1. The Parts
1.1. The Elements of Creativity
1.1.1. The criteriae
1.1.1.1. Utility and/vs Practicality
1.1.1.1.1. Utility is a a must. Even if the desire, the problem, that one is trying to solve is as simple as "desire for novelty," there will immediately be hypothetical criteria that one will use to select and reject ideas. This idea works. That idea doesn't. A creative idea will only ever be useful. The opposite of "useful" is useless, or pointless. A useless idea will not be called creative. The level of practicality can be inherently personal or entirely subjective.
1.1.1.2. Novelty/Originality/Scarcity
1.1.1.2.1. Something that has multiples inherently moves from "original" to "commonplace." a "commonplace idea" is literally the opposite of a "creative idea." A part of a creative idea's appeal is its scarcity; its perceived rarity; its novel value.
1.1.1.3. Subjective Implications: Target Audience, Domains, and Fields.
1.1.1.3.1. This applies to everything creative on every level. Even on the level of Personal Creativity, the subjective implication that determines whether an idea is creative or not are your own. An idea that is not met with subjective approval will not be classified as creative. It will be rejected. Moving further into the Jawbreaker of subjectivity will encounter teachers, mentors, professors, experts and professionals otherwise known as the field of a chosen domain. Even a fan-base hold huge subjective implications for any creative.
1.1.1.3.2. The Field of a chosen domain holds absolute power to accept or reject any given idea, for they are the recognized experts who the masses turn to and have accepted as the authority (though they can be proven wrong.) The title of 'creative' will not be OPENLY applied without their acknowledgment
1.1.1.4. Expertise required to actualize idea
1.1.1.4.1. A new idea in particle physics may shake the entire domain to its core, but that same idea to the layman may hold as much meaning as an eggshell. A REALLY BIG IDEA may or may not be hailed as a creative idea if it requires a high level of expertise to understand or is too complex (which borders into practicality.) Having an understanding of the domain and the generative rules of that domain will help predetermine an idea's worth.
1.1.1.5. Time/ Incubation Period
1.1.1.5.1. This may be a matter of subjectivity in judging an idea's level of creativity, or it may be a requisite based on the idea's scope. An idea that is allowed to incubate does tend to be more well thought-out. One tends to "play out" the idea to its eventuality, thus forcing the idea to be re-evaluated and re-conceived. This is the idea of the rough copy, to the good draft, to the final draft. Refining an idea and honing it down to its essence will make it have a lot more impact with people
1.1.1.6. Intent of Creator Ie: Justification
1.1.1.6.1. This can be seen in two different ways. One: an accidental creative discovery is never received with as much impact as an idea that has full intentionality (time/incubation) behind it from start to finish. It is still creative, but the level of perceived creativity is diminished. Two: an artist's justification can take a puzzling piece of creative work and bring the entire piece into perspective. A piece can be entirely offensive, but if the justification is strong enough it can be hailed as creative by even the harshest critic.
1.1.1.7. Idiosyncratic Element
1.1.1.7.1. All change comes from idiosyncratic voices
1.1.2. The different steps within the creative process
1.1.2.1. Every step is independent of the other, and you may move from any step to any other. There is no one set 1 2 3 process; there IS a recommended linear progression, but any stage may give birth the the other without any precursor
1.1.2.1.1. Setting Intent
1.1.2.1.2. Saturation/Incubation
1.1.2.1.3. Exploration/Experimentation
1.1.2.1.4. Production
1.1.3. The Three Core Stages of the Creative Experience
1.1.3.1. The Creative Drive
1.1.3.1.1. First is your desire to create. This can be shaped and sparked from an internal motive or an external challenge. It can either breed or be bred by your curiosity. This stage is where the research happens. This stage is where the daydreaming happens. This is also where the fear happens. This is accompanied by the idea that creativity is a muscle group. This is where we realize we all have the ability to create. We can learn how to exercise this muscle. We can learn how to shape and sculpt this muscle. Using this muscle may be easier for others, but we can all learn how.
