Today I will write about Mr. Dean's lecture on what creativity is, how to improve it, and what kind of things downgrade it.
First of all, he talked about what creativity is and what is not. He talked about how creativity is not reproduction but production. He gave several examples. If your are simply copying and drawing exactly the same as the Mona Lisa, though it may be perfectly the same, it is not creativity but just copying. Also when you are making a food by following the directions of a recipe book, it is not creativity. When you paint a new painting, when you are making your own special food, that is called creativity.
In addition, creativity is a fun activity but it is not easy because creativity needs amounts of thinking and wondering. Lazy people will not be able to produce creative work. Mr. Dean also talked about how creativity is researchable. He said that creativity is not magic. It can be made by effort and people who are creative are not just born like that. This means that everybody can increase their quality and quantity of creativity if they make a little bit of effort.
There is a major feature of creativity and it is that the people who did it cannot recognise it. Mr. Dean talked about a rope experiment that was held before. In this experiment, two ropes hanging on the ceiling were far apart from each other and the people were to hold both of them. Some succeeded but some didn't. The researchers then came into the rooms where there were people who couldn't finish the task and intentionally nudged one of the ropes a little and went. Then the people found the way to catch both ropes; to make them swing and grab it. These people thought that they by themselves had thought of this idea but the researchers knew that they had helped them. This experiment shows how the people who actually perform creativity cannot realise that there was help given.
Next, Mr. Dean talked about things that damage a person's creativity. Many think that drugs and alcohol can help the increase of creativity. This is not true. It will only decrease the amount. Also, many people offer threats of prize such as money for performing creativity. This is an unwise thought. Those kind of ways will make the person observe about the problem so much that it will only leave stress. The thoughts that you need to be good at art to be creative is also untrue. There are many people who are not that good at art who are very creative. Too much distractions can also lead to the damage and so does compliments.
However, there are also many things that could improve a person's creativity. First, a limited amount of rules can motivate creativity. For example, imagine that you are given homework to write an essay and the teacher does not give you any kind of topic. You will wonder of what you want to write about and that would discourage creativity. If the teacher gives a specific topic, you will be able to express your creative thoughts and develop it in a limited area and this can be more effective. Also, compliments regarding the process of achieving something can increase creativity such as, "You have done well so far, so keep up your good work!".
Sometimes, "Controlled Distraction" can be effective. If you are concentrating too much, you get frustrated and can't continue your work. If you are distracted too much, you won't be able to focus on what you are supposed to do. The best way is controlled distraciton which is very positive for your creativity. For example, if you are writing about King Arthur, and you don't know anything to write about it, just open a random dictionary page and look at the word you first see. If it says, "totem", you can think about what Kin Arthur's totem or heraldry was.
In conclusion, I have summarized the lecture Mr. Dean gave about Creativity. About creativity's definition, things that encourage it, and things that discourage it.
