# Why We Crave Creativity but Reject Creative Ideas



## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)

_Most people view creativity as an asset -- until they come across a creative idea. That's because creativity not only reveals new perspectives; it promotes a sense of uncertainty._

*Read More:*

Why we crave creativity but reject creative ideas


----------



## PseudoSenator (Mar 7, 2010)

This provides a poor outlook for innovative political solutions to tough problems.


----------



## Bote (Jun 16, 2010)

Woah am I seeing traces of scientific political engagement? They actually did an experiment to understand what being conservative means lol. Though once you understand how the resistance to an idea is happening you will also learn how to indoctrinate someone faster. Peachy.

Ah yeh they tested only the reception part of others, not the actualization process of the actor.


----------



## blit (Dec 17, 2010)

Bote said:


> Woah am I seeing traces of scientific political engagement? They actually did an experiment to understand what being conservative means lol. *Though once you understand how the resistance to an idea is happening you will also learn how to indoctrinate someone faster. Peachy.*
> 
> Ah yeh they tested only the reception part of others, not the actualization process of the actor.


Expand?


----------



## wuliheron (Sep 5, 2011)

The technical term is "denial".

We romanticize everything from super heros fighting crime to whistle blowers fighting the system to Forest Gump. In reality though super heros fighting crime get thrown in jail, whistle blowers end up in the gutter all bloody, and Forest Gump is traumatized and marginalized by a lifetime of abuse from a judgmental society. The highest rates of abortion, STDs, etc. are all in the Bible Belt. Our culture tells us on the one hand these things are infinitely desirable, and on the other hand they are taboo and dangerous. 

Its a recipe for insanity that serves other purposes then the stated ones. Other cultures don't crave a lot of things ours does. Asians often look at the western preoccupation with sex, for example, as strange and bizarre. Sure its fun, but so what?


----------



## Vtile (Feb 27, 2011)

.. Because there is perspiration 99 units ahead if that creative idea is taken serious. People are lazy.
edit. or just narrow minded


----------



## The Proof (Aug 5, 2009)

jesus was pretty creative and look what happened to him


----------



## Brian1 (May 7, 2011)

Well, I think if you're creative,and I'm pretty creative myself, more power to you, but something like painting, is not going to make a lot of money, and if you're lucky enough to become a world renown painter, a lot of your classics are going to be respected after your death. Herman Melville went bankrupt with _Moby Dick_. I also think fine arts, is not looked upon as productive in a protestant work ethic society. The United States was founded upon people who survived disease,hardship to become farmers to make products like cotton, tobacco, from the earth. And that's a lot of manual labor that's back breaking. Here look what I did, I wrote a novel, while lounging in my computer chair,ordering in pizza! Also creativity is about ideas, and ideas can be stolen, so you have to do it quietly. Charles Darwin went to the Galapagos Island, did his study on Natural Selection, drafted a book form of it, when he got back to England, and sat on it for a number of years, till he got a tip, a similar scientist did the exact same thing-Wallace,and he was going to publish his account, that's when Darwin said oh no, and _Origin of the Species_ was published. He did that alone. The Founding Fathers of the United States drafted a whole new constitution after the Articles of Confederation, but they had to assemble in a place with locked doors and windows,no A/C, because their task was not to draft a new constitution, but tinker with the Articles of Confederation, but they had to throw AOC out in favor of the U.S. Constitution we now have. The Beatles, they had to work under the radar for Revolver's _Tomorrow Never Knows_, because that dealt with drugs, the first acid song, and it's working title was called the _Void_, but they didn't want to scare corporate heads. And then, when they did _Sgt. Pepper_, that was a radical album at the time, and they knew the importance of it, and didn't want other artists stealing their stuff,so they didn't allow visitors to the studio. Creativity is a tricky thing,because it's partly about innovation. And at the other end of the spectrum, there's this how is that going to work problem? The you think you're better than me problem. People used to think a person was crazy if they displayed signs of creativity, acting was a gay profession, there are actors that come on the late night talk shows, that say as much, when they said they broke the new to their parents. Lots of reasons creativity and creative ideas are looked down upon, and done quietly-alone.


----------



## blit (Dec 17, 2010)

I noticed an assumption that creativity can not exist outside the realm of _the arts_ doesn't help.


----------



## AJ2011 (Jun 2, 2011)

Creativity will necessarily induce uncertainty because it's the discovery of things outside of known patterns. Many people consider intelligence essentially pattern recognition. On the other hand, recognizing that which does not fit into known patterns and to develop a valid theory for the anomaly is in the realm of creativity and I think the highest form of intelligence as well.

How many times have you heard people (or even yourself) refer to an anomaly as a bad event?


----------



## Tendency (Aug 18, 2011)

Maybe it's even a fear of watching one's own work being destroyed by something, otherwise flirting closer to the truth—rejecting an idea even it is true.


----------



## Decay153 (Dec 31, 2009)

Creativity is inconvenient and novel and people think that's dumb and childish. A wonderful article, apparently people really avoid true innovation... Good to know.


----------



## Gaminegirlie (Jul 31, 2010)

It's the same reason why some people say; 'Reason and Logic only!' 'If you can't prove it physically I won't believe', 'Show me the ROI' Control and fear of losing control.


----------



## electricky (Feb 18, 2011)

Article said:


> To uncover bias against creativity, the researchers used a subtle technique to measure unconscious bias -- the kind to which people may not want to admit, such as racism. Results revealed that while people explicitly claimed to desire creative ideas, they actually associated creative ideas with negative words such as "vomit," "poison" and "agony."


I would like to find out more about how the creative ideas were associated with negative words... and then about the people being experimented on here.



Article said:


> For example, subjects had a negative reaction to a running shoe equipped with nanotechnology that adjusted fabric thickness to cool the foot and reduce blisters.


That sounds like a very awesome shoe :tongue:

Now, if asked about it, I would probably also question about how expensive it would be to have the required nanotechnology in the shoe and whether there may be some other ways to make a cool shoe like that, but I don't think a bit of practicality should be equated with a negative reaction. After all, there are always _more_ ideas...


----------



## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)

@ElectricSparkle

Thanks for asking.

Here's the original paper.


----------



## sofort99 (Mar 27, 2010)

Rejecting "creativity" is a conditioned response.

Where I work, we have procedure and process designed around what we are doing that is constantly audited for efficiency.

Then creative boy comes in and wants to try his "creative" ideas... where anyone with any knowledge of what is going and the ability to see three steps ahead can see the giant looming FAIL.

This usually leads to creative boy running off and crying because nobody will listen to his creative ideas.

Also, usually the desire for creativity seems like it is not even to improve the process, it's just nothing more than a want for novelty... "Hey, lets try something different". Even if the something different has been tried and has failed in the past.

So yeah, I can see where the rejection comes from. 

99% of the time creativity seems to equal "let's do something stupid".

That makes mining the 1% of the time it's not difficult.

I suspect this study was commissioned and paid for by creative boy.


----------



## RobynC (Jun 10, 2011)

@Bote



> They actually did an experiment to understand what being conservative means lol. Though once you understand how the resistance to an idea is happening you will also learn how to indoctrinate someone faster.


It kind of reminds me of a variety of Martial Arts whereby one's strength is used against them


----------