1.1.3.2. The Creative Process
1.1.3.2.1. Second is the actual act of creating something. Taking that first step towards your goal and walking through until you see the end of your path. Putting pen to paper, paint to canvas, finger to screen, or idea to the world. There is one process that can be applied to it all. Practical exploration.
1.1.3.3. The Creative Work
1.1.3.3.1. Subjective implications, creative justifications
1.2. Associative Theory
1.2.1. Episodic Memory
1.2.1.1. One of the brain's memory systems. Episodic memory is "autobiographical," it consists of information linked to one's personal experiences (time-linked sequential information.) Focused Episodic Memory is the act of recalling specific events or experiences and being able to describe them in detail. Semantic memory is recalling non-context based information, in that it is not personal or time-linked (water makes you wet.)
1.2.2. Random Episodic Silent Thought (R.E.S.T)
1.2.2.1. Term coined by neuroscientist Nancy C. Andreasen. When one is engaged in free association, letting your mind wander. This is the state that is most romanticized when it comes to creative people.This is a state that can only be entered into when one is relaxed, and/or often preoccupied with a familiar menial task: doing the dishes, exercising, showering, tidying the house. Your mind is free to wander along whatever path it chooses without interference from your conscious influence. Associations can be followed as half-formed sense data instead of solid concrete thought, thus making it easier for your mind to work.
1.2.2.2. This allows the mind to make connections faster; this is why ideas are more easily achieved in these states, as your mind is literally doing more for less; having more thoughts per second.This state is where the trope of "ideas in the shower" comes from: from the sound of the water generating alpha-wave activity in your brain; to the heat loosening your muscles and opening your blood vessels, thus getting more oxygen to your brain; to the fact that it is the most vulnerable moment in your daily routine, you're completely open and vulnerable to your own thoughts; to the routine that is so familiar you have to spare barely any mental energy completing it. The shower is an idea incubator.
1.2.2.3. This is only one specific state that a creative person can take advantage of to gather ideas. There are many steps before and after this stage of cerebration that typically must be met to get to that creative finished product. For example, this state is most effective after a stage of extreme saturation for the creative individual.
1.2.2.4. The episode of the show The Big Bang Theory called "The Einstienian Approximation" is a perfect example of someone actively trying to enter different states of creative stimulation. Sheldon spends the entire episode trying to trick his brain into coming up with the idea he needed. It finally happened when he immersed himself in something else simple, and completely dismissed the idea from his conscious thought, thus letting his subconscious mind take over and trigger at the right moment when it noticed the last piece of the puzzle that it needed. The whole moment is then proceeded by a huge reaction from Sheldon of course, praising his own genius.
1.2.3. Pre-existing Associative Matrix
1.2.3.1. A PAM is an illustration that helps depict how an individual interprets something. It's also one of the pieces used to illustrate a train of thought as either a starting point or puzzle piece. A PAM depicts not only an initial associative trigger (ie: rose) but subsequent associations that follow the initial trigger (red, romance, perfume, funeral.) An association is not just a simple single concrete thought or recollection. It's a mélange of sense data and memories that layer into something one uses to identify the object in question. As one's experiences with a specific stimulus is deepened and broadened, the PAM will increase in capacity as the amount of secondary associations will increase in strength and variety.
1.2.4. Associative Trains of Thought
1.2.4.1. Concept almost everyone is familiar with. The train of thought is the associative path that your mind has followed to arrive at its present stopping point. One subject will trigger another, which one chooses to follow in thought or speech. This leads to either deeper pursuit of the topic or another trigger, leading into a different, though-related direction. What's interesting is the shape that the train of thought takes when one actually takes the time to map out the various thoughts and triggers that happen during idea generation. It doesn't look so much like a train than it does an evolutionary chain.
