Creativity is the ability to connect disparate areas of knowledge in non-obvious ways to create new results. For example, the Dyson vacuum cleaner came about as a non-obvious connection (due to disparate areas of knowledge, fortuitously held by the inventor) between saw dust disposal methods and the desire for a dustless vacuum cleaner. People do not have to be smart to be creative. They just need multiple areas of unconnected knowledge, and then some desire to connect two of them for some new purpose. However, given that knowledge is the base requirement for creativity, increasing your knowledge (especially by learning NEW things that at first may not pertain to a current need) is the best way to increase the potential of creativity. (Read this paragraph 50 times to help it sink in.) Genius comes from the ability to repeatedly connect disparate areas of knowledge in unexpected ways.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 22:31:07 +0000