have an easier time with lateral thinking, but these two functions by no means have a monopoly.

Inspiration also plays a vital role in creativity. People need to have a desire to express their creativity. Individuals who have a developed Fi function have an advantage in this area, since they can draw inspiration from their desire for self expression. Of course any type can be creative, but I believe you will find the various xxFP types to be overrepresented in artistic communities.

Are there ways to increase creativity?
Yes. I'd say the most efficient way is to play Dungeons and Dragons or other role playing games. This game focuses on building creativity the way weightlifting focuses on building strength. There are lots of ways to build strength, but weightlifting is the most efficient way. The same holds for D&D and creativity. Also the more creative the other players are, the more creative you will become too. It's basically a group excersise in building creativity, so the creativity of the other players directly helps you build yours.

Other than that I'd say study a wide variety of creative works, experience a wide variety of experiences, and meet a wide variety of people. Associating with creative people will make you more creative. Most importantly live life and find things that are important to you. These provide the inspiration for your creativity.

Is creativity correlated to intelligence and/or mental illness and depression?
I would say creativity is a component of intelligence, although it depends on how you define intelligence. A person with low creativity isn't excercising a part of their brain, so that is why I'd say it is a part of intelligence. Also creativity can make you better in a wide variety of tasks. In grad school I could sometimes solve problems that the other students couldn't, because I would think of novel approaches to solving the problem. That is just one example of how creativity aids performance.

I think depression aids creativity in that it can provide a source of inspiration that makes the person want a creative outlet. Their are many potential sources of inspiration, and depression is one of them. People with mental illness by their nature have a different perspective than the norm. This can appear as creativity, but much of what we see from them is what the world looks like from their perspective.
 

Ilah

New member
Joined
Jul 13, 2008
Messages
274
MBTI Type
INTJ
Are you creative, and in what ways are you creative?

I am creative. I like to draw and sometimes I work with paint or chalk. I have done many different crafts and like to come up with my own patterns or modify existing patterns. I have done some alterted and embellished clothing.

I like to experiment in the kitchen, modifying recepies or coming up with entirely new ones.

I do a kind of free form poetry. I don't know if it can properly be called poetry, it is a cross between prose and poetry.

I DM D&D games. I don't usually create my own modules, but I often modify the existing ones.

I day dream quite a bit. I come up with many, many stories in my head.
How do you think creativity works in the mind?

I also do creative problem solving.

How do you think creativity works in the mind?

In MBTI terms I think it is mostly N. It is the ability of the mind to see things in new ways, to see variations on things, to combine things that are not usually combined.

It is the tendancy to think "what if." It is the tendancy to think "how else could this be done." It is thinking about possibilities.

But much of the time, it just comes by itself. You don't try to make it happen, it just happens on its own. You are sitting with a pen and paper and suddenly you have something completely new.

I am not sure if you are familiar with the concept of neurodiversity, but I think that is a big factor. Neurodiversity, in its simplest terms, mean that some of us were born with a brain that processesing things significantly different from most people.


Are there ways to increase creativity?

Day dreaming and make believe games, including D&D and other role playing games. Art, crafts, creative writing, peotry, music - assuming you make original things and don't just follow some one else's pattern.

I also think it helps to be open to new experiences artistically, musically, etc. For example listening to different types of music, looking at many different styles of art, etc.


Is creativity correlated to intelligence and/or mental illness and depression?
I think there are different types of intelligence, for example some people excell at history, but are bad at math. I think creativity is another type of intelligence.

I have seen studies that show that manic depression and to a lesser extent depression are more common with artists, poets and musicians that the general public. This does not mean all creative types have these issues.

I have several theories on this.

1) Creative people tend to be eccentric. They tend to think differently than others and often don't fit in with the croud and so feel some sense of alienation. Sometimes they are made fun of for their eccentric behavior and/or pressured to "act normal" i.e. not be themselves. These things can cause depression. They can also cause stress which makes you more at risk for mental problems.

2) This is the neorodiversity theory. The highly creative person has a non-standard brain and this non-standard brain makes the person more vulnerable to some mental illnesses.

3) At the heart of creativity is the willingness to try new things and the ability to ignore those voices, both internally and externally, that say things like "too weird, too silly, not the way things are done," etc. This ability to ignore the voices may also mean that the voices are also ignored when they warn us that certain actions or ways of thinking are harmful or unacceptable. Some of this behavior or thinking could cross the lines into mental illness.

Ilah
 

Ilah

New member
Joined
Jul 13, 2008
Messages
274
MBTI Type
INTJ
Are you creative, and in what ways are you creative?

I am creative. I like to draw and sometimes I work with paint or chalk. I have done many different crafts and like to come up with my own patterns or modify existing patterns. I have done some alterted and embellished clothing.

I like to experiment in the kitchen, modifying recepies or coming up with entirely new ones.

I do a kind of free form poetry. I don't know if it can properly be called poetry, it is a cross between prose and poetry.

I DM D&D games. I don't usually create my own modules, but I often modify the existing ones.

I day dream quite a bit. I come up with many, many stories in my head.
How do you think creativity works in the mind?

I also do creative problem solving.

How do you think creativity works in the mind?

In MBTI terms I think it is mostly N. It is the ability of the mind to see things in new ways, to see variations on things, to combine things that are not usually combined.