1.2.5. Significance of the Da Vincian Principles
1.2.6. Reconstructive Interference: how to use it to hack your memory.
1.2.6.1. There's an interesting phenomenon that occurs in the way your brain stores and recalls memory. A memory isn't a single fixed point in your brain that gets 'lit up' whenever you recall that memory. Memory is held within neurons. These neurons are individually responsible for recognizing and recalling specific 'micro-features' in things that one experiences. Some neurons will become partially activated from related micro-features, but a neuron is never fully activated until it encounters the specific micro-feature for which it is responsible for; there is no crossover in specific micro-feature reactivity. When enough of these neurons are activated the memory is recalled. "Reconstructive interference" happens when one recollection shares enough activated neurons with another. Those recollections will essentially merge, become one, and be simultaneously triggered by the other. By reinforcing those interpretations one can train oneself to think bisociatively on a regular basis (bisociating is triggering two seemingly unrelated planes of thought at once.)
1.2.6.1.1. This concept is the whole reason as to why I started to pun and create jokes as an idle hobby. The pun is the simplest form of bisociation. It is an acoustic knot that ties together two unrelated phonetic meanings.
1.2.7. Bisociative Biproduct: That Ah Ha! Moment
1.3. Conceptual Spaces
1.3.1. C.Sp: What are they and why they're important to creative exploration
1.3.1.1. The Conceptual Space is a concept created by Dr. Margaret A. Boden as a proposed prerequisite to understanding creativity. Having an understanding of C.Sp. gives one theoretical understanding of the way domains are shaped, defined, and can be explored in a creative manner.
1.3.1.2. A 'domain' is any realm of organized thought ie: poetry, chemistry, ice skating. A Conceptual Space is a way of illustrating the various aspects, or generative rules, that govern and shape that domain. The generative rules are the "musts" of the domain; without certain criteria, poetry isn't poetry, it's written word. The rules help one decide if something is either "this" or "that." The more rules that are applied as "musts," the more specific the domain gets (music, to rock and roll, to alternative rock and roll, to Nickleback.) Exploring domains requires knowledge of these rules.
1.3.1.3. A creative idea will be held up against the generative rules of the domain it pertains to. These rules will be both objective and subjective in nature. A creative idea may also push the boundaries of these generative rules, and in some cases may reshape them or break them altogether. This is the natural process of the evolution of domains.
1.3.2. C.Sp of Creativity: Personal Vs Consensual
1.3.2.1. I broke creativity down into two separate domains: Personal Creativity Conceptual Space (P.C.Sp.) and Consensual Creativity Conceptual Space (C.C.Sp.).
1.3.2.1.1. P.C.Sp. is applied to creativity at its basest level: our personal inherent urge to create. This is where the realms of "I wish I could draw" stem from. The only subjectivity that is enforced onto our creative ideas here is Personal Subjectivity (at its basest level.) This is the space that will bring the most enrichment to our life. This is the realm of art, and poetry, and doodling, and music, and decorating your home. The creative problems we are trying to solve are internal, with the option of extending our reach to a demographic outside ourselves. The more people you try to reach as a demographic (ie: anyone who's approval you seek for your work,) the further you slip into the realms of C.C.Sp. as you must consider Consensual Subjectivity; this is the difference between being a happy amateur and a paid professional
1.3.2.1.2. C.C.Sp: These problems tend to be more external. There's inherent subjectivity of the specific domain that MUST be met before an idea can be actualized as "Creative." Any of the domain's gatekeepers, peers, and any other outside interference such as critics etc must be appeased depending on the domain's complexity (3rd grade school paper vs best-selling author's list.) This is where much of an artist's identity may be either lost ("selling out,""losing their edge,"), or challenged to grow and evolve, thus affecting their art. This is also the realm of engineering issues, survival issues, issues of circumstances and resources. Practical problems. Outside-the-box thinking.
1.3.2.1.3. Nothing is black and white; there are always various shades of grey between these two concepts. Nothing in the philosophy is absolute. All I do is provide the black and white so you can see the greys.
