Where does creativity come from, and where is it taking us?
We live in the contradiction of wanting to keep what we already know the way it is while, in the same measure, we yearn for news and changes. But this conflict between being conservative and disruptive is what makes the wheels of culture and society turn. As much as we like what creativity symbolizes today, it is necessary to accept that, like everything else on the planet, it is also constantly changing.
With this in mind, this book proposes an interdisciplinary view of creativity, exploring it according to studies in anthropology, psychology, sociology, education, history, arts, sciences, philosophy, and other adjacent areas, which added to the exploration of its past, gives us every reason to be optimistic about its future. But, in addition to simply contemplating a promising future, we must also reflect on whether we are missing an opportunity or neglecting something important.
In a modern metaphor, we urgently need to update our creativity software. If we want to become a society that believes in creativity as a raw material for progress and innovation, we need to recognize that we will only thrive if we start to cultivate ecosystems of questioning minds, where the exchange of ideas and the construction of knowledge constitute our most valuable asset.
In short, we need to take creativity seriously.
Book nominated to the Jabuti Award, the Oscar of Brazilian Literature
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
“In his book, Felipe Zamana incorporates today’s leading-edge theories of creativity as he offers practical advice for people involved in creative endeavors.“
Michael Hanchett Hanson
Director of Masters Concentration in Creativity and Cognition
(Teachers College, Columbia University)
“From a fluid, light and, at the same time, dense structure, Felipe Zamana illuminates a safe path for readers with different profiles and interests. From the summary to the last paragraph, the publication is inspiring, didactic, and provocative.“
Cláudia Leitão
Former Minister of Creative Economy (Brazil)
“For the essential in the being in a man of my type lies precisely in what he thinks and how he thinks, not in what he does. Consequently, [my autobiography] can limit itself in the main to the communicating of thoughts that have played a considerable role in my endeavors.”
(Einstein, Autobiographical notes, p. 31)
Here you will find thoughts from a curious, hungry, and inquiring mind.
Throughout my life, I always had a pocket notebook to write any interesting thoughts I had. They are daydreams; things I have seen, heard, and experienced. Until now, they were just random thoughts in a notebook.
In this book, I gathered all these thoughts in a reasonably coherent order for the first time, in the hope that they will also make you think.