Author: Kevin Berardinelli

on creativity

Overview


It’s imperative that curriculums (especially for early education) are built on more than just core subject matter. They also need to be strongly founded upon core ideals, values, and principles. The teaching of such values (although much harder to guide, manage, and track) is absolutely essential to the intellectual growth and prosperity of emerging generations.
What values are most important to push early in a child’s development? Honesty & trust. Altruism & empathy. Individuality & originality. Happiness & humor. Confidence & faith. Creativity & innovation. Innovation & creativity. Creativity!

I’ve posted about holistic education before and creativity is one of the three main pillars of such education – It’s seen in the SunWALK model of holistic education as “one of the three intrapersonal ‘primary colours’ or modes of engagement, of the human spirit, that are utilized in facing, individually and interpersonally, progressively more challenging tasks to nurture the development of abilities.”

Creativity is essential to the development of other abilities and the fundamental ability to engage/interact with people, nature, and the world in which we live. It’s from creativity that the purest dreams and ideas are born.

Definitions


So how is creativity defined? Let’s look…

Wikipedia: “Creativity is a mental and social process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts. Creativity is fueled by the process of either conscious or unconscious insight.”

Children’s Health Encyclopedia: “Creativity is the ability to think up and design new inventions, produce works of art, solve problems in new ways, or develop an idea based on an original, novel, or unconventional approach.”

Some more definitions can be found at a great post by Dr. Leslie Owen Wilson of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point “On Defining Creativity”.

It’s important to note that creativity and intelligence are not synonymous. There are plenty of studies addressing possible correlation between IQ and creativity, but the main point is that with a positive surrounding environment and culture, we must believe creativity can exist in any individual of any level of intelligence.

Qualities

  • Impulsivity and spontaneity – Just do it! / Just think it!
  • Nonconformity (not going with the majority) – Stray from the beaten path.
  • Courage – Naturally be unafraid of trying new things.
  • Self-Confidence – Have no susceptibility to peer pressure.
  • Persistence – Learn when to maintain thoughts or set thoughts aside.
  • Balance – Convergent / divergent thinking – Learn to hypothesize, speculate, and evaluate multiple conclusions while reserving the ability to logically find and support a single conclusion.
  • The “One Brain” Concept – Right brain thinking and left brain thinking together are the best engine of creativity.
Some Take-Aways

  • Need to create good inner resources in children. Multi-dimensionality is key.
  • Give children an active role in their own learning.
  • Educators need to be aware of the “blocks to creativity” or things that can interfere with it. SunWALK says there are two types of blocks: Environmental (the lack of a motivating physical surrounding, trustworthy acquaintances, or positive leadership) and Cultural (the fear of making bad choices, lack of an appetite for chaos, and the general lack of enthusiasm). It should be noted that the positive case of “blocks” would be that Environment and Culture become “enablers” of creativity.
  • In order to foster creativity in schools, education should be based on the discovery of knowledge and the development of critical attitudes, rather than on the passive absorption of knowledge.

Simple Creativity Exercises

  1. Spell all the letters of the alphabet using letters other than the one you are spelling. Now try it without using any vowels. CAY-YII-FEE-EYE-EHDT (that ‘N’ was very hard)
  2. Draw an adjective, act a noun, describe a verb.
  3. Create an equation that has never before been created. Describe its elements, fundamentals, and purpose.
  4. Contemplate a newly-shaped earth. What would a cubed earth be like? What if the world really was flat? How would business, transportation, politics, weather, etc change?

Quotes

  • “Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” – Erich Fromm
  • “The world is but a canvas to the imagination.” – Henry David Thoreau
  • “Creativity is the ability to see relationships where none exist.” — Thomas Disch
  • “Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” — Mary Lou Cook
  • “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” — Maya Angelou
  • “To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” — Joseph Chilton Pierce
  • “Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.” — Goethe
  • “To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” –Osho
  • “We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own and other’s people’s models, learn to be ourselves and allow our natural channel to open.” — Shakti Gawain
  • “Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” – Einstein
  • “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” – George Bernard Shaw

