Anyway, so I found this article really interesting because it proposes that creativity affects a part of our lives that we would usually not associate it with: relationships. We've all talked about how certain jobs depend on a good amount of creativity, but not how creativity can be a component to a thriving relationship. This article says that as a country our Creativity quotient is not increasing as our IQ is; could this correlate to our divorce rates? I mean think about those couple who have been together for years. Do you ever wonder what they talk about when they know everything about each other? How they keep the relationship fresh? This article suggests that people are able to utilize creativity to approach recurring problems in a relationship in new ways and to come up with different ideas to spend a Friday night. If we are discouraged to be creative in schools, we may never develop the ability to think outside the box in not just academic and career related situations, but in our relationships as well. What do you guys think? Do you really think creativity is important in a relationship? Do you think our schools are teaching us how to utilize our creativity? If so, why has our Creativity Quotient plateaued? Any other environmental influences?
and most importantly
What does everyone think of Justin Bieber's new hair cut?
I can definitely see how creativity quotient is not increasing in the same way that IQ is. As the article mentioned, most classes in schools today focus on simply copying down material which must later be memorized for a test – then most likely forgotten, of course. I feel that this method of learning really stifles a student’s creativity, especially those in the primary grades. Yes, anyone is capable of sitting in a History or English class and copying a PowerPoint; however, copying bullet points is not what will land a student a job in the real world. I think much more emphasis needs to be placed on creative assignments, and new ideas and perspectives on a topic should not be pushed aside by a teacher. Because many classes are under serious time constraints due to things such as AP exams, teachers simply do not have the time to embrace creativity and allow students to share their opinions. Overall, I feel that today’s generation does everything in terms of the future and no longer considers the present. Everything is done according to whether or not it will help the student be accepted into high school, college, etc. Because school and learning has become such a mechanical process, the creativity component of learning has simply been left behind.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of dating relationships, I really liked the point Katherine made about how low creativity levels can contribute to higher divorce rates. Of course financial issues and other factors do play a part in many divorces; however, I think this point should also be considered. Who wants to spend the rest of their life with someone who they can’t even keep a good conversation with? Creativity is not only key in sparking new and exciting conversations, but it is also critical in problem solving. If a partner in a relationship is creative, he or she will be able to think things through to arrive at a solution which both partners agree on – thereby avoiding any serious and heated argument. Creativity also helps keep a romantic relationship alive in terms of activities. I think I speak for a large number of people when I say that the cliché “dinner and a movie” can get very boring very fast. Having a creative mind allows the couple to think of new and exciting things to do on the weekend; for example, maybe the couple would consider trying rock-climbing instead of sitting at Outback or the Cheesecake Factory. (Although if a couple did choose to go the Cheesecake Factory every weekend, I can’t say I would blame them.) Just as the article states, variety itself is often the thing that a relationship needs to keep it alive and fresh.
I never have really thought about how creativity affects a couple’s relationship. I think there is a correlation between creativity and divorce rates. Creativity is key to sparking new conversations as well as solving issues from the past. Being creative in a relationship is being able to look through to the other person and communicate in the way in which there aren’t any arguments. Being creative in a relationship also helps a couple be able to come up with new ideas on what to do for a Friday night instead of your typical dinner date. There are so many new things to do in this world, we just need the minds of people to come up with them and suggest them to one another. Changing things up once and awhile will not hurt anyone, in fact it will keep the couple alive and on their toes with one another. I do think overall, creativity is important in a relationship. I do not think schools are utilizing our creativity enough. I think to some extent, but not fully. Most teachers just teach students, and students just copy down notes for the mere fact of memorizing it later to pass a test. That I do not consider utilizing creativity. That in fact, is utilizing and measuring a student’s memorizing skills. I believe teachers should come up with more ways to allow students to think creativity, and create creative projects and assignments. Developing and learning how to be creative will help us in the long run for our future, not memorizing facts about a particular class.