1.3.3. Jawbreaker Theory
1.3.3.1. Concept I created that Illustrates the different layers/levels of a conceptual space. You can hone any domain down to its "core concept" and build the generative rules back around the core in delineating layers to help trace its complexity and flexibility when it comes to generative rule manipulation. The end result looks like a child's jawbreaker candy cut in half A domain becomes more complex as it is explored and experimented with, and this directly influences the criteria that must be met before an idea can be hailed as "creative." Is a method that can be applied to any domain.
1.3.3.2. D.S.O.A.N (Delineating Scale of Allowable Novelty, 'Disown') as it applies to Jawbreaker Theory
1.3.3.2.1. The DSOAN is a visual concept I created. Novelty/originality and usefulness are perquisite criteria for an idea to be considered creative. As one follows the generative rule layers outward in the Conceptual Space Jawbreaker the domain becomes more complex and more formalized. At the same time, as you travel deeper into the layers, the allowable tolerance for novelty within an idea becomes smaller and smaller, and the level of utility an idea has has to be higher and higher for it to be claimed as creative (a creative idea in a high school chemistry class likely won't impress the Nobel Prize committee. An idea would have to have a radical amount of practical application for the committee to consider it as an acceptably creative idea.) On that note, an idea had in that classroom can have a large amount of novel appeal, or even silliness, to it. However, an idea presented to the Nobel committee would have to have a large amount of its foundation rooted in pre-existing structures. If an idea is too novel it could be considered "lunacy, heresy, ahead-of-its-time,' etc. The DSOAN is a way of illustrating the sliding scale of change in these factors.
1.4. The Subconscious
1.4.1. The Subconscious: How it works for you
1.4.1.1. The subconscious is a part of the mind that stores every experience, fact, observation, and feeling that you ever have. From an evolutionary standpoint, it was responsible for helping you form successful survival habits. If an action or behavior resulted in your needs for food, or water, or shelter, in being met, the subconscious would work to repeat those actions and make them a habit. The reason why it works hard to build the habits is so that the brain doesn't have to work as hard to regulate the processes necessary to perform such survival actions.
1.4.1.2. The subconscious is a double-edged sword. It is a wonderful aspect of the human mind that can be "hacked" in order to help us produce amazing results, both creatively and in our lives. However, its purpose, its modality, is a little dated; its purpose is survival, not intellectual enrichment. If we let it, it will have us succumbing to our habits and leaving us in a state of going-nowhere-fast: surviving and going along, but never really growing or thriving in an intellectual or emotional way. Although these ways of thinking are very much luxuries found in highly developed cultures and societies, where basic survival needs are often taken for granted, it's something we must consider if we are to evolve as a species.
1.4.1.3. Although it acts as a database, a sponge, and a survival mechanism, it is not an objective logical mechanism. The subconscious is reactive, emotional, and illogical in nature. What's more, it plays a huge role in shaping how we see the world. It literally will influence the way we act regardless of what we do. If we're passive in taking control of our life it will lead us to whatever it feels is safest and easiest. The subconscious is the reason the comfort zone exists. Whatever situation or scenario is familiar is theoretically safer, because the outcome is predictable.This is true for bad situations too, and is a huge factor in why it's so difficult to break a bad habit or leave a bad situation. The subconscious has defense mechanisms to help keep you in the comfort zone, or 'homeostatic impulse.' When we try to push past autopilot there is resistance within our body. Physical anxiety, restlessness, a sense of not feeling like one's self, are all reactions from your subconscious attempting to keep you in the comfort zone.
1.4.1.4. The good news is that understanding how the subconscious works helps us "hack" it. It's about taking the actions needed to start overlaying the random hoi polloi of your past experiences with small intentional choices that slowly, very slowly, start to overwrite the data the subconscious has to draw from, thus giving it the right tools it needs to start forming new habits, and new survival modalities that are more appropriate to the way we want to live. This is why affirmations work. This is how operative conditioning and propaganda work. Why "acting as if you are" works. You're giving your subconscious a steady stream of regular nudges that first open it up to a new way of acting and thinking. Then, using whatever fodder it's been fed, it begins drawing on those daily words to draw conclusions in your life that are all so-aligned
1.4.1.5. When it comes to creativity, the subconscious plays a different role. Though the basic need that the subconscious tries to fill is the "solution" about forming survival habits, that drive to find solutions has evolved into the act of dredging up ideas. It is in this regard the subconscious has adapted very well, and is, in my own personal opinion, one of the key dynamics that allowed us to reach the point of meta-cognition. The way the subconscious plays with information allows us to ask the question of "what if?" What if this wall wasn't a wall, but a canvas? Because it is not a logical entity it allows us to repurpose the purpose of anything we encounter in function, form, or modality, and apply them to other situations.
