Creativity: Not Just for Artists

As more and more thinkers and writers discuss the topic of creativity, we need to avoid considering it as a trait that only manifests in the arts.  All too often in society and in schools, we look at “creative” thinking as a process that is significantly different than the thinking that occurs  when studying science and math; in reality, as history has shown again and again, thinking creatively is crucial to all fields.  

At a conference I attended last week in Austin, TX, a panel of professors from the University of Texas discussed their new programs in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM). One professor showed a visual that juxtaposed two of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic creative works:

                                      

As this professor commented, da Vinci did not separate his day into a scientific morning and an artistic afternoon; he demonstrated his creativity in a variety of ways—from flying machines to portraiture.  As I listened to this presentation, I became excited that our students could have the opportunity to participate in  the growing number of programs that seek to break down the sometimes arbitrary walls between disciplines and perceived modes of thought.
 

Similarly, this month as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s announcement of the “General Theory of Relativity,” we should bear in mind his thoughts on creativity.  Although he obviously knew physics and mathematics at a profound level, Einstein said it was creativity that enabled him to arrive at this paradigm-breaking discovery.  In fact, he is often quoted as saying, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” As Walter Isaacson, author of the beautiful biography Einstein: A Life, wrote recently in “The Light- Beam Rider,” a New York Times essay, “Einstein relished what he called Gedankenexperimente, ideas that he twirled around in his head rather than in a lab. That’s what teachers call daydreaming, but if you’re Einstein you get to call them Gedankenexperimente.”

 

While working at a patent office in Bern, Einstein’s creativity, enhanced by his “thought experiments,” enabled him to consider scientific phenomena and look for analogies.  As Isaacson describes so eloquently in his book, Einstein looked out the window of his clerk’s office and watched the trains go by while working on clocks; he began to consider time and space.  Over time, he developed a new theoretical framework that stemmed in part from the analogies he saw between the physical reality he witnessed from his window and the more abstract reality that he argued pertained to the laws of space and time.  In this way, he realized that time itself was relative.  As he said, “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.”
 

So, how does this influence the way we parent and teach our children?  First of all, we need to  encourage them to approach all fields as creative endeavors. Instead of seeing themselves as creative or non-creative people depending on whether they like art or science, we must help them realize that as active, thinking human beings, they are constantly creating; every field offers them the opportunity to break tradition and see things differently.  Like other forms of intelligence, creativity can be developed rather than being something that is fixed at birth. In addition, we need to find time for our children to daydream and process what is in their brains rather than constantly giving them new information.  Research has also shown that children can lose the ability to daydream if they are constantly tapping away at their hand-held devices, so maybe we need to offer guidance on their use of technology, so they can further develop their creativity.
 

As we know, neither Einstein nor da Vinci was born the revolutionary thinker he came to be. It was only through time and the opportunity to be creative that they were able to view similar  concepts from a variety of perspectives.  As a result, they both became creators.  It is incumbent on us as parents and as educators to help our children develop and realize their inherent creativity in whatever field they choose; we will all be the better for it.