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be one of the more interesting blogs so far. This article took creativity to a new level as I have never heard the term creativity talked about when discussing relationships. After reading the summary of the blog I stopped for a second to think about creativity in relationships and realized how prevalent it actually was. However what seemed strange was that I have never heard anyone actually use the term creativity but rather I have heard people talk about how their relationships “seem so boring.” I have heard many girls talk about how they “cannot stand to sit home at their boyfriends” another Friday night yet I never connected this issue to be an issue of creativity, but after reading the article it all makes sense. I definitely think that creativity is a major component in any successful relationship. I think that a relationship would have the strongest chance of success if both people in it had high levels of creativity. They would never run out of things to do or topics to talk about as they would both always be thinking out of the box. Their weekends would not consist of the usual dinner, movie, and snuggles but rather would stretch far beyond that. I think that a relationship would have a greater success rate even if one person in the relationship was creative. Although this may cause problems sometimes if the other, non-creative person preferred to sit home as oppose to do something adventurous, but this brings up an entirely new debate, the question whether or not opposites attract.
ReplyDeleteI believe that possessing a certain level of creativity can help bring couples out of that funk that occurs after about 6 months. The beginning of a relationship is easy, as everything is new and exciting. However when this initial feeling wears off there needs to be some degree of creativity present to keep the relationship going. It is easy for couples to fall into a certain funk when things become old and boring. Creativity can be the solution to this problem.
I don’t think that schools are doing a good job in helping students to explore their creativity. I think that from a young age students are being taught that there is one way to do things. Although teachers may often say “you can do it many ways” they always encourage you to do it a certain way. I don’t believe that schools allow students to take the risks they need to develop and explore their creativity and I blame this solely on grades. Students are too worried about their grades to dare to be different and take a risk while doing an assignment. Also I believe that schools give students too much work and therefore not enough time to explore their creativity. Schoolwork has become about efficiency, about finishing your work as soon as possible, not about enjoying it and developing your creativity. This is a problem that, based off of this article, can lead to many unhappy, boring relationships later on in life. It does not surprise me that the creativity quotient has recently reached a plateau and I think this is an issue that needs to be addressed by society, specifically schools.
I think our generation is afraid to take risks. We've grown up in a very competitive society, and in every aspect of our lives--in school, at work, in relationships, etc.--we have learned that it's safer NOT to take the road less traveled by, but to take the approach that has proven to work in the past. It definitely starts early, like the article said, from kindergarten to 6th grade, and as we grow up into adults, we're too afraid to take the risks we've always avoided. This was never really something I thought about, although it made perfect sense to me as soon as I read it and I can see this happening on an every-day basis in my life and in the lives of the people that surround me. "Why bother learning another way when we already know a way that works?" Not gonna lie...I've probably said that tons of times in math class when the teacher explains that there's multiple ways to find the solution, but I've already figured out the way that makes the most sense to me. But what happens when that way that I've made myself most comfortable with is no longer available to me? I'm not just talking about math anymore. What happens when I can't think outside-the-box, when I'm stuck at a roadblock, when I can't widen my imagination enough to come up with an alternate or a better solution when I need it? Teachers are always stressing creative thinking--I've heard it in every class since middle school. They're trying to "foster our creativity" and "expand our creative-thinking skills"...but this is not something that can be done once and then pushed aside a few minutes later when a teacher gets frustrated that students won't just stick to the material as it's being taught. There's no such thing as being creative some of the time...either you use your creativity all the time, or you don't.
ReplyDeleteCreativity in relationships is definitely just as important as creativity in other academic aspects of life. Creativity includes putting yourself in another person's shoes. Creativity includes thinking outside just yourself and making decisions based on what is in the best interests of multiple people. Creativity includes taking the extra time to go beyond just the usual questions-and-answers or activities. Creativity is certainly a trait, really a skill, that needs to be fostered more in such a by-the-book, yet competitive, society.
