Creativity

Creativity is a human mental phenomenon based around the deployment of mental skills and/or conceptual tools, which, in turn, originate and develop innovation, inspiration, or insight.

The scope of creativity

For many people, the word creativity conjures up associations with artistic endeavours and with the writing of literature. Some have also linked creativity with moments of sudden scientific insight since at least the time of Archimedes in Ancient Greece.

Related Topics:
Association - Artistic endeavours - Writing - Literature - Scientific - Archimedes - Ancient Greece

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Pop psychology sometimes associates it with right or forehead brain activity or even specifically with lateral thinking.

Related Topics:
Pop psychology - Right or forehead brain activity - Lateral thinking

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Within the different modes of artistic expression, one can postulate a continuum extending from "interpretation" to "innovation". Established artistic movements and genres pull practitioners to the "interpretation" end of the scale, whereas original thinkers strive towards the "innovation" pole. Note that we conventionally expect some "creative" people (dancers, actors, orchestra-players ...) to perform (interpret) while allowing others (writers, painters, composers ...) more freedom to express the new and the different.

Related Topics:
Interpretation - Artistic movement - Genre

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Since the time of Graham Wallas and his work Art of Thought, published in 1926, some have considered creativity a legacy of the evolutionary process, which allowed humans to quickly adapt to rapidly changing environments.

Related Topics:
Graham Wallas - Art of Thought - 1926 - Evolutionary

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Today, creativity forms in some eyes the core activity of a growing section of the global economy — the so-called "creative industries" — capitalistically generating (generally non-tangible) wealth through the creation and exploitation of intellectual property or through the provision of creative services.

Related Topics:
Global economy - Creative industries - Wealth - Creation - Exploitation - Intellectual property - Creative services

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The word "creativity" can convey an implication of constructing novelty without relying on any existing constituent components (ex nihilo - compare creationism). Contrast alternative theories, for example:

Related Topics:
Novelty - Creationism

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• artistic inspiration, which posits the transmission of visions from divine sources such as the Muses. Compare with invention.
• artistic evolution, which stresses obeying established ("classical") rules and imitating or appropriating to produce subtly different but unshockingly understandable work. Compare with crafts.