It is the tendancy to think "what if." It is the tendancy to think "how else could this be done." It is thinking about possibilities.

But much of the time, it just comes by itself. You don't try to make it happen, it just happens on its own. You are sitting with a pen and paper and suddenly you have something completely new.

I am not sure if you are familiar with the concept of neurodiversity, but I think that is a big factor. Neurodiversity, in its simplest terms, mean that some of us were born with a brain that processesing things significantly different from most people.


Are there ways to increase creativity?

Day dreaming and make believe games, including D&D and other role playing games. Art, crafts, creative writing, peotry, music - assuming you make original things and don't just follow some one else's pattern.

I also think it helps to be open to new experiences artistically, musically, etc. For example listening to different types of music, looking at many different styles of art, etc.


Is creativity correlated to intelligence and/or mental illness and depression?
I think there are different types of intelligence, for example some people excell at history, but are bad at math. I think creativity is another type of intelligence.

I have seen studies that show that manic depression and to a lesser extent depression are more common with artists, poets and musicians that the general public. This does not mean all creative types have these issues.

I have several theories on this.

1) Creative people tend to be eccentric. They tend to think differently than others and often don't fit in with the croud and so feel some sense of alienation. Sometimes they are made fun of for their eccentric behavior and/or pressured to "act normal" i.e. not be themselves. These things can cause depression. They can also cause stress which makes you more at risk for mental problems.

2) This is the neorodiversity theory. The highly creative person has a non-standard brain and this non-standard brain makes the person more vulnerable to some mental illnesses.

3) At the heart of creativity is the willingness to try new things and the ability to ignore those voices, both internally and externally, that say things like "too weird, too silly, not the way things are done," etc. This ability to ignore the voices may also mean that the voices are also ignored when they warn us that certain actions or ways of thinking are harmful or unacceptable. Some of this behavior or thinking could cross the lines into mental illness.

Ilah
 

kiddykat

movin melodies
Joined
Jul 27, 2008
Messages
1,111
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
4, 7
Are you creative, and in what ways are you creative?
I'm pretty creative, although I don't have the patience for follow-through. I love the visual arts- anything from graphic design to traditional illustration (my personal favorites- children's book illustration, I'd love to learn more about it), animation, watercolor to interior/fashion. I'm also creative in my relationships in terms of spontaneity.

How do you think creativity works in the mind?
It's the ability to think/imagine things/concepts/ideas that are not physically there. Beyond our 5 senses, creativity allows us to see things outside the box, to imagine all possibilities/outcomes.

Are there ways to increase creativity?
IDK. I think for me, it comes with experience.. I guess my advice would be: go out/enjoy the simplest things in life/really take in the experience. Notice the little idiosyncratic things that can easily be looked past. Absorb the essence of life. Be open to new ideas, different cultures, unfamiliar situations, just explore.. Humor helps. It's good to find humor in things in life.

Is creativity correlated to intelligence and/or mental illness and depression? The human mind is too complex to be summed down to a black/white statement. I think creativity, for me, correlates with a sense of innocence, in which it allows me to bring out the kid in me even though life jades me at times. It's a stress release. If anything, being creative helps me to think independently, which really defines ME. It just makes me feel more unique/less cookie-cutterish.
 

Jack Flak

Permabanned
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
9,098
MBTI Type
type
The human mind is too complex to be summed down to a black/white statement.
Pfft you are WRONG. :run:

But seriously, it's like Liz Phair says [said, that is, when she was talented in 1993]. When you come up with something good, it's like a deity spit on you.
 

rifeh

New member
Joined
Aug 14, 2008
Messages
13
MBTI Type
ENFP
to me creativity is just the result of dicontent regarding a situation or a state of minde...

some people associates creativity with art while art i find this unfaire, u can be creative in business, in life style in any thing, all u need is the feeling that situation you are does not content u.

you get bored, u find a way to entertain ur self.. that s creativity!!!

you get stuck with a monster 3 time ur size with sticky skin and a mouth flowing of greenish saliva in a dark room standing between you and the door you drag his attention some how some where and run out side that s creativity too!!!
 

LostInNerSpace

New member
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
1,027
MBTI Type
INTP
1) Creative people tend to be eccentric. They tend to think differently than others and often don't fit in with the croud and so feel some sense of alienation. Sometimes they are made fun of for their eccentric behavior and/or pressured to "act normal" i.e. not be themselves. These things can cause depression. They can also cause stress which makes you more at risk for mental problems.

2) This is the neorodiversity theory. The highly creative person has a non-standard brain and this non-standard brain makes the person more vulnerable to some mental illnesses.

3) At the heart of creativity is the willingness to try new things and the ability to ignore those voices, both internally and externally, that say things like "too weird, too silly, not the way things are done," etc. This ability to ignore the voices may also mean that the voices are also ignored when they warn us that certain actions or ways of thinking are harmful or unacceptable. Some of this behavior or thinking could cross the lines into mental illness.

Ilah

I would agree with each of these points. They each apply to me. Never heard of neorodiversity, but it does make sense. I used to be tormented by other people's teasing of me. I no longer have that problem. I have an incredible tolerance for withstanding personal attacks; I can brush them off like it's nothing. I still have a threshold--it's just very, very high. I see most other people as sheep. They think and act like the crowd, they are the crowd.
 
Top