I will be the first to admit that I am the least creative person. I am that girl who copies down a teacher's powerpoint, memorizes it, and tries to recall all the information on the test the next day. But the sad part is that I didn't learn any better. I was never taught how to be creative, I was only taught how to absorb material in order to perform well on a test. So does my "uncreativeness" mean that I won't be able to sustain a relationship? Well I hope not! However, I do agree with the article that creativity is key to maintaining a long-term relationship. My grandparents have been married for over 50 years. They must have both been creativity since they didn't ever get bored of each other. Being with the same person everyday for 50 years (that is roughly 18250 days, 438,000 hours, 26,280,000 minutes, or 1,576,800,000 seconds) is crazy! Hopefully I will become creative once I am in a relationship because I would definitely get bored of the "dinner and a movie" most couples do. My family is a creative family and are constantly doing fun and different activities together so hopefully it will carry over to my relationship!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that schools are teaching students how to utilize their creativity completely. In most of our classes we copy a teachers power point, study those copied notes, take a test on the material, and then forget that information. I do believe though, that we had to use creativity in our recent drug projects. We all found a way to communicate in less than a minute and a half what we felt was most important about our drug. (I must admit, Katherine's group won the most creative award!)
Creativity is very important in all aspects of our lives. I think it is important that people recognize this and work more on becoming creative and less robotic. After all, creativity could save a relationship!
I think that it's really interesting how creativity is treated in our culture, and this article provides a great start. Think of some of today's greatest thinkers and doers (or, if you're hitting a creative block, make a mental list of the most wealthy self-made people in America): for the great majority, they came into influence (and money) because of innovation. In technology and the new digital wave, for example, we have Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, and Steve Jobs, head of Apple. These corporations flourish because they are constantly changing, improving, and creating the Next Big Thing. We look up to creative people, award creative people -- yet in our society, we don't think that we can be creative people. Perhaps because we see such relatively few successful people (unfortunately, we cannot all be renowned billionaires) and associate creativity with these figures, we don't think that we have the capacity to be so creative. In American schools, to begin with, there seems to be the notion that while memorizing facts and figures and writing/rewriting/rerewriting DBQs can make you "smarter," there aren't any exercises that are carried out -- or even seem possible -- to extend a person's creativity, force them to think in a different pattern and encourage them to employ a number of different ways of approaching problems. Creativity seems to be represented as a natural ability, one only of the select few, that can't be improved. It's important to note, for example, that when funding gets tight, the first things to be cut are art, music, and theater classes. Why not gym? Why not math? (I'd prefer either.) While we emphasize guided learning -- a focus on structure and facts, conclusion-drawing and the ever-important "critical thinking" -- we don't really have free learning or free thinking. From a young age, the influence that school exerts on US students, if not all students, seems to leave the impression that creativity is not a learned skill nor an ability that can be improved for all people; it seems to be an inalterable capacity. More of a focus on creativity can heighten the importance of creativity in the lives of people, leading them to depend on their creativity more than their knowledge of past events and solutions (our current focus) -- leading to the solution of more world problems, progression and advances in limitless fields, and yes, longer marriages.
ReplyDeleteI very much agree with what the article asserted about creativity, especially in schools today, where it seems to be (statistically, at least) having the greatest effect. I also found myself emphatically nodding while reading Gabby's response: our society treats creativity as a gift, that elusive quality that someone just either has or does not have. Creativity is not treated as a skill that can be improved and built upon -- but it should be. I think that all of us have greater capacities for creativity than are being exercised in school. Personally, I've felt more creative at some points in my life than others, and at those times when I've felt most creative, I've been working on some sort of project or task that is exercising my creativity. Unfortunately, our fast-paced, intense learning environment sometimes prevents us from taking time for our creativity to breathe. For example, I've been assigned projects in many of my classes that present opportunities for creativity, but a lot of these projects were either rushed due to time constraints or were more focused on elements other than creativity. Because of this, I often feel like I am missing opportunities to be creative. For me, the PSA project we just did in Psych is one of only a few great examples that come to mind of how to effectively foster creativity in a school project: we had time to talk out ideas with group members in person, on the Google group, and by email, and the PSA itself was an opportunity to present an issue from one of a number of different perspectives. I wish I had more projects like this -- and not just in classes that are typically deemed creative (like art, which I decided not to take and miss so much this year).
ReplyDeleteFurther, I think that creativity is the key to problem solving, and that our society's decrease in creativity could definitely be related to what I perceive as a decreased ability to solve problems (whether it be in relationships, like the article mentions, or in any other area of life). Creativity not only keeps relationships fresh, but also helps people to effectively take care of issues when they inevitably arise. We can all be innovative thinkers, and thus better problem-solvers -- in our careers, relationships, and with the little problems of our daily lives -- if we spend more time fostering these skills.
