Is [creativity] learnable? Well, think of it like basketball. Being tall does help to be a pro basketball player, but the rest of us can still get quite good at the sport through practice. In the same way, there are certain innate features of the brain that make some people naturally prone to divergent thinking. But convergent thinking and focused attention are necessary, too, and those require different neural gifts. Crucially, rapidly shifting between these modes is a top-down function under your mental control. University of New Mexico neuroscientist Rex Jung has concluded that those who diligently practice creative activities learn to recruit their brains’ creative networks quicker and better. A lifetime of consistent habits gradually changes the neurological pattern.
From Newsweek.
Keep practicing, y'all. :D
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3 comments:
I think it's like boxing, sometimes you're jabbing away, other times bobbing and weaving, in preparation for that knockout punch. That instinctive response that you have the capacity to act upon due to sparring in practice.
I have lately been feeling as though I very much live in the future.
The next generation of gamers will be damn interesting.
I think a lot of it comes from how you are treated as a young child.
My daughter is 2 years old. I have consistently tried to expose her to a variety of music, sing along with music, dance to music; and as a result she really loves music.
I have exposed her to dice, despite my wife's worries about choking hazards (only plays with dice under close supervision). I have told her not to eat the dice and she seems to really understand that. She just loves rolling them around, stacking them, telling me what color they are, trying to read the numbers, etc.
It is a matter of giving them toys that support creativity, like Legos or Play-Doh, instead of toys that stifle it.
I think it can definitely be cultivated.
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