1.4.2. Habits and Mastery vs Ideas and Inspiration
1.4.2.1. Understanding this interplay of habits and ideas will lead to a deeper understanding and application of your creative mechanism, and it will also help you appreciate the differences between "being more creative" and "drawing better." The act of learning how to draw, of learning how to play piano, of taking up a new skill of any variety, isn't a measure of a person's creativity. It's a measure of a person's technical skill, and their capacity for committing things to "muscle memory." What is happening is that one repeats something, anything, over and over. As the movements become familiar, the brain requires less-active parts of itself to perform these acts. This is premise of the subconscious's survival solution mechanism. You are "handing down" the act of playing the piano to lower levels of consciousness until you can "play it in your sleep." The act of playing requires very little thought.
1.4.2.2. However, the act of coming up with ideas seems to be the opposite process. You're mind uses pieces of your past experiences to help dredge up unique solutions to problems. The abstract way our subconscious plays with information allows it to "pick apart" information and rearrange it in a way that'll, hopefully, yield a result that can be applied in real life. The huge upside to this process is that the subconscious again has full access to everything that's ever been stored in itself, so it has endless "parts" to rearrange and apply like a Mr.Potatohead of data. All that's needed is a focus; an active target; a need that one wishes to be filled. This can be of any variety of needs, from "wanting my new painting to feel the way I want it to feel" to "this patient is sick and we don't know why" to "what's a good line of poetry to start off my new piece?" From doctors, to painters, to electricians, to finding creative way to survive on the street; the creative idea-generating mechanism is the same.
1.4.2.3. Linear Scale of Consciousness
1.4.2.3.1. A visual I created to help depict the transition between various awareness states. Starting at hyper-focus, or flow, all the way down to unconscious awareness
1.4.2.3.2. Layers of consciousness
1.4.3. The Subconscious S.C.F.L (Scuffle): Simulative Creative Feedback Loop
1.4.3.1. The Ultimate idea Engine
1.4.3.1.1. A SCFL is an active awareness and application of the way the subconscious works for you. You take advantage and utilizes the way your subconscious processes and produces information. It involves back-and-forthing with one's subconscious to produce a feedback loop of creative stimulation and idea generation.
1.4.3.1.2. The way the subconscious works coincides with the steps of the creative process, and not coincidentally.
1.5. Political Leanings of Creative Potential
1.5.1. Breakdown: Not Really Politics
1.5.1.1. Because I enjoy stirring up the anthill I called it the Political Leanings of Creative Potential. I know some of you out there just triggered; politics is a no-no word. It implies machinations and maneuverings, pomp, and popularity. It is exactly none of those. The reason why I chose this name is because I fashioned the idea after the concepts of a left-wing and a right-wing political party. They’re metaphors. I was looking to find the similarities among artists and other creative groups, the little pieces of idiosyncratic nature that were difficult to account for across a whole. As we discussed before, motive is an important factor, and I started noticing a lot of the same answers in blogs and comments sections about what drives people to create. I was in the shower one day, musing about the similarities between different creative cliques, when it occurred to me that the similarities were congruent with another philosophy that I was acquainted with: The Left-Brain-Right-Brain myth; how one half of the brain was responsible for logic, reason, calculation, and survival, and the other half was responsible for emotion, imagination, creativity, novelty, and abstraction. I knew that this was false but that moment was when the philosophy took shape and triggered that “ah-ha!” feeling in my mind. The Left-Brain-Right-Brain myth was always an interesting concept. The brain doesn’t actually compartmentalize our processes that neatly. Different regions come into play at different times for different reasons, and there typically isn’t one hemisphere that acts independently to control an executive function (not completely.) What the myth did was it shared similarities in the ways people processed information. I mentioned that people either hang onto literal information easier, and some people hang onto visuals and emotional impressions better, with of course varying degrees in between? This goes deeper than just information. This is how they process information internally; this also might be how they apply themselves to their external world.