I think that creativity is important in a relationship to a certain extent. I think that creativity in romance certainly has it's place. Those movie-style prom proposals are posted all over facebook. Media culture glamorizes relationships that are full of new and exciting creative approaches to romance (that have really become predictable romantic comedy norms) and encourage young people to strive to achieve that in their own lives. What girl prefers to be asked to prom by text rather than a treasure hunt in which the end result is an invitation to prom? Anyone? Aside from relationships, I think that creativity is extremely undervalued in schools. I think that the rigid structure of essay-writing and reading is often implemented in order to prepare us for life in college, which, in most cases, I think it does. However, like the article eluded to, the real world has different requirements than school. One of the most valued characteristics of a leader is the ability to be innovative and deviate from the normal structure. This can be utilized to cut costs, problem solve, and improve the work environment as a whole. This being said, I'm not surprised that the Creativity Quotient has plateaued. Most importantly, I think the cure-all to Bieber fever is to shave the Bieber.
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ReplyDeleteI thought this article was very interesting. I am not that surprised that IQ scores have increased over the past years and CQ (Creative Quotients) have not. High school students are very competitive; everyone wants the best grade possible. So many people take the “easy” way out and just use the cookie cutter way of doing things, like memorizing facts without truly understanding them. No one thinks of a different ways to do things, because we are all too focused on getting that “A”. We use the way that we know will work. I think that teachers do try and help us think outside the box and use our creativity. A perfect example is our PSA project like a few other people mentioned. Having to try and display the negative side of the drug we were assigned in a minute and 30 seconds was a very creative task! However, I also think that developing our creativity is difficult because in most classes we are just listening to the teacher and trying to write down everything that he/she says so that we can achieve the grade we want.
ReplyDeleteI think that having creativity in relationships is very important, but before reading this article I had never really thought about it. As Kelly Anne said in her response I also hope my non-creative side from school doesn’t carry over into my future relationships. I hope that I can think of new things other than the typical dinner and a movie date. I think that not having in creativity in a relationship is correlated with breakups. People do not like being bored, so creativity is a must have in my relationships from now on. After reading this article, I see how important creativity is in all aspects of life, school work and relationships!
Well, first of all I love Justin Bieber's new haircut! But aside from that, I thought this article was super interesting. It got me thinking a lot about education and whether or not creativity is fostered in school systems. Remember in kindergarten when you would get in trouble for coloring outside of the lines? Could instances like that be repressing creative thought in children? I think so. Teachers are being pushed to teach children to do well on standardized tests rather than focusing on innovative and critical thinking. It bothers me that educator's often punish creative or "out of the box" thinking. Where would we be if no one thought "outside the box"? Where would we be without computers or cell phones? Technological advancements rely heavily on innovative thinkers. I liked the article's references to "inside the box" and "outside the box" thinking and I agree that decreasing creativity could be correlated to the education system's pressure to keep kids "in the box". As for relationships, creativity definitely plays an integral and important role. Marriages often end in divorce because people get bored and look for a quick fix. Perhaps if people thought more creatively, less relationships would end so quickly.
ReplyDeleteI think this article is really interesting, especially because it is something that I never really give much thought to. It makes total and complete sense that our (the American population) Intelligence Quotient scores are getting higher but our Creative Quotient scores are getting lower. I know that at home as well as at school parents and teachers are constantly trying to get their students and children to think critically and work hard, but there is not much time to be creative and explore topics in different ways due to all the time constraints teachers are faced with. They are constantly trying to finish chapter after chapter and sometimes they rush through the material without knowing whether or not the students have a proper understanding of what is being spoken about. I think that it would greatly benefit students of all ages to have more group projects in which they need to think outside of the box and think of other ways of seeing things. Although I think that students need to face more opportunities in which they are forced to think outside of the box, I understand that teachers are under pressure to finish a certain amount of material for the year. Being under this pressure to complete as much as they can takes away from the time that could be spent doing projects that ensure that students will be thinking outside the box. The PSA’s that we just did in class are the perfect examples of what teachers can give to their students in order to get them to see a topic from a different point of view as opposed to lecturing them and having them take notes on the given topic. We did not waste any time on these projects and we spent two classes with them(the same amount of time we would have spent learning it through a powerpoint)—one actually working on it and the other viewing them. I was able to learn so much and it was interesting learning in a different form. If other students and teachers were exposed to this type of learning, I think they would find it extremely beneficial for a multitude of reasons. I think that schools need to encourage rather than discourage creativity, because it is such an important aspect to a lot of areas in life. One example is in a relationship. If people are not encouraged to be creative when they are younger, then they are most likely not going to be creative when they are older, and this in turn could have a negative impact on their relationship.
