Are you afraid of the unknown?
This question can sound strange -especially to open the text- but I really had to start with it.
In the last newsletter, I mentioned my fascination with the universe and even gave an example of Neil DeGresse Tyson talking about the shape of the earth.
In this one, I would like to do a thought experiment and delve a little further into this universe metaphor for creativity. Please, follow me.
In the standard definition of creativity, it is something that is both new and effective.
To be new, it has to be something that never existed before (in a particular context and/or configuration, at least).
To be effective (for any reason), put it simply, it has to be something that matters -for the person who created it, for their peers, for society, and so on.
The new is cool, and the effectiveness is desirable, but creativity needs both.
Now, the thought experiment. Here is what I would like to propose:
Imagine creativity as a black hole. Let’s call it C-132.
Inside it is everything that is new, and therefore we can’t see it (yet).
Outside C-132, the visible part for that matter, are all forces and elements that influence creativity, such as traits and characteristics, knowledge and skills, tools and techniques, personal and peer evaluations, social and cultural aspects, environmental factors and conditions, to name a few.
And right in the border (also known as singularity), is where all those things are mixed up together with the unknown in a big primordial soup.
These forces and elements play a crucial part in creativity, but only what is both new and effective will come out of C-132.
(Quick note: you may be thinking “wait, but nothing ever comes out of the black hole!”. Search for “Hawking radiation” and you will be surprised.)
In creativity research, what we actually do is analyze and measure all those forces and elements around it, to “feed” the C-132 with what it needs to increase our chances of it giving back to us something that is both new and effective.
In other words, the new may seem scary, unachievable, or even impossible, but creativity research can help you get there by being (more) effective.
The frontiers of our knowledge are just the beginning of our ignorance. In other words, the more we know, the more we know that we don’t know.
Aren’t you excited about it? I am.
This, for me, is the beauty of creativity: there are still so many things to think about and discover and experiment. And creativity is how we get to know the unknown.
So, if you are afraid of the unknown, you are also afraid of creativity.
Thus, I will ask you again: are you afraid of the unknown?