homemade pesto tortellini with jerk chicken breast and fried red peppers

Homemade Pesto Tortellini with Jerk Chicken Breast and Fried Red Peppers
Prep/Cook Time: 1 Hour
Difficulty: Medium-Easy
Homemade Pesto Sauce
Garlic
Juice from 1 lemon
Fresh basil
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese
Ground black pepper
Red pepper flakes
Directions: Combine all in food processor, drizzling in olive oil until desired consistency is reached.
Tortellini
Frozen Tortellini
Cherry Tomatoes
Directions: I buy the pasta frozen… follow directions on the packaging. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and set aside until plating.
Jerk Chicken Breast
Thin-cut chicken breast(s)
Cajun/jerk seasoning (Emeril’s Essence works great – make it or buy it)
Directions: Rub the spice on the chicken and press it in good. Use the excess spice. Grill on med-high heat. Alternatively, fry them on high heat in a pan on the stove in a little bit of olive oil. I used the same oil I used for frying the peppers…
Fried Red Peppers
Red Bell Pepper(s)
Directions: Slice peppers about 1/4″ thick and 2″ long. Fry in olive oil and a touch of salt until skin is black and peppers are relatively soft.
Mix the pesto with the drained tortellini in a big bowl/pan. Slice the chicken almost all the way through so it still stays together a bit. Plate as shown in picture with cherry tomatoes, leaf of fresh basil, fresh ground black pepper, and grated parmesan cheese as garnishes. Serve with lots more parmesan cheese.
Drink: Glass of red wine, ice cold Amstel Light, or glass of cold 2% milk. Holla.

find a voice

find a voice that makes you loud
for those refusing to hear
a voice that binds the friends you find
with those that aren’t quite so dear

find a voice that makes you proud
to shout out the feelings within
a voice that’s strong and never wrong
expression is always a win

find a voice that sets the tone
for those that walk by your side
a voice that carries a friend in need
or a stranger who’s trying to hide

find a voice that makes you known
to those not wanting to learn
the echoes will carry, the thoughts will remain
a flame that forever will burn

dynamically-weighted surveying

There are plenty of websites that try to characterize you based off a set of responses. Some surveys come via email and ask you to tally up your own score and see how you compare to the rest of the world. Some just try and answer a simple question such as what personality type or how happy or how outdoorsy you are. They’ll give 10 questions and based off how many you answer correctly, you fall into some category. Some more sophisticated applications may weight questions by importance and mathematically calculate a percentage that represents your characterization. For simplicity sake, I guess they do the job.

But here’s another idea…
One more method of weighting questions in a survey might be based off global survey or consensus results. For example, if I was to compute a score that asked, “How much of a Yankees fan are you?” two questions might be:

1) Do you hate the Red Sox?
2) Have you been to a game this year?

If a large survey was given, possible/expected results for these questions might be:
1) 99% Yes, 1% No
2) 20% Yes, 80% No

Based off these responses for a relatively large population, we can weight how much each question should factor in to the final result. For our example, since practically everyone hates the Red Sox, responding Yes should not play a majority factor in calculation of the final characterization. But since going to a game this year is a bit more of a rarity, perhaps it should contribute a higher amount to your final score. The trick is that for binary responses, you must denote which response increases the score and which decreases (it would be smart to gear the questions so that the affirmative case is always the increaser).

Taking this a step further, a lot of times the consensus of a larger group may not be known. In that case, your answers should become dynamic inputs to the weighting algorithm. They start at 50/50 and dynamically shift based on each new, incoming response. In a sense, the sensitivities are set by each new instance of that survey. Additionally, for non-binary / categorical / multiple choice responses, it would just require a bit more careful examination of weighting constituents.
Ill hopefully have an example of this weighted implementation in a near-future post.

aspiration pathways

First of all, I believe that you should never grow up. Never. Be a kid at heart, always. Age is just a reference point and should not characterize who you are. Sure it identifies how long ago you were born, but not your level of maturity, your accomplishments, or your potential.
That being said, it’s funny to see how one has changed over time. Many times, the first question you are asked as a kid is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I’m sure I’ve had some pretty crazy answers, some that stretched my mind and some that were just meant to make my parents mad. Omitting some (astronaut, inventor, game show host, chef) here are some of my job desires as they have changed over time.
You’ll see doctor was in late high school and early college, then disappeared quickly. Fireman has lingered since the local fire captain (Mr. Fioretti) had me demo stop, drop, & roll in kindergarten. Athlete took a natural parabolic trip through adolescence and tailed into my twenties. Ruler of the world was on an obvious decline since conception as more and more barriers to that role popped up. Professor has been on a steady incline, as is being an educator of any kind. And with that, being an adsideologist skyrocketed early in college as I truly hope I can spend the rest of my life helping others learn and gain a comfortable understanding of life and the world.
It’s also interesting to find the ages at which the most paths changed, and where the paths changed the most. College was obviously a pretty turbulent time regarding aspirations, as it probably was for most who have gone through it. Steep slopes and frequent intersections of these aspiration pathways. A great thing perhaps, as the times of greatest change can be the most valuable learning experience.
So how about you? What do your aspiration pathways look like?