ReplyDeleteI thought this article was very interesting because it got me thinking about a topic that never really crossed my mind before. After reading this article, I have to completely agree with the idea that relationships need creativity in order to grow and become even closer. Couples that sit in and do the same thing every time they are together I don't think will survive very long. They will easily get bored of this routine and soon after they will get bored of each other. Therefore, creativity is extremely important for a relationship. Couples need to experience new things in order to keep the relationship lively and interesting. I'm not going to lie, reading this actually made me a little worried because I consider myself to be one of the least creative people on this planet. Hopefully this side of me can change!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that schools are doing a very good job of teaching creativity. I think that teachers are mostly focused on teaching the material straight for the test instead of teaching us how to be creative. In fairness to the schools, however, this is a very difficult topic to teach. No matter how much you try, you can never force a person to think outside of the box. I think that creativity needs to be enforced in schools when people are younger, or it is a lot more likely that people will not be creative as they get older.
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ReplyDeleteI think that while creativity is important in many aspects of life, it is underdeveloped. I can see how creativity can be important to relationships. I agree with everyone else that doing the same thing all the time can get boring, plus creativity can help you problem solve effectively. Creativity can help two people communicate and get to know each other better. I think that society perceives creativity as important, but feels that certain people are naturally creative and everyone else is not. This can lead to undeveloped creativity, which can cause the creativity quotient to not increase at the same rate as IQ. Even people who are naturally creative are usually not allowed to express their full creativity in school. At an early age, there are many rules that we have to follow and a specific way we are taught to do things. We are not taught to think outside the box. As children get older, teachers have to prepare them for certain tests so they begin to teach to the test. In middle school and freshmen and sophomore year of high school, it is also easier to teach students a set way to do something, such as writing a standard 2/4 or 3/5 analytical essay with a given thesis statement. I understand that this can be an effective way to teach at a younger level, but I think students have to stop following a set model and think independently earlier than they currently are. High school students are concerned with getting into a good college and begin to concentrate on the grade and not the learning. High school students become so concerned with doing activities and getting the grades necessary to get into good colleges that little time is left for extra creative activities. While I think the education system plays a part in this creative plateau, I think there can be other influences as well. Children are not really encouraged to go outside and make up games to play anymore. Now they have the television to watch and video games to play. I think technology also makes things a lot easier so people have less reason to utilize their problem solving skills. It is not necessary to think up a creative solution if you can go on your blackberry/iphone and look up an answer. I think there are many aspects of our society and what we value that can lead to this creative plateau.
ReplyDeleteMy parents have been married for nearly 21 years, and have been together for about 25 years. I used to wonder to myself - how do they still have interesting conversations? How do they keep nurturing their relationship to keep it strong? I then realized it was because of creativity on both of their parts. My mom is always finding new things for them to do -- whether it be a new restaurant, a new play, a new movie. She always finds things to keep the relationship new and exciting, despite the time that has passed. My dad certainly contributes as well. He really has a great sense of humor, and his personality can keep any conversation, and relationship, exciting. He is always finding new ways to look at things, and funny outlooks on situations. He never lets the relationship become routine. I feel like couples could keep the relationship strong by just putting in some effort, and finding new ways to nurture the relationship.
ReplyDeleteI think the school system could be doing more to emphasize creativity in our daily lives. I'm sure some students would really enjoy the increase. I, however, am not one of them. I'm simply not creative - I'm very analytical and logical. So, this would not appeal to me particularly, but I think it should be emphasized for those who enjoy being creative. I know some students get bored just copying notes from powerpoints/the board. However, I think it helps my notes stay organized and it helps me keep everything straight in my mind. When teachers use different methods of teaching for different units, it only ends up confusing me and taking away from learning the material. But that's just my own personal opinion!
