Post by dowellharmon on Aug 9, 2011 0:14:46 GMT -5
The saddening truth is I don’t doubt the creativity of the American youth is falling. The generation we grow up in doesn’t emphasize personal betterment of a situation, our generation, as a whole, is dependent on others to solve our problems and others to cater to us. With a globalized society like we have today, it is easy to put aside creative thinking and let someone else do it for you. Like we talked about in the Google article, information is accessible at the tip of your fingers, and with that comes a way to access fresh ways to approach a problem, but just because it is fresh and new, doesn’t mean it is creative because truthfully, the idea wasn’t yours in the first place. I think another reason for the decline in creative thinking is the emphasis on catching up to foreign countries in math and science. Not to say creative thinking isn’t needed for success in math and science, but those disciplines bring a set of rules that are immutable, which restrain the creative thinking. The emphasis on math and science is helpful, don’t get me wrong, but it is also grooving the minds of young Americans to be more concrete and unable to interpret and create. It is sad that many jobs involving math and science such as engineering and architecture require loads of creativity to couple the natural laws to help solve the problems they face.
I can’t help but think about School House Rock’s “Mother Necessity” song when I read this article. It talks about all the great inventions that helped shape America during its maturation, and how those inventions really showed a sense of creativity that fueled the prosperity of a growing nation, fueling economic boom and a flourishing culture. Now, with little emphasis on creativity, our economy is less than booming, and our culture seems to be at a standstill. I’m not sure if it is just me, but it seems like little literature is coming from the United States like it did in the time of Hemingway and other classic authors, no major art seems to be originating in the USA, and other cultural aspects seem to be almost frozen.
The country as a whole is somewhat at fault for the lack of cultural development, mainly because they group creativity with culture, especially the arts and English. I think writing and reading have become a much smaller part of the average life than they used to be, and that is a major reason why the Creativity Quotient has hit a lull. I’m not sure what the exact solution to the problem is besides more emphasis on creativity, but we need to fix whatever it is quickly or we will fall behind in more than just engineers. Our culture will fall behind, and eventually, our people will fall behind on basic skills, not just their calculus. More could be done in the early grades of elementary school to practice problem solving and creative thinking to try to boost the students creative mindset for the rest of their academic careers and onwards from there.
I can’t help but think about School House Rock’s “Mother Necessity” song when I read this article. It talks about all the great inventions that helped shape America during its maturation, and how those inventions really showed a sense of creativity that fueled the prosperity of a growing nation, fueling economic boom and a flourishing culture. Now, with little emphasis on creativity, our economy is less than booming, and our culture seems to be at a standstill. I’m not sure if it is just me, but it seems like little literature is coming from the United States like it did in the time of Hemingway and other classic authors, no major art seems to be originating in the USA, and other cultural aspects seem to be almost frozen.
The country as a whole is somewhat at fault for the lack of cultural development, mainly because they group creativity with culture, especially the arts and English. I think writing and reading have become a much smaller part of the average life than they used to be, and that is a major reason why the Creativity Quotient has hit a lull. I’m not sure what the exact solution to the problem is besides more emphasis on creativity, but we need to fix whatever it is quickly or we will fall behind in more than just engineers. Our culture will fall behind, and eventually, our people will fall behind on basic skills, not just their calculus. More could be done in the early grades of elementary school to practice problem solving and creative thinking to try to boost the students creative mindset for the rest of their academic careers and onwards from there.