update: this year in baseball

On February 22, 2009, I posted my baseball predictions for this year. Today I went back to see how those predictions were turning out and was pleasantly surprised. Here’s how I stand:
Predicted Final AL East Standings (February 22, 2009)
Yankees 101-61 (62.35%)
Red Sox 95-67 (58.64%)
Rays 84-78 (51.85%)
Blue Jays 80-82 (49.38%)
Orioles 72-90 (44.44%)
Current AL East Standings (July 24, 2009)
Yankees 58-37 (61.05%) –> 99-63
Red Sox 55-39 (58.51%) –> 95-67
Rays 52-44 (54.17%) –> 88-74
Blue Jays 47-49 (48.96%) –> 79-83
Orioles 41-53 (43.62%) –> 71-91
The order is correct and collectively the winning percentages are off by an average of 1.00%. If calculating a final win count off current winning percentages, Yanks are off by 2 wins, Red Sox are exactly right, Rays are off by 4 wins, Blue Jays are off by 1 win, and Orioles are off by 1 win. Not too bad I must say… but reveal my methods? Hah!
The other prediction of Cubs playing the Yanks in the World Series may be a bit of a stretch, but they are only 3 games back in the NL Wild Card and are 5-2 out of the All-Star break. Still a possibility.
Finally, I hope I don’t jinx myself here but I’ll pass along a post of why the Bronx Bombers will be winning the AL Pennant. I agree with the power, health, and depth, but it’s too soon to make predictions off current streaks coming out of the all-star break.
“A humble man of grace and dignity. A captain who led by example. Proud of the pinstripes tradition and dedicated to the pursuit of excellence. A Yankee forever.” – Don Mattingly’s plaque in Monument Park

connections of seemingly unrelated phenomena

Math has been a nice provider to the world with many of the building blocks for new scientific hypotheses, discoveries, technologies, and philosophical conjectures. It is a glue between science and nature, nature and theory – elegantly describing the physical world while evoking new thoughts about the metaphysical one.
That broad application of math is what I like about it most. Some say it’s still not “cool” enough (and I’ll agree to a degree). However, there is a constant flow of new scientific research that expands the boundaries of human intelligence every day, inevitably getting us all on the path to coolness.
One realm I find most compelling and rewarding is in hidden mathematical relationships, or the statistics of seemingly unrelated phenomena. Maybe it started with the golden ratio popping up in places you wouldn’t imagine. Or maybe it was in Freakonomics and discussion of the legalization of abortion and its impact on crime rates. Either way, new junctions are formed and unique insights are gleaned that push science into a exciting land of interconnectedness.

Here is a recent example of such seemingly unrelated phenomena, by a group of researchers from the Czech Republic. You can access the full paper here or the Technology Review summary article here.
From the abstract…
“Using measured data we demonstrate that there is an amazing correspondence among the statistical properties of spacings between parked cars and the distances between birds perching on a power line. We show that this observation is easily explained by the fact that birds and human use the same mechanism of distance estimation. We give a simple mathematical model of this phenomenon and prove its validity using measured data.”

Spacing between parked cars related to distances between birds perched on a power line. Now that’s something interesting. This makes me think of bathroom behavior too. Man code says there is an optimal urinal/stall to choose based on the permutation of available and occupied units (order matters!). To test your knowledge of man code, try the online game or download the iPhone app called UrinalTest.
The science employed here involves a branch of mathematics known as random matrix theory. In my opinion, bundling the subject matter is important so it can be documented, taught, learned, and applied. On the other hand, unbundling of the subject matter is just as important so new relationships can be formed and interconnectedness can be exploited.
In the end, these new explorations are important for science, education, and a better understanding of our world. And somewhere along the way we learn not to park under the birds, thereby minimizing the probability of off-white, splotchy, automobilistic accents.
Figure 1: From Flickr, birds on power lines.
Figure 2: From the paper, data points represent the probability density of the distances between the parked cars (crosses) and perched birds (squares), compared with the theoretical prediction (solid line) where the mean distance is normalized to 1.

skipping stones with souls

i did not think i would make it that far.
3 years, 7 months, and 12 days exact
i slugged the sea you where mindlessly bathe
and trudged the land you so carelessly step.

my voyage enduring, but mind at ease,
i longed for new life – something different? perhaps.
with shell in high gear i trekked the slopes,
when stuck to a rock i never lost hope.

but here you come, you stupid beast of man
thinking i’m small and a crumb of your earth,
a pebble perhaps? i’ll skip him to sea!
wave me goodbye with no thought for my soul.

just a snail i am? well, yes i may be,
but i’m coming back, in three years you’ll see!