All of the named items were products of the creative mind. Not one of them existed until somebody came up with the idea. Creativity is not something that you just pick like apples from a tree. Because creative ideas are so special, creators who come up with the best ideas are often highly rewarded with fame, fortune, or both. Nobel Prizes, Oscars, Pulitzers, and other honors bring fame, and big sales and box office brings fortune. Yet what is creativity in the first place?<\/p>\r\n
Creativity: What Is It?<\/h2>\r\n
Creativity happens when someone comes up with a creative idea. An example would be a creative solution to a difficult problem. But what makes an idea or solution creative?<\/p>\r\n Creativity<\/strong> is the ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions, and possibilities.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n Very creative people often have intense knowledge about something, work on it for years, look at novel solutions, seek out the advice and help of other experts, and take risks. Although creativity is often associated with the arts, it is actually a vital form of intelligence that drives people in many disciplines to discover something new. Creativity can be found in every area of life, from the way you decorate your residence to a new way of understanding how a cell works.<\/p>\r\n Although psychologists have offered several definitions of creativity (Plucker, Beghetto, & Dow, 2004; Runco & Jaeger, 2012), probably the best definition is the one recently adapted from the three criteria that the U.S. Patent Office uses to decide whether an invention can receive patent protection (Simonton, 2012).<\/p>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2212\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"408\"] When applying these three criteria, it is critical to recognize that originality, usefulness, and surprise are all quantitative rather than qualitative attributes of an idea. Specifically, we really have to speak of the degree to which an idea satisfies each of the three criteria. In addition, the three attributes should have a zero point, that is, it should be possible to speak of an idea lacking any originality, usefulness, or surprise whatsoever. Finally, we have to assume that if an idea scores zero on any one criterion then it must have zero creativity as well. For example, someone who reinvents the wheel is definitely producing a useful idea, but the idea has zero originality and hence no creativity whatsoever. Similarly, someone who invented a parachute made entirely out of steel-reinforced concrete would get lots of credit for originality\u2014and surprise!\u2014but none for usefulness.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n Cognitive scientists have long been interested in the thinking processes that lead to creative ideas (Simonton & Damian, 2013). Indeed, many so-called \u201ccreativity tests\u201d are actually measures of the thought processes believed to underlie the creative act (Simonton, 2003b). The following two measures are among the best known.<\/p>\r\n (a) fluency<\/em>, the total number of appropriate uses generated;<\/p>\r\n (b) originality<\/em>, the statistical rarity of the uses given;<\/p>\r\n (c) flexibility<\/em>, the number of distinct conceptual categories implied by the various uses; and<\/p>\r\n (d) elaboration<\/em>, the amount of detail given for the generated uses.<\/p>\r\n For example, using a brick as a paperweight represents a different conceptual category than using its volume to conserve water in a toilet tank.<\/p>\r\n The capacity to produce unusual uses is but one example of the general cognitive ability to engage in divergent thinking<\/strong> (Guilford, 1967). Unfortunately, many different cognitive processes have been linked to creativity (Simonton & Damian, 2013). That is why we cannot use the singular; there is no such thing as the<\/em> \u201ccreative process.\u201d Nonetheless, the various processes do share one feature: All enable the person to \u201cthink outside the box\u201d imposed by routine thinking\u2014to venture into territory that would otherwise be ignored (Simonton, 2011). Creativity requires that you go where you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going.