A couple of years ago, I came across an article and this TEDx talk online about creativity and who has it and where it goes. George Land explains how the search for identifying “creative geniuses” in the general population led to further studies and larger ramifications for how we do or don’t nurture our innate creativity. How all humans have incredible creative potential that is systematically stifled, drummed out of them throughout their childhoods, resulting in habits and compulsions to conform and not be “wrong”. And ultimately results in lives lacking imagination, leaving us less creative and capable of facing life’s challenges and the big problems facing the world.
The statistical evidence from the study that George Land conducted is incredible and convincing, and it confirmed things I’d theorized about for years, and come across constantly in my work as an artist, educator, and in the ways we humans seem so stuck in old patterns. This clip is ten minutes, and he gives a bunch of extra context at the beginning, but I find it helpful to understand where he’s coming from and the depth of this issue. He’s speaking at a conference for teachers and educators in Houston, I believe.