1.5.2. The Parties
1.5.2.1. The "parties" defined are in terms of what we will call "extremists" within the scale. Any one person will embody values from both sides in varying degrees, but will typically tend to lean towards one party. A person's true "political leanings" will often come out in conversations of passion or heated arguments, much like the idea behind the free association. An opinion can be moderated and coloured, but the first initial reaction is usually the true one. It should be noted that the personality variables are not presented as ultimate traits but only as measures of certain motivational trends. This is not a criteria used to help define creativity, nor is it intended as a reductionist method of dividing creative peoples. It is a method for understanding an individual's motives and what aspects and methods of creativity they get excited over. It will also help one appeal to an individual's sense of creativity by "talking in their language.”
1.5.2.1.1. Left Wing Extremists
1.5.2.1.2. Right Wing Extremists
1.5.3. Applications in Creative Domains
1.5.3.1. These parties can be applied to two separate aspects of your creative self. One would be what influences your motivations, and one would be what influences your applications. If we had someone who was a left-wing extremist but chose the sciences as their method of application, you tend to get what we call the “mad scientist” types. They apply their left-wing motivations to their right-wing application. Nikola Tesla is a good example of this. Then you have the opposite system, a right-wing heart with a left-wing application, and you get someone like Leonardo Da Vinci, who’s pursuit of truth led him to coining several artistic principles (such as atmospheric perspective.) If it’s left-wing/left-wing you get Banksy, Jackson Pollock, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. If right/right, then you get Steven Hawking and Alan Turing. Understanding which wing you proscribe most strongly towards is a great way to give yourself some direction. Remember that drawing, painting, cooking, building; they're all just tools. Learning a skill is different than learning an attitude and a way of thinking.
2. The Person
2.1. Defining Creativity: irrefutable truth
2.1.1. What it is
2.1.1.1. Creativity exists only through the sum of its parts. The mental processes, the practical processes, the social and cultural influences, your personal biases, and most of all, its application. It is the process of creating; the creative product; it is the sum of its parts and everything in between. What is creativity? My answer is that, boiled down, reu ed to it's purest element... creativity is a phenomenon of mankind. It is an aspect of the human soul; it is a byproduct of the human experience. Creativity is the single most unique character of mankind. It is the greates defining factor. It is the individual element that differentiates us from animals.
2.1.1.1.1. Phe·nom·e·non a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially one whose cause or explanation is in question. Similar: occurrence event happening fact situation circumstance a remarkable person, thing, or event Similar: marvel sensation wonder prodigy miracle Nonparallel
2.1.2. What it is not
2.1.2.1. It is NOT: Magic. A secret. A bolt of inspiration or a eureka moment. Something outside ourselves. A gift only a few have. A miracle. A guarantee. Ever lost. Perfect. Static.