I'm not really a Justin Bieber fan - but I love his haircut!
I don't believe that the Creativity Quotient nor our Intelligence Quotient correlates with our divorce rate. The people who are getting divorced, aren't getting divorced because they don't go on "creative dates", they get divorced because something happens between them. Sometimes people get divorced because from the very beginning nothing was there, others because of abuse or addiction in one partner, some others get divorced because of the constant fighting, and I'm sure there are many more reasons.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder what older married couple talk about when they know everything about each other. Maybe they talk about their day or friends or family, or even the TV show that was just on, or a movie they just saw. There are plenty more things to talk about other than themselves. And in the world, there are many many elderly couples who have been together for years and years. They seem to be able to do it, so why can't we? I am not sure how they keep the relationship fresh but I feel like if you really do love someone, that feeling won't go away and the relationship won't fall down.
Creativity is nice in a relationship but it's not ranked at number 1 of importance. Creativity can be fun in a relationship; fun dates, fun adventures, everything. But creativity is not the most important factor in a relationship. I do not believe that schools are teaching us how to utilize our creativity. Sure, in art you can paint a picture using your creativity, but in every other calss, there is no creativity being taught.
Also, when it comes to environmental influences, I think that when you're surrounded by creative people, you start to become creative yourself. But when you are surrounded by non-creative people, you tend to be less creative.
Justin Bieber's new haircut allows me to take him more seriously. He looks much better than he did with that long hair. I like it, even though I'm not a fan.
Hello everyone. Well I have tried numerous times to post my response and my computer keeps freezing, but now I am finally able to share with you my views! I think this is such an interesting topic because from personal experience I can't even imagine being with the same person for over a year... it seems so boring! My longest lasting teenage relationships have been with boys that keep things interesting. Creativity is tested so much in relationships and I feel is a major factor that will either make or break a couple. Once things get boring, everyone else seems so much more fun even if they really aren't. I know that once my friends seem more fun than my boyfriend, I know it's time to call it quits.
ReplyDeleteI don't think IHA really pushes us to develop our creativity. In my experience, IHA has put a high importance on memorization and reproduction of material. There isn't much room for interpretation on a scantron. However, I'm not sure that high school is really meant for developing creativity. Maybe the purpose of high school is to develop a background of knowledge so then later in college that knowledge can be tested through the individual's creativity. I'll have to wait 5 more months to find out.
As for J Beib's hair... what a h0ttie
Most of us think that intelligence is "book smarts". We've discussed this in class, and the majority of us agreed that there are different types of intelligences. Of course schools stress the academic intelligence, their reputation clings to that; but more schools seem to be becoming more in tune to the social intelligences that people may posses. There are clubs forming, or already formed groups, like the Student Ambassadors or Peer Mentors here at IHA, that help incoming students transition into such a new situation. Clubs like this are helping people enhance their social intelligences and put themselves out there as more outgoing people. Creative intelligence, I feel, has fallen to the waistside. Sure there are art classes offered, but they are nothing pushed in the school systems; they are simply on the course selection sheet. Creativity plays a huge part in how we develop, though.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever really made the connection between creativity and an effective relationship. My parents will be married for twenty five years in October, so obviously they've done something right. My mom is a really creative person and she is always planning fun, little activities for our family to do! When you think about it, it's definitely plausible that creativity can sustain a relationship. I think over time a lot of people just become complacent with the relationships they are in because they always do the "dinner and a movie" date. Sure dinner is nice and movies are fun, but every once and a while it's nice to have a little change; it keeps things exciting!
I definitely think creative smarts is a type of intelligence that is not stressed enough in schools, but one that should be. Creativity can help with problem solving skills. Those skills are ones that can be carried on into the workplace when collaboratively working. Sure book smarts can take you far in a company, but if you are not able to creatively analyze and assemble an effective team with the projects you are assigned, your succes will hit a plataeu. I think, like relationships, the book smarts (in relationships: that initial romance stage) will initiate the success, but creativity will sustain the notoriety, or relationship, long-term.