creativity vs the closed mind

back alley

back alley

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i am often (still) surprised at how some folks with closed minds, as in not open to change, can be creative at the same time!

how does this work?

do we have any neuro specialists in the audience?
 
They are creative in their limited world. They are probably comfortable with what they know, but a fearful of what they do not know. Small-mindedness is really a lack of knowledge based on poor information and prejudices built over a life-time.

Essentially they are creative in their comfort zone!
 
Everybody is creative. Everybody has a "closed mind" about something, some most than others. From the "everybody" pool, some are just more adventurous than others (those are the ones who show everybody else what they've done), and from those, a very small number who doesn't get egged on or collectively ignored, which allows them to thrive.
 
But why creativity must mean open mind?

Pablo neruda was communist with the red bible in his left hand and a waterfall full of poems in the other...

...in fact he was a walking contradiction...

Check on Ezra Pound a convinced fascist to the end...

So in smaller examples this should work just like the other "greater" artists...

:rolleyes:

PD: it´s even easier to be creative with closed mind....that way i don´t have to bother myself and waste time on many things!!!
 
Monochrom said:
But why creativity must mean open mind?

Pablo neruda was communist with the red bible in his left hand and a waterfall full of poems in the other...

...in fact he was a walking contradiction...

Check on Ezra Pound a convinced fascist to the end...

So in smaller examples this should work just like the other "greater" artists...

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

... a lot of 20th century artists worked within a published manifesto
 
back alley said:
i am often (still) surprised at how some folks with closed minds, as in not open to change, can be creative at the same time!

how does this work?

do we have any neuro specialists in the audience?
Click to expand...

Would a closed mind be creative enough
to realize its closed minded ?

we are what we are.
The labels are just approximations of that.

Stephen
 
Maiku said:
They are creative in their limited world. They are probably comfortable with what they know, but a fearful of what they do not know. Small-mindedness is really a lack of knowledge based on poor information and prejudices built over a life-time.

Essentially they are creative in their comfort zone!
Click to expand...

Very insightful commentary. Thanks for that.
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
Everybody is creative. Everybody has a "closed mind" about something, some most than others. From the "everybody" pool, some are just more adventurous than others (those are the ones who show everybody else what they've done), and from those, a very small number who doesn't get egged on or collectively ignored, which allows them to thrive.
Click to expand...

If I may, I would posit that there is a difference between what is being called a "closed mind" and a mind that has simply made a decision about something.

A person who has made a decision about a given issue is worlds apart from a person who has a closed mind based on dogma or emotion regarding a given issue. This is provided (obviously) that their decision was arrived at by real world deductive reasoning and objective thinking.

Add to that the matter of perspective - one man's closed-minded demagogue is another man's insightful visionary - and we have even more reason for controversy, discord and plain old name calling.

For some reason, it seems that artistic pursuits are fertile ground for close-mindedness; the irony of that truth cannot be overstated. We need look no further than the world of fine art and its rigid rules (one of which was once, and in a few remaining quarters still is, "photography is not art") for verification.

Here's an hors d'oeuvre of food for thought from the redoubtable F. Scott Fitzgerald:
...the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.
Click to expand...
It seems that he was onto something.
 
People often refer to someone else having a "closed mind" if they fail to consider our point of view. since we're all pretty adamant about some things, could many of us consider ourselves open minded, given that definition ?
 
For instance, I may say "I'm not shooting digital cameras" for x, y, z reasons - and could be labeled as close minded. But what does that have to do with creativity within the mediums I do choose to stick with?

Aren't limits what enable, even grow, creativity?
 
srtiwari said:
People often refer to someone else having a "closed mind" if they fail to consider our point of view. since we're all pretty adamant about some things, could many of us consider ourselves open minded, given that definition ?
Click to expand...

Like.

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It's not a contradiction, it's the way things are. The most creative and inventive people are usually the most confident and focused. They have an idea and never stop until their vision is realized. The open minded are often floundering around, with no direction, ambition, or drive, and create shallow, meaningless things that are usually cliched copies. They're better at debating philosophy than actually doing anything.
 
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