Creativity and Capitalism

A recent article in the New York Times asked "Why is Productivity so Weak?" I read the Times article and was reminded of another piece from Fortune magazine written by Geoff Colvin. The name of his piece - "A Mighty Culture of Innovation Cannot Be Taken For Granted" - sums up our country, and also our current problem. Colvin reminds us that America is, after all, a land of creative individuals, and this should not - and cannot - be forgotten. 

Our system was founded not just on our ability to be creative, but also on the right to legally protect our ideas - then produce, market, and sell them. This formula holds true for everything from Bic's ball point pen to Coke's formula, to Hellman's mayonnaise, to Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In the Wind". One of my favorite contemporary writers and thinkers, the late Sir Ken Robinson, rightfully defines creativity as "coming up with original ideas that have value".

Colvin's piece mentions a recent study by World Values that asked the question "How important is it to think up new ideas and be creative?".  Countries were ranked based on their answers, and the U.S. came in 10th - behind France, Germany, and the U.K. - all countries we, currently, are way in front of in terms of GDP. 

Colvin discusses this in his piece, but then presents something scary: The Torrence Test. This has been administered to American children for years, and tests one thing in particular: Creativity. What our Torrence scores have shown is that American children's results are in a steady decline - and have been since 1999. The most amazing thing about this is that no one can figure out why. 

Could it be because creativity holds no value anymore?

Think about this for a minute: The current generation have grown up in a world where (if they choose) they do not have to pay for music, movies, or books. These are not creative works to them, but rather, things you take. They hold no monetary value. This generation are also growing up in a system where nationalized testing has taken precedent over organic and true learning. Facts and figures are crammed down their throats at alarming speed, and for the sole purpose of better scores. There is such an enormous amount of material to cover, often times teachers go as far as to dissuade students from asking questions (I know this because my high school aged daughter and son, have told me questions are often greeted with the "answer" of Phone a friend, or go home and ask your parents.).

I am a music teacher, and have been giving private piano and drum lessons for over ten years. I've become more aware of how angry, and frustrated my students get when they make mistakes - and these are typically very small ones. I am also shocked at how many do not have the patience to realize that learning an instrument (like anything else) is a process. It takes time as well as tons of mistakes. They don't want that, but rather want immediate results.

I also do a lot of staff development and in-service training, and many teachers have told me over the years that the amount of cheating and plagiarism going on in their classrooms is astounding. This is especially true for middle and High School students.

In a book titled Academically Adrift, authors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa write how college students in 1961 spent 40 hours a week on their studies. That dwindled to 27 hours/week in 2003. Also noted in the book: 36% of recent college grads lacked the ability to think critically, and apply any new experience or information they had acquired in school. Why is that?

Technology is an amazing thing. It has enabled us to create and develop many incredible new products as well as services never imagined. How ever, it has also presented the ability to download unlimited amounts of music, books, and movies without paying a dime. It's also presented the ability to grab words and/or photos and "create" a term paper or book report (or campaign convention speech) and give ourselves credit for "writing" it.

Torrence test scores are declining, and we can't figure out why. Meanwhile, arts programs are getting cut, and the cramming of information begins in elementary, and continues through to High School. Added to this is a generation of young people who point/click - drop/drag - download, and send. They don't want to make mistakes because they're not allowed to. In addition, the great ideas, poems, music, and films that have served generations as inspiration have been reduced to "free downloads".  

Where are the next ideas going to come from?