Creativity

Leonardo da Vinci

Creativity is the God-given faculty of coming up with new ideas, new music, new inventions and stories, new ways of doing things. It generally involves combining two things together, especially in a novel way.

Along with individual initiative, creativity is one of the two outstanding characteristics of Americans. More patented inventions, such as the telephone and atomic bomb, were invented by Americans than by people of any other country, although sometimes people of other countries have been able to put the finishing touches on them or market them better. For example, the fax machine, Gunpowder, paper, radio, the printing press, the steam engine, and open heart surgery, are examples of creativity originating in Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Unfortunately, many young artists are under the false assumption that alcohol and drugs can be used to enhance their creativity. Poets, writers, composers, painters, musicians, etc. get caught up in this self-defeating misconception. Part of it has to do with the pleasure center of the brain that the drugs impact - making one falsely believe they are more creative due to a temporary increase of dopamine. If people have trouble driving a car on alcohol or other drugs, it stands to reason it might be harder to play an instrument, coordinate a paintbrush, or mold a lump of clay as well. The most celebrated artists of the past, such as Walt Disney, Leonardo Da Vinci, Shakespeare, Bach and Michelangelo achieved their fame without the use of drugs.

Creativity also allows people to be more open to all of God's given opportunities in life, as when one thinks creatively they open themselves up to limitless possibilities and solutions. Besides from that researchers have determined that creativity uses conservative thinking methods as well. According to the researchers “Creativity is our ability to think in new and original ways to solve problems, but not every original solution is considered a creative one." As creativity requires high standards, something liberals are not too fond of.

Similarly to guns, religion, and other conservative things, creativity has been long suppressed by dictatorships such as Nazi Germany, North Korea, among others as people weren't allowed to feel any way contrary to the dictator. This is why they would burn books and other forms of literature that didn't fit the dictator's agenda.

Books on creativity

The human brain is the most complex physical entity in the universe.

See also: Books on creativity

• Design Your Thinking: The Mindsets, Toolsets, and Skill Sets for Creative Problem-Solving by Pavan Soni, Portfolio (October 12, 2020)
• Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All by Tom Kelley and David Kelley, ‎Currency; NO-VALUE edition (October 15, 2013)
• Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step by Edward De Bono, Harper Colophon; Reissue edition (February 24, 2015)
• Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon, Workman Publishing Company; 1st edition (February 28, 2012)
• Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull, Random House; Expanded edition (June 13, 2023)
• 101 Creative Problem Solving Techniques, by James Higgins; New Management Pub. Co (January 1, 2006)
• The Creative Problem Solver's Toolbox: A Complete Course in the Art of Creating Solutions to Problems of Any Kind by Richard Fobes; Solutions Through Innovation; 2nd edition (April 14, 2014)
• Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques by Michael Michalko, Ten Speed Press; NO-VALUE edition (June 8, 2006)
• Creative Problem Solving by Arthur van Gundy, Praeger (January 19, 1987)
• How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day by Michael J. Gelb, Dell; Revised edition (February 8, 2000)
• Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, HarperCollins; First Edition (January 1, 1996)