2.2. The Muscle
2.2.1. What This Means
2.2.1.1. We can consider our creative mechanism as if it were a muscle group: It’s something everyone has in some capacity. If we work it out it could help us move metaphorical mountains Just as we can choose to bulk up a bicep or take a targeted toned approach to the tucas, so too can we understand how to exercise the muscles of our creative mind. The greatest upside is it’s like the proverbial bicycle that everyone keeps raving about: all we have to do is pick it up again. As your muscles are fed by oxygen and nutrients, your creative muscles are also fed by certain intellectual and emotional nutrients. You can take working out and your creative development on two very similar paths. You can dabble and test the waters, slowly getting a feel for what's right for you. A little exercise is better than none. You can also choose to take it to an Olympic level. Exercising your creative muscles will take practice and awareness. It will take a healthy diet. It will require a regimen. You can’t run a marathon without practice and preparation. You also can’t sign up for the gym and just "hope for the best." it tskes intent, willpower, and discipline. If you don't have structure you might putter around, lift a weight or two, and leave, being essentially ineffectual; or, worse, you could hurt yourself and set yourself back. Nobody wants to get all tangled up in the workout equipment, becoming the next viral reel. You need to educate yourself on what you need to do and how to do it properly. You find a regimen that works for you, and apply it. You apply it with the right mindset and attitude! As a workout is based on body type, a lot of what goes on inside us is based off of our personal subjective needs.
2.2.2. What We Can Do To Exercise It
2.2.2.1. Practical Application
2.2.2.1.1. The Practice
2.2.2.1.2. Tools vs Practice
2.2.2.2. Your Environment
2.2.2.2.1. the historians Natalie Zemon Davis and Arlette Farge comment: "Daily life unfolded within the frame of enduring gender and social hierarchies." This is true of all social groups we have knowledge of. How a person lives depends in large part on sex, age, and social position. The accident of birth puts a person in a slot that greatly determines what sorts of experiences his or her life will consist of.
2.2.2.2.2. If everything was deter mined by the common human condition, by social and cultural categories, and by chance, it would be useless to reflect on ways to make one's life excellent. Fortunately there is enough room for personal initiative and choice to make a real difference. And those who believe this are the ones with the best chance to break free from the grip of fate.
2.3. The Mindset
2.3.1. Creative Genius isn't exclusive
2.3.1.1. We can get hung up on get hung up on the Mona Lisa's and Spider-Man's; original works of socially-sanctioned creativity that embed themselves into the histories of our culture and influence future ideas. et other’s world-shaking creations get in the way of our true self coming forward by measuring ourselves against them and letting them diminish us. Let’s get ahead of the curve and inoculate ourselves against Comparisonitis. What we need to keep in mind is that they were never intended to be world-shaking ideas. They were just...ideas. Ideas created for the sake of one motive or another. The Mona Lisa was a culmination of years of experimentation and curiosity. Artistic development was in part petuated purely through practice. She was merely the next step in DaVinci’s lifelong pursuit of knowledge, understanding, and perfection. Spider-Man was but one of many characters produced by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, who created these novel characters to stimulate the imagination. They didn’t create for the sake of a world-changing idea. They created because it was a part of who they were.
2.3.1.1.1. Some people are just creative geniuses. I can’t ever be as good
2.3.1.1.2. Creativity isn't a mantle that one can take on and off, " The most authentic creative types make creativity a way of life. They are creative, not because they paint, or write, or sing, but because it's an aspect of who they are as a person. One thing a lot of these creative gurus are scared to touch on Is the inherently idiosyncratic nature of creativity. A big reason for this is there is no way to produce a generalized 1 2 3 method for understanding yourself, so this aspect of creativity is often glazed over in the grand scheme of things in order to harness a mass appeal. Accessing your creativity isn't as simple as learning how to Math, or learning a new language, or learning how to do your laundry. However, in essence it is the simplest thing in the world. Simple as breathing But unlike breathing There is no one right way. ... There is a way that works for you. What I'm trying to help you do Is not just understand creativity on a basic sense But understanding YOUR creativity. YOUR creativity within the context of ALL creativity. Now that. That's the sweet spot, right there. Understanding that wedge that fits your perspective of the creative pie. When it comes to your creativity The key isn't "learning to be creative," It's "learning to live creatively. "
2.3.2. An Industrial Recipe vs Creating Art
2.3.3. The Science of Personal Achievement
2.3.3.1. Nobody has a better method of achievement than Dr.Napoleon Hill. Dr.Hill was tasked by Andrew Carnegie (an historically famous industrial magnate) to spend 20 years of his life researching and compiling a philosophy which is utilized by millions of people to achieve greatness in various ways. This is a bare structure that you can add to your life as a discipline to achieve whatever you want personally. When applying oneself to any endeavor a lot of these would seem common sense, but all of them used properly, in tandem, are a potent combination. The least you can do is keep this framework in mind when moving forward. These steps are particularly useful when getting into the actual act of creativity and the creative process. Hill talks specifically about the subconscious, and infinite intelligence, which are integral parts to the SCFL. I encourage a full study of the SPA.
