Evidence that you were a genius at birth and society decided otherwise
Let’s start with a science experiment. We love those right ?
George Land and Beth Jarman embarked on a study in 1968 to assess the creative abilities of 1,600 youngsters between the ages of three and five. Here’s the score and I’ll let you think for yourself for a bit.
Click here for more information about the test,
My degree in mathematics proves to be quite useful, leading me to consider that there is an inverse relationship between people's ages and their scores.
Creativity embodies the genesis of original ideas, a transformative process that emerges from a profound and personal place of distinctiveness and a receptivity to the vastness of the world. It is the lifeblood of human innovation, fueling our engagement with inventions as diverse and essential as literature, mobile technology, space exploration, and the digital web. Absent creativity, an individual’s vibrancy fades, and their intrinsic identity dims. One could scarcely conceive of a luminary like Leonardo Da Vinci, whose brilliance might have been extinguished by ennui at an untimely young age.
It’s pertinent to recognize, however, that our educational infrastructure is not aligned with the nurturing of creative spirits. If it were, we might find our workforce populated with fewer conformists and more innovators. The prevailing model favors keeping the innate creativity of youth hemmed within classroom walls, subject to a regimen that dilutes their imaginative essence—spending extensive hours, five days a week, immersed in content often tangential to their creative development. They are taught to be silent, to seek approval for the most basic of human needs, to compete rather than collaborate, and to incur debt in a system that resembles incarceration more closely than an academy of learning. Euphemistically, schools advocate for convergent thinking, a process of refining and evaluating ideas, yet they often neglect its counterpart: divergent thinking, the wellspring of uncharted concepts birthed in the subconscious. The former is an exercise of the conscious mind; the latter is a dance of the unseen mental forces.
The solution? Or some of them at least…
Look closer, there’s always a new way of seing things.
Should you find yourself perusing these words, it's likely that childhood is a chapter of your past. Yet, this does not signify that your creative spark has been extinguished. I hold the conviction that there's potential for reviving it through a range of pursuits:
Make sure you eat real healthy food for a healthy mind. I cannot stress this enough.
Read different kinds of books and ask yourself the following questions:
What if?
Challenge the book’s status quo. Ask yourself, “What if the story took a different turn?” or “What if a character made a different critical decision?” Imagine alternative scenarios or endings to explore creative possibilities.
Why did the author make these choices?
Reflect on the author's decisions regarding the plot, character development, or setting. Consider why the author may have chosen one direction over another and how you might have approached it differently.
How does this relate to my own experiences or the wider world?
Draw connections between the themes in the book and your personal life or current events. This can spark ideas for creative projects or new ways of thinking about the world.
Which ideas in the book can I expand upon or combine with my own?
Think about the concepts or themes of the book that you found most compelling and brainstorm ways you could develop them further in your own work or as a creative exercise.
What unresolved questions do I have, and how might I explore answers to those creatively?
Consider any lingering questions or plot points that weren’t fully resolved and think about how you might answer them in a creative way, whether through writing, art, or another form of expression.
—> Those questions don’t have to be answered thoroughly. Sometimes, one page is enough to get that creativity strengthened and trained for a little bit.
Enhance your writing and your communication skills;
“The one easy way to become worth 50 percent more than you are now — at least — is to hone your communication skills — both written and verbal.”
Don’t believe everything that you’re told. Create a filter in your mind that allows only sensical, evidence-based, and well-thought-out thoughts.
Travel, travel and travel. It is important to expand your comfort zone by exploring different cultures and languages to trigger discomfort which forces the mind to search for new ways of doing things, promotes emotional depth, and can provide the push needed to overcome creative blocks or take on challenging projects.
