Reflection on story: Most people can agree that the creativity described in Sue is truly virtuous. She is open-minded and flexible enough to avoid being tied to preconceived notions and fixed plans. When things stray from what is expected, she can "go with the flow," and find new, positive ways to continue. More than just being flexible, Sue is thoughtful and clever and has the skills and strength to put her ideas into action and production. Her inventiveness shows through in the creation of original activities and the inspiration she gives to others to create as well.

Theory-of-X #1: free flow and active production of original ideas.

A counterexample to theory #1: Bill works for the advertising department of Coca Cola and he produces many successful ideas for ad campaigns which increase soda sales and make the company richer. The company buys out all other soda companies and is popular in every town across the world because of Bill's advertisements.

Reflection on story: Although by society's standards Bill is very "good"at his job and has used his creativity in a productive way to make his company successful and rich, there is nothing truly admirable about his creativity. Money, corporate success, fame, and world domination are not what we are after. We are searching for the source of the true good of creativity that makes it an admirable virtue. We are not looking for a person who is capable of being creative, but a person who lives life with a creative perspective. Perhaps Bill's creativity is not the most admirable because it does not involve the personal connection we experience when self-expression is a result. He was not personally invested in his advertisements; they were not a sharing or an expression that helped us learn more about Bill on a personal level. Bill's story is an example of "false" creativity, or creativity used for the wrong reasons, or shallow creativity.

Theory-of-X #2, a revision of theory #1: a sharing of self through free flow and active expression of original ideas.

Now I'll try another approach:

Creativity in its most excellent form

Contrasted with

1. harmful creativity (used for the wrong reasons)

2. false creativity (shallow or meaningless)

3. no creativity

Perhaps it will help us to look at some stories which illustrate a lack of creativity or the kind of creativity that is not truly good to discover what the X is not:

Contrasting story 1. (harmful creativity): Mike is a murderer and is mentally unstable, although highly "Intelligent." He finds new and innovative ways to torture his victims before killing them, such as drawing clues on their skin with knife cuts. (Like the guy in the movie "Seven," who killed each of his victims by illustrating each of the seven deadly sins, and incorporating all kinds of literary references, creating a game, or mystery for the detectives to solve.)

Reflection on story: Although Mike is using his clever mind to develop a new way to do something, the creativity is obviously not admirable in that it is not being used for a good, and increasing this kind of creativity would not increase goodness. Creativity can be dangerous because it often results in expanding or questioning known rules and society standards, and is sometimes considered unusual, different, or odd. The motivation behind the creativity is important. Just because someone is different and has an odd way of doing things, does not necessarily mean that they are creative in the good sense.

Contrasting story 2. (shallow creativity): (Bill's story is one example.) One day Sarah was bored and she happened to have a lot of popsicle sticks, so she glued the popsicle sticks together to make a box 5 feet tall. Then she painted it green because she thought it was a summery color that reminded her of grassy fields. She put her creation in the middle of her living room and called it "wooden summer," and her roommates didn't appreciate it because it was in the way.

Reflection on story: Although Bill and Sarah's stories are very different, I put them in the same general category that includes both pointless creativity and creativity that is good or admirable on a shallow or purely societal level. Sarah lacks a certain amount of intelligent problem solving and original thought with a real intention, purpose or deep meaning. To be admirable, a creative act must stem from something meaningful and relevant to life on a personal level. There must be meaning behind the creation. Random or thoughtless creativity is not what we are looking for, yet there is something admirable about spontaneity and chance in creativity, as it can open up possibilities that one could not have rationalized, and perhaps it can even bring out something richly fundamental and more universal from the unconscious. Many artists can, in freeing themselves from their more rational, concrete thought, tap into something deep and intuitive which shows through in their creation. The kind of creativity that makes great Art is what we are looking for.

Contrasting story 3. (no creativity): Since Jenn was young, she has obeyed all the rules society and her parents have laid out for her. She took on their ideals and put great effort into becoming average, fitting in, and being like a stereotype. She did not believe in being different and never desired to create something new. Instead she was old-fashioned and conservative, in every aspect of her life. She was intolerant of others and different ideas. She lived life safely and never took risks. She became an expert at computers, but was never interested in making new advances in the industry. Instead, she became an expert at other peoples creations. Jenn could not be completely happy because she carried around so much guilt from desires and ideas in herself which she felt the need to suppress.

Reflection on story: A non-creative lifestyle would be boring, stagnant, closed, impersonal, inflexible, intolerant, conforming, regressive. It would be a waste of life experience, since the beauty of life is that we all have a unique perspective and the opportunity to actively make the world better by contributing something personal. Like many other virtues, it seems self-confidence is an important condition for creativity because one must believe that one has something within them that worth sharing through the expression of creation. and that one has the ability to create. Jenn was not self-confident, but dependent on other people's standards. Although she may be very intelligent, she did not use it to expand her mind and actually ended up suppressing it through conforming.

