What is creativity?

Creativity as well as logic are both things that you're born with, and make up a part of the 'intelligence equation', which also encompasses wisdom ("street smarts"), education (knowledge), and intuition.

Creative things are out of the norm, and things that please people in some way or another.

That's the simplist way I can look at it.

Would something be creative if it were the same or similar to something before it? Probably not.

Would something be creative if it were out of the norm and got a good reaction?

Because, for people to truly notice something, it has to be out of the norm in whatever way, spectacular in nature, wonderful.

For example, children that are considered creative create things (art, namely) that are thought to be ahead of the rest of their peers creations. (Out of the norm, difference.)

Like I said, it's things that are out of the norm that make the art creative, in whatever way.

Difference matters.

creativity is seeing the logical connections noone taught to you.

cre·a·tive
Pronunciation Key (kr-tv)
adj.

1. Having the ability or power to create: Human beings are creative animals.
2. Productive; creating.
3. Characterized by originality and expressiveness; imaginative: creative writing.

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Original post by Drevay Creative things are out of the norm, and things that please people in some way or another. That's the simplist way I can look at it. Would something be creative if it were the same or similar to something before it? Probably not. Would something be creative if it were out of the norm and got a good reaction? Because, for people to truly notice something, it has to be out of the norm in whatever way, spectacular in nature, wonderful.

Maybe that's innovative. You do something that nobody has never done it before. But if we look back to the definition from Dictionary.com, that means originality and expressiveness. So, I think creativity is innovative + imaginative.

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Original post by alnite cre·a·tive Pronunciation Key (kr-tv) adj. 1. Having the ability or power to create: Human beings are creative animals. 2. Productive; creating. 3. Characterized by originality and expressiveness; imaginative: creative writing. Quote: Original post by Drevay Creative things are out of the norm, and things that please people in some way or another. That's the simplist way I can look at it. Would something be creative if it were the same or similar to something before it? Probably not. Would something be creative if it were out of the norm and got a good reaction? Because, for people to truly notice something, it has to be out of the norm in whatever way, spectacular in nature, wonderful. Maybe that's innovative. You do something that nobody has never done it before. But if we look back to the definition from Dictionary.com, that means originality and expressiveness. So, I think creativity is innovative + imaginative.

Actually, if you read what I typed again, you'd find out that I was also hinting at originality.

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Original post by Drevay Actually, if you read what I typed again, you'd find out that I was also hinting at originality.

Yeah, that's why I said innovative. But it seems creativity is more than just being original. It seems to include some imagination process too.

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Original post by alnite Quote: Original post by Drevay Actually, if you read what I typed again, you'd find out that I was also hinting at originality. Yeah, that's why I said innovative. But it seems creativity is more than just being original. It seems to include some imagination process too.

And of course to be innovative or original or what have you, you have to have an imagination, right?

Creativity is the synthesis of seemingly dissimilar ideas to form something new and original. It is not a mystical or unexplainable revelation. It is merely sorting through the vast assortment of garbage and irrelevent knowledge we have in our brain, and finding a meaningful integration of a few ideas.

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Original post by Drevay Quote: Original post by alnite Quote: Original post by Drevay Actually, if you read what I typed again, you'd find out that I was also hinting at originality. Yeah, that's why I said innovative. But it seems creativity is more than just being original. It seems to include some imagination process too. And of course to be innovative or original or what have you, you have to have an imagination, right?

Er...yeah I think that's about right. But I still think it's more than that!

Ok, for example, there was this artist who presented and signed an urinal in an art show. I forget his name. I think it starts with an M or something. An urinal certainly is not creative at all, but he was very original in presenting this urinal (nobody had ever done it before), and imaginative because he could come up with the idea of presenting an urinal.

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Original post by alnite Quote: Original post by Drevay Quote: Original post by alnite Quote: Original post by Drevay Actually, if you read what I typed again, you'd find out that I was also hinting at originality. Yeah, that's why I said innovative. But it seems creativity is more than just being original. It seems to include some imagination process too. And of course to be innovative or original or what have you, you have to have an imagination, right? Er...yeah I think that's about right. But I still think it's more than that! Ok, for example, there was this artist who presented and signed an urinal in an art show. I forget his name. I think it starts with an M or something. An urinal certainly is not creative at all, but he was very original in presenting this urinal (nobody had ever done it before), and imaginative because he could come up with the idea of presenting an urinal.

Right, then, why did you give me that example? If it's not creative, why point to it?

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Original post by Drevay Right, then, why did you give me that example? If it's not creative, why point to it?

He means the actual subject matter itself isn't creative or original, but the idea of using it in an artistic manner was...

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Original post by Drevay Right, then, why did you give me that example? If it's not creative, why point to it?

If creativity is originality and imagination only, that example shows how originality and imagination are not creative.

Presenting an urinal is very original! But it's not creative. So, creativity is not just original. There's more.

well, since "Wow you're so creative!" is probably the compliment I get most often, I may as well take a stab at answering this. There are two kinds of reasoning,: inductive and deductive. And to go along with this there are two types of mindsets, people who are system-oriented and focused on the big picture, and people who are detail-oriented.

Creativity is when you encounter something (say, a painting). Using deductive analysis you can figure out what elements compose the painting, and what techniques were used to paint it. Using inductive reasoning you can figure out what style of art the painting is, if it is an example of some archetype, what other paintings are it's conceptual ancestors, etc. So now the creative part: having mentally disassembled and analysed the painting, you keep some elements and add some new elements to make a new painting (generally because you feel that the gestalt sum of this new combination of elements, arranged into this patttern, will be more effective at accomplishing whatever it is you want the painting to accomplish.

So creativity is about taking a pattern of elements that perform some function and modifying the elements and/or pattern in an attempt to improve the performance of the function.

As a more intuitive response, here's what I think. To create I think falls into 2 categories, only one of which is of interest to this thread. People create either because they have to, or they want to. We are interested in those who want to create.

This is somehow tied into the question of 'what is art', as a craftsman of any kind ( even a programmer ), seeks beauty in what they create. And so we seek our work to approximate perfection to the best of our ability, and it is perhaps this pursuit, the feeling of understanding this more deeply, that drives people to create. Just my thoughts.

Creativity is not creating another heightmap engine [grin] (Come on Yann, tell them [wink])

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Original post by alnite Quote: Original post by Drevay Right, then, why did you give me that example? If it's not creative, why point to it? If creativity is originality and imagination only, that example shows how originality and imagination are not creative. Presenting an urinal is very original! But it's not creative. So, creativity is not just original. There's more.

Right, I misunderstood, I see what you're getting at now. You do have a point. [smile]