Since the beginning of time, every human being has been a creative being. Understanding this makes everything simpler.
Creativity is not a privilege for a few. It is not a divine talent or an ability acquired by a group of special people that makes them different from others. No. That is nonsense. Every single one of us, without exception, is born with a creative spark embedded in our DNA. Some expand it, others repress it, but the potential for creativity is a universal human trait.
The human brain has an extraordinary potential that is little known to science. Synaptic connections begin as soon as we open our eyes for the first time. All stimuli from the material world fill and program our brains in the first year of life.
As a result, we also develop our senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. And, of course, we cannot forget the so-called “sixth sense,” that is, our intuition.
When we observe a baby or a child in the first years, we have the chance to identify certain patterns of behavior. Generally, child neuroscience analyzes from zero to three years of age, which would be early childhood, and then from four to seven.
Memories, facial recognition, differentiation of geometric shapes, body movements, ability to interact, etc. In this initial stage, we also begin the process of expressing emotions and feelings.
It is worth noting that emotion is an immediate reaction to a given stimulus. On the other hand, feeling involves a deeper cognitive concept of perception.
Certain social and cultural circumstances, including religious and geographical issues, influence us constantly and directly affect our perception of the world and the people around us.
This is the turning point where creative separation occurs.
Other components, such as climate conditions, financial situation, health status, physical limitations, etc., can interfere with the construction of our character, leading us to other paths in terms of creativity. However, understanding these influences can empower us to take control of our creative development and steer it in the direction we desire.
Character is understood as a set of moral values taught mainly by the family. In the second stage, such values can be guided by the school, the social cycle, or even current politics. Character is different from personality, and both are changeable throughout life.
We are born with a defined and predominant genetically inherited personality, but this does not prevent external factors from affecting our development. This is an interesting detail regarding creativity since a person’s character does not interfere with their ability to create.
On the other hand, depending on someone’s personality type, they tend to be more or less creative. Personality is a set of psychological characteristics that direct a person’s thoughts, feelings, and actions.
As we have seen so far, human characteristics are complex because they are either inherited through genes or influenced by the environment. In terms of biological and anatomical structure, we are all the same, while we become unique the moment the “Breath of Life” fills our bodies.
During the human cognitive revolution, around 70 thousand years ago, our creative efforts focused on developing our communication ability, territorial expansion, and species’ survival. Prehistoric humans created cave paintings in caves around the world. Such artistic expressions show us that even without interaction or influence from the social environment, they already had the desire to represent what they saw, experienced, and felt.
Before becoming master creators, we were observers for an extended period — receivers.
In other words, we receive stimuli, usually visual, until the specific moment when we decide to share our feelings and emotions through creative expressions such as paintings, small sculptures, accessories, tools, and weapons. This emphasis on observation validates the importance of this phase in our own creative journey.
It is clear that creativity is closely related to the time frame in which we are inserted.
Creativity is stimulated by beauty, necessity, or practicality.
Throughout history, we have faced antagonistic periods that occasionally arise for unknown reasons. However, such moments offer us a qualitative leap in our creative capacity, leading us to a new level of evolution.
Let us begin with the expansion of the Roman Empire.
Despite its excesses and military brutality, for more than five centuries, Rome’s influence brought countless creative benefits to Western culture in art, social structure, and demographic planning of cities and roads.
After the fall of the Empire, the ‘Dark Ages‘ cast a shadow over Europe’s cultural, intellectual, and artistic progress for more than eight centuries. Even scientific and technical advancement was stifled by the dominance of the Church, which prohibited any demonstrations that questioned its authority. However, the spirit of creativity persisted, waiting for the right moment to emerge.
But then, in the mid-14th century, we were gifted with the Renaissance, a period that lasted about two centuries and which, to this day, enchants and teaches us about creativity and its impact on the arts, science, and philosophy.
Innovation. Freshness. Change.
These are not just words, but the very essence of creativity. They have the power to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, the mundane into the remarkable.
Shortly after, another two centuries of Enlightenment allowed Western Europe to experience a time of creative enthusiasm. Philosophers and scientists, logic and reason, morality and customs — everything became explainable by science and no longer by religion. And then things began to become more dynamic and simultaneously.
Art and war produced a paradoxical symbiosis.
The Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution, the Art Nouveau movement, the Napoleonic Wars, Impressionism, Cubism, World War I, Constructivism, the Bauhaus School, the Great Depression, World War II, Pop Art, and here we are.
Through sensory experiences, emotions, and feelings, we find methods to apply our perceptions, ideas, desires, knowledge, and discoveries to the material world, manifesting our ability to create differently.
Creativity.
But let’s go back to the individual.
When we like something, we connect with it. When we do something with love and joy and not for economic reasons or in the search for prestige and fame, such a thing becomes creative.
Creativity is Freedom.
Our personal experiences, from the environment we grow up in to the unique traits of our personality, play a significant role in shaping our creative potential. This recognition of the individual’s influence on their creativity is crucial in understanding and nurturing it.
Cognitive neuroscience professor Arne Dietrich suggested in 2004 that four types of creativity can characterize individuals:
1) Deliberate and Cognitive
Great technical knowledge about a given subject and a lot of time to test possible solutions until something new is created. Scientists, Doctors, Engineers.
2) Deliberate and Emotional
The individual distances himself from rationality and technique, letting his emotions and feelings flow in the face of his personal experiences and how he perceives each situation. Painters, Musicians, Athletes.
3) Spontaneous and Cognitive
When the individual moves away from his creation in search of solitude or a different activity, it requires all knowledge, but in this case, the solution comes through “Creative Leisure.“
4) Spontaneous and Emotional
When the idea appears in a dream, a breath, or a flash of instant illumination, the individual becomes “one” with his creation. He no longer seeks something external; creativity flows through him like an unknown force. Something grand, like when Beethoven composed his Ninth Symphony even though he was in the final stages of deafness.
In the future, however, we will categorize creativity in a more absolute, integrated, and conscious way. Neuroscience can reach the threshold that technology allows it to.
In 100 years, the study of the brain and its neural capacities will be much more advanced, allowing us to have an even broader view of its functioning, processing, and potential. Until then, I suggest we all explore our creativity with everything that makes our hearts sing joyfully.