Now, we have pinpointed a number of words that seem relevant to good creativity. We can look at these words and learn more about creativity by asking:

-Can you have ____ without having creativity?

-What is the exact relationship between _____ and creativity?

-What kind of _____ are we talking about?

The List:

resourceful expansive productive intuition

variety possibilities deep free

open active rich experimental

expressive lively effective sharing

personal intelligent unusual versatile

evolution problem solving(solutions) art progressive

innovation original clever meaningful

lively inventive interesting impulsive

contribution ability imagination spontaneous

ideas skill rebellious thoughtful

ingenuity strength fresh new

flexibility power perspective inspiring

Words such as "intelligent," "thoughtful," and "clever" are strongly tied to creativity, but creativity is not necessary to have any of these. There are intelligent, thoughtful, and clever people who are not creative. It seems that of the three words, the one that seems the most necessary as a condition for creativity is "thoughtful." Clever is a dangerous word that can mean extreme analytic reasoning and creativity, again, is not so extreme in that sense. Creativity is more of an original perspective, a different way of looking at things, which encourages the development of fresh ideas, which lead to new creations. So, original, open, or new perspective is a condition necessary for good creativity. We can say that if someone who is not creative broadens their view of the world or opens their perspective, they will likely become more creative in their thought and actions.

But it seems that the goodness of good creativity does not stem from thought. Creative thought is all right, but I think we are looking for more of an energy, force, or motivation which is inherent in the creation of new things. Most people would not describe the creative process in the production of good art rational. Good creativity is not stagnant, but moving. And this is where certain other words come in such as "evolution," "innovation," "expansive," "effective...... productive," and "inventive." These can all be seen as verbs and active words. We can change "evolution" to "evolving," and innovation" to "innovative" or "Innovating." We could also say "expanding," "effecting," "producing," and "inventing." Good creativity is active in the world, but we must differentiate between good creative thought, creative production, and simple thought and production. Creative makes the thought or production unique, inventive, new, and personal.

You can have strength and power without having creativity, but what type of strength and power is it we associate with creativity. I think the power stems from the strength one finds within oneself to have confidence in one's self and one's ideas, the strength to resist conforming to societies rules, and the strength to take the more difficult, more interesting route in life: the questioning route. To be creative one must have the inner strength to question what society considers givens, ultimate answers, and limitations. Creativity breaks through the boundary of limitations and failure. It finds a way to succeed, even if it means taking the longer route. It sees this longer route, while most people think that only one route exists. There are an infinite number of routes, an infinite number of possibilities, and I think this is what creativity sees. All of this newness is how we evolve as people, and as a society. Emerson College's motto is "expression necessary for evolution," and I think it is talking about creativity, creative expression.

The words "skill," "ability," and "ingenuity" have to do with putting the creative energy into action. As Sue used her varying and numerous ideas to create fun for the kids at the birthday party, she also encouraged them to tap into their creativity and use it to contribute to the creation of new games. Also, an artist may have great creative energies, but the true Art is In using those energies to touch and affect others.

Refined theory of X: We left off with the X that is the root of the goodness in good creativity being "a sharing of self through free flow and active expression of original ideas." Now we might say, "a sharing of free-flowing, unique energy and the encouraging of a broadening perspective on life." The phrase "encouraging of a broadening perspective on life" is definitely closer to the core of good creativity than our original guess, "free flow and active production of original ideas," and it has a stronger action. Perhaps we can leave it at "expressing and encouraging of a broadening perspective." Good creativity is both an expression of a broad perspective, which should be continuing to broaden with the continuation of creative expression, and it encourages others to broaden their perspective, because new ideas, creations, etc., often require mind-opening to take them in.

Of course, "expressing and encouraging of a broadening perspective," doesn't articulate the image I now have in my head of an active force that is free and produces new things, as a result of a perspective that is open and flexible, and ultimately resulting in a fuller, richer, deeper, more meaningful, more personally connected, and unique experience of life, which is self-sufficient and separate from society.

What is it about the human condition that makes creativity an important virtue?

Each person is born with a different perspective and a unique mind and personality. It is this uniqueness that makes the world colorful, interesting, and vibrant. Society often attempts to conform people into stereotypes, limiting their possibilities, controlling them. Guidance is important, but control is an illusion. No one can have true control over you but yourself, and it requires a great inner strength to have the confidence to develop your own unique point of view. Inner freedom allows for greater creativity, which allows you to live life more fully, in a way that is very personal to you. As I mentioned before, creativity is necessary for us to evolve as people and as a society. It puts a personal perspective on our thoughts and in everything we do, so we can distinguish ourselves from the stereotypes of society.