2.3.3.1.1. The 17 Principles of Personal Success:
2.3.4. The Da Vincian Principles of Creativity
2.3.4.1. Leonardo da Vinci is inarguably one of the most creative minds in human history. His works and ideas still resound today 500 years after his death. One of the reasons Leo stands out so much was his insatiable desire to study the world around him. From a very early age. Leo studied life, nature, and the way things were. He studied beauty, philosophy, anatomy, and physics. His mind was a culmination of natural creative ability. This gave him a huge head start in the creative domain, and allowed him to delve deeper than most people were ever capable of delving, either then or now. The 7 Principles are steps you can follow to fully heighten and awaken your creative potential. They are a discipline, a practice, one you can use to stimulate your creative muscle and enrich the way you think. These have nothing to do with actually creating and everything to do with LIVING CREATIVELY. There are cogent scientific reasons behind why these principles are so effective; we get into that in the Parts.
2.3.4.1.1. The Principles
2.3.4.1.2. The importance of diversity
2.3.5. Fear
2.3.5.1. "The world conspires to hold you back, but it can't do that without your permission. The dominate industrial system misrepresents the practice [of creativity], pretending that it is about talent and magic. The system would prefer you to stand by quietly. It says 'please sign up for the status-driven recipe of insufficiency, compliance, and applause. We don't need more noise, more variety, or more pitches. There's noise all around us, but it's often the idle chatter of people hiding in plain sight, or the selfish hustle of one more person who wants something from you. Our world is long on noise, and short on meaningful connections and positive leadership. Your contribution, the one that you want to make, the one that you were BORN to make...That's what we're waiting for. That's what we need." - Seth Godin
2.3.5.1.1. Pythagoras and the fifth hammer.
2.3.5.1.2. Hiding
2.3.5.1.3. Excuse-itis
2.3.6. Intelligence
2.3.6.1. Debunking
2.3.6.1.1. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences is a critique of the standard psychological view of intellect: there is a single intelligence, adequately measured by IQ or other short answer tests. Instead, on the basis of evidence from disparate sources, the theory claims that human beings have a number of relatively discrete intellectual capacities. IQ tests assess linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence, and sometimes spatial intelligence; and they are a reasonably good predictor of who will do well in a 20th (note: Not necessarily a 21st) century secular school. Humans, however, have several other significant intellectual capacities. Intelligences can be analogized to computers. Belief in a singular intelligence implies that humans possess a single general purpose computer, which can perform well (high IQ), average (normal IQ) or poorly (low IQ). Multiple intelligences theory implies that human beings possess several relatively independent computers; strength in one computer does not predict strength (or weakness) with other computers. from https://www.multipleintelligencesoasis.org/a-beginners-guide-to-mi
2.3.6.2. Types of Information
2.3.6.3. Misconceptions on Genius, Talent, and Gifted.
2.4. Creativity and Mental Health
2.4.1. Creativity as a symptom; Creativity as catharsis
2.5. The Self: How it all ties together
2.5.1. The Greatest Influencing Factor of Creativity: You
2.5.2. The Why
2.5.2.1. when it comes to engaging in this philophy, the easiest, and, addmitedly, one of the most pressing, questions, is why? why do this? why is this valuable? what does ANYONE have to gain from engaging, learning, and understanding the ideas and concepts herein? a concept in marketing is the idea of the STORY; the narritive. the idea that people see when they look at brand, or hear an advert, or see a piece of art. what is the story? in essence, what is YOUR story? this question, this idea, this challenge, leads towards the single greatest differentiating factor of creativity: the individual.