WEEK 5 CREATIVE STUDIES This week, the lecturer introduced us to the idea of mind-mapping.Mind-mapping is a technique that is introduced by Tony Buzan.It is the tool for idea generation which involves the right and left brain. WHY MIND-MAP?? [GOOGLE IMAGE]
Well,mind-mapping is widely used in taking notes & doing research.I have done that many times and it allows me to absorb vast information compared to remembering things by reading.Below is a video by Tony Buzan as well as Tracy
Mind-map is an overall sketches of ideas by usingIMAGES, KEYWORDS, CURVE LINESandSUBJECT MATTER.The subject matter would be placed in the middle and further divided into curved branches which contain the keyword. Images is inserted to strengthen memory power.
AN EXAMPLE OF MIND MAP
Mind maps can be used for:
problem solving
outline/framework design
structure/relationship representations
anonymous collaboration
marriage of words and visuals
individual expression of creativity
condensing material into a concise and memorable format
team building or synergy creating activity
enhancing work morale
In addition to these direct use cases, data retrieved from mind maps can be used to enhance several other applications, for instance expert search systems, search engines and search and tag query recommender. To do so, mind maps can be analysed with classic methods of information retrieval to classify a mind map's author or documents that are linked from within the mind map.
WEEK 5 **When we mention Japan, I would think of comic and animation.
NARUTO [ :D hehe..... this is one of my all time fav. An amazing animation by MASASHI KISHIMOTO] But .......,there is also one important fact I know about Japan .... that is they are known higly for their recognised skills in invention and innovation. Walkman, pocket calculator,heated toilet seats were consumer products that came successfully after many failures made. Just like Thomas Edison, whom made success out of failure "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."-Thomas Edison http://quotations.about.com/od/stillmorefamouspeople/a/ThomasEdison3.htm
I have learnt that not all inventions bring innovation. Just as the product shown above, although it is an invention from creative ideas, purposes and holds value,it is not enough to be an innovative product. An innovative product should be an implementation of something new whereas invention is the creation of something that has never been made before and recognised as a unique insight.
By creating new ideas, we display creativity,but there is no innovation until it gets implemented.Risk has to be taken by individual for his/her creative idea to turned into an innovation.An invention might be a product that has never existed before.So, every invention is an innovation.But not every innovation is invention. HERE ARE SOME FAILED JAPANESE INVENTIONS:
Failure is a necessary part of the innovation process because from failure comes learning, the ability to adapt,improvise, and the building of new conceptual and physical models through an iterative learning process. Almost all innovations are the result of prior learning from failures.
Henceforth, dun let failure get to you!!
##Be more flexible in what we are doing. If we do so, then we could accept any failure attempt by innovating ideas from many previous failure.Invention is a skill that anyone could hav. LOL.... but when it comes to being innovative, it depends on newly,fresh ideas that could affect the world in many ways :)
Creativity and society are each interconnected in every aspect ever since in ancient history.It is either creativity affects society or vice versa.For example, let's look in detail about the Mesopotamian creativity.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS Mesopotamian is the first civilisation that has landed its foot on Earth.According to history, Mesopotamia refers to the the land between the Tigris-Euphrates river. Both rivers are fed by numerous tributaries, and the entire river system drains a vast mountainous region. Overland routes in Mesopotamia usually follow the Euphrates because the banks of the Tigris are frequently steep and difficult. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert expanse in the north which gives way to a 15,000 square kilometres (5,800 sq mi) region of marshes, lagoons, mud flats, and reed banks in the south. In the extreme south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into the Persian Gulf.This condition creates an oppurtunity for the Mesopotamians to make use of the rivers to carry out agricultural activities. The Mesopotamians has relied upon long distance trade of agricultural products to secure resources such as stones,precious metals and timber since the area is lacking in such natural resources.In the marshlands to the south of the country, a complex water-borne fishing culture has existed since pre-historic times, and has added to the cultural mix. Hunting was also popular among the Assyrian kings. [Source(s):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia]
TRAITS THAT MAKE THEM CREATIVE
Mesopotamians are said and proven to be creative as they came out with many creative inventions such as wheels vehicle.Besides, they have also developed a writing system known as cuneiform, which is a writing style made from wedge-shaped strokes,inscribed on clay, stones, metal or other materials. Other contibutions would include the invention of irrigation system,Mathematics, astronomy and zodiac,field of medicine,literature and The Code Law of Hammurabi. [An actual specimin of the Code of Hammurabi] THERE ARE OTHER INTERESTINGLY CREATIVE ARCHITECTURE & ARTSTOO :) SUCH AS.....
On the mountainside Anzu and Ninurta met … Clouds of death rained
down, an arrow flashed lightning. Whizzed the battle force roared between
them.“Anzu Epic, tablet 2,
THE PROCESS OF CREATIVITY The flow of creativity of the Mesopotamians began when war brought new cultures which expanded and blended. During 4000-539 bc, the Amorite king Hammurabi unified the city states and established the first known code of law.The Amorites as well as other invaders blended their cultures with that of the Sumerians, and Mesopotamia flourished until the 500s B.C., with Babylon as its capital. After Babylon was destroyed by the Assyrians in 689 B.C.,the city was reconstructed.Under King Nebuchadnezzar , Babylon was considered the world's most beautiful,most advanced city. Unfortunately,the creativity of Mesopotamians stopped when Alexander the Great conquered the region, begining an infusion of Hellenistic culture in 331 B.C.SOURCE:[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/iraq/primer/iraq_history.swf]
A word I find the most exciting as this powerful word creates what we called a world,...... one filled with resources, invention, innovation as well as making colors seem vivid all around us.
LIKE THESE,LOL :
In this world, every individual is an artist but the problem is how a person maintain as an artist as they grow up, as said by Picasso. From my point of view, I feel that what really makes us a creative, innovative or inventive person depends on our imagination.Of course we see the same thing as everyone else, but to be special, one would think and see differently from the standpoint of an ordinary person.
LET'S TAKE THESE AS EXAMPLES:
The pic shows us a unique,innovative umbrella creation.First of all, it's design is creative in a sense that it looks like a sword. Pretty glamourous I would say....I wan to have one too, don't you???Besides, it has multipurpose function.Why I say so????
1) IT IS USED WHEN IT RAINS
2) TO SCARE OFF CRIMINALS AS THEY WOULD THOUGHT THAT
IT IS A MURDEROUS SWORD............muahahaha :D :D :D :D,
AND BELOW WE HAVE......
A man that looked like he is .....NAKED!!!! OMG. I myself
think that this branded, latest leather jacket is
extremely creative and not to mention a bold
and brave design.Not everytime we could see this .Moreover,
it's new to me and I think that it takes courage to wear
In my perspective, it is important for one to be bold in order to be creative ,innovative and inventive.Moreover, I feel that we get many creative ideas from our surroundings.Hence, I would support my idea that the kind of environment which could help me cultivate my creativity is the kind of peaceful, serene place, like the countryside or perhaps it can be a place that I like.
I say this because ideas will just spark at times when we observe our surroundings carefully. The more we see things, the more we could imagine and ideas will naturally flow into our mind and soul :) In addition, I think a tension situation could rise our creativity level , but not often it does that. When we are stressed, we will tend to think a lot.There are situations that happened to me before whereby ideas just came in last minute when I desperately need it,especially for an assignment.
Lastly, it is a correct fact that invention as well as innovation happens by accident.Sometimes,we could not predict what could happen. A failure could lead to the invention of something new and innovation happens when we get the idea to make something more better.Therefore, I agree that we can be creative/innovative/inventive if we just do as per our feelings, ideas,concept as well as what we imagined it would become. Success would eventually happen eventhough it's a failure becoz many failures could lead to something new or a theory to do things correctly. Don't be afraid to be wronged,and be wronged to be correct.That's my point of view.A great example would be as below :
Wi-fi
John O'Sullivan, an astronomy and space science fellow at Melbourne's
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, is seen in his
home country as the father of wi-fi.
"Some of the original seeds were sown in radio astronomy," says O'Sullivan.
"Curiously, it was a failed experiment to detect exploding mini black holes the
size of an atomic particle.
"I certainly had no idea where things would lead. Back then, we set out to do
a wireless network at 100 megabits per second.
"Many people thought we had rocks in our head to try do such a thing. We
thought it really would be big, but now I look back and I'm just blown away at
how big it has become."
I would say that the invention of personal computer are indeed remarkable. It is an output from a unique or novel device, method, composition or process which leads to the realistic creation of these artistic and creative technologies that are accepted by the society. Not only it improves the way humans live but it also enhances the quality of life since back in the 1990s as at that time computers are firstly born and achieves a radical breakthrough.
More work can be done faster, easier and in fact, it reduces the usage of manual recording as computers could store more informations and records.We could also use it to serve the World Wide Web to browse for vast information in just a split of time. We could say that the invention of pc at that time has extend the boundaries of human knowledge, experience or capability. Eventhough computers are still being used till now, new innovative products have emerge into the market across the globe.Tablets have been developed and reached a higher customer value through better solutions and market needs in a new way. It tells us that innovation is accomplished through different or more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are readily available to markets, governments, and society. This is proven in a sense whereby tablet is a better, improved product compared to pc due to the fact that it is lighter , portable as well as having a better innovative design and function. In conclusion,innovation differs from invention in that innovation refers to the use of a better and, as a result, novel idea or method, whereas invention refers more directly to the creation of the idea or method itself. Innovation differs from improvement in that innovation refers to the notion of doing something different rather than doing the same thing better :) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation]
As we know, education system in school is important.People go to school to get education, knowledge,and of course as a part of our pathway in persuading our dreams, for most of us that is :)
There are debate and talks circulating around saying that schools kill creativity.But for me, it is a 50:50 ratio. I say so becoz depending on the kind of environment we live in, we grow out of creativity just as being said by Ken Robinson.
SO,what is
???
According to Robert E. Franken, creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas,
alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems,
communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others
-Three reasons why people are motivated to be creative:
1)need for novel, varied, and complex stimulation
2)need to communicate ideas and values
3)need to solve problems
In order to be creative, you need to be able to view things in new ways or
from a different perspective. Among other things, you need to be able to
generate new possibilities or new alternatives. Tests of creativity measure not
only the number of alternatives that people can generate but the uniqueness of
those alternatives. The ability to generate alternatives or to see things
uniquely does not occur by change; it is linked to other, more fundamental
qualities of thinking, such as flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity or
unpredictability, and the enjoyment of things heretofore unknown. http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy00h/creativity/define.htm
*don't be afraid to be CRe AtIVe!!! Just do wat u THINK & accomplish it :D HERE IS a video of talk by Sir Ken Robinson :
So, what do you think and can reflect on through his talk?
First of all, i agree with Ken Robinson's point that most kids are steered away from doing things that they like on the ground that they would never get a job by doing that. Just becoz they have been instill by the thought of the most useful subjects for work are the top.
These concept of thinking have seize the creativity in everyone. From my point of view, one could only shine the most when they are doing the things that they like. For instance, it doesn't mean that kids that doesn't like to study or graduate from college won't get a good life.
Let's look at the fact that these famous,successful people below does best even if they did not attend college or dropout from schools.
Roman Abramovich,richest man
in Russia, billionaire. Dropped out of college. He studied at the Moscow State
Auto Transport Institute before taking a leave of absence from academics to go
into business. He later earned a correspondence degree from the Moscow State Law
Academy. Ansel Adams,photographer. Dropped out of
high school.
Sheldon Adelson,billionaire
casino owner. Dropped out of City College of New York to become a court
reporter. He made his first fortune doing trade shows.
Ferran Adria,chef. Has been
called the world's greatest chef. Did not finish high school.
Ben Affleck,actor, screenwriter. Left the University of Vermont after one semester;
then dropped out of Occidental College to pursue acting.
Billie Joe Armstrong,front man for Green
Day punk rock band. High school dropout. As he noted, “I finally realized that
high school didn't make any sense for me then. So I quit.” [SOURCE =http://collegedropoutshalloffame.com/]
Hence, I would like to specify my idea. To me,what greatly affects me from Ken Robinson's talk is this point
"We should start to reconstitute our perception of the richness of human capacity. Our education system has mined our minds, in the way we strip mine the earth for a particular commodity. And for the future it won’t service. WE have to rethink the fundamental principles on which we’re educating our children.
The only way we’ll do it, is by seeing our creative capacities for the richness they are, and seeing our children for the hope that they are, and our task is to educate their whole being, so they can face this future, which we may not even see. But they will, and our job is to help prepare them to make something of it."
From this, I greatly feel that creativity stands at the same importance as academic perfomance. We may have various kinds of occupation from engineers, scientists, doctors, and all sort but without creative people, the world is dull. School education is important but I think that