<\/p>\r\n Dr. Tom Steitz, former Sterling Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Yale University, spent his career looking at the structure and specific aspects of RNA molecules and how their interactions could help produce antibiotics and ward off diseases. As a result of his lifetime of work, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009. He wrote, \u201cLooking back over the development and progress of my career in science, I am reminded how vitally important good mentorship is in the early stages of one's career development and constant face-to-face conversations, debate, and discussions with colleagues at all stages of research. Outstanding discoveries, insights, and developments do not happen in a vacuum\u201d (Steitz, 2010, para. 39). Based on Steitz\u2019s comment, it becomes clear that someone\u2019s creativity, although an individual strength, benefits from interactions with others.<\/p>\r\n Think of a time when your creativity was sparked by a conversation with a friend or classmate. How did that person influence you and what problem did you solve using creativity?<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n What do the following have in common: the drug penicillin, the Eiffel Tower, the film Lord of the Rings<\/em>, the General Theory of Relativity, the hymn Amazing Grace<\/em>, the iPhone, the novel Don Quixote<\/em>, the painting The Mona Lisa<\/em>, a recipe for chocolate fudge, the soft drink Coca-Cola, the video game Wii Sports<\/em>, the West Coast offense in football, and the zipper?<\/p>\n All of the named items were products of the creative mind. Not one of them existed until somebody came up with the idea. Creativity is not something that you just pick like apples from a tree. Because creative ideas are so special, creators who come up with the best ideas are often highly rewarded with fame, fortune, or both. Nobel Prizes, Oscars, Pulitzers, and other honors bring fame, and big sales and box office brings fortune. Yet what is creativity in the first place?<\/p>\n Creativity happens when someone comes up with a creative idea. An example would be a creative solution to a difficult problem. But what makes an idea or solution creative?<\/p>\n Creativity<\/strong> is the ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions, and possibilities.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Very creative people often have intense knowledge about something, work on it for years, look at novel solutions, seek out the advice and help of other experts, and take risks. Although creativity is often associated with the arts, it is actually a vital form of intelligence that drives people in many disciplines to discover something new. Creativity can be found in every area of life, from the way you decorate your residence to a new way of understanding how a cell works.<\/p>\n Although psychologists have offered several definitions of creativity (Plucker, Beghetto, & Dow, 2004; Runco & Jaeger, 2012), probably the best definition is the one recently adapted from the three criteria that the U.S. Patent Office uses to decide whether an invention can receive patent protection (Simonton, 2012).<\/p>\n When applying these three criteria, it is critical to recognize that originality, usefulness, and surprise are all quantitative rather than qualitative attributes of an idea. Specifically, we really have to speak of the degree to which an idea satisfies each of the three criteria. In addition, the three attributes should have a zero point, that is, it should be possible to speak of an idea lacking any originality, usefulness, or surprise whatsoever. Finally, we have to assume that if an idea scores zero on any one criterion then it must have zero creativity as well. For example, someone who reinvents the wheel is definitely producing a useful idea, but the idea has zero originality and hence no creativity whatsoever. Similarly, someone who invented a parachute made entirely out of steel-reinforced concrete would get lots of credit for originality\u2014and surprise!\u2014but none for usefulness.<\/p>\n<\/section>\ncreativity<\/h3>\r\n
Creativity and Patents<\/h3>\r\n
![\"abstract](\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/855\/2016\/10\/29032538\/artcreative.jpg\")
<\/a> Figure 1<\/strong>. Even with the three criteria for creativity (originality, usefulness, and surprise), determining whether art is \u201ccreative\u201d can prove difficult. Especially with all the examples of artists whose work wasn\u2019t deemed creative until after their deaths. [Image: Linus Bohman][\/caption]\r\n\r\n\r\n\t
Cognitive Processes: How Do Creators Think?<\/span><\/h3>\r\n
divergent and convergent thinking<\/h3>\r\n
\r\n
\r\nUnlike convergent thinking<\/strong>, which converges on the single best answer or solution, divergent thinking comes up with multiple possibilities that might vary greatly in usefulness.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\nCreativity and Biochemistry<\/h3>\r\n
Ingelligence and Creativity<\/h2>\n
Creativity: What Is It?<\/h2>\n
creativity<\/h3>\n
Creativity and Patents<\/h3>\n
<\/a>\n
Cognitive Processes: How Do Creators Think?<\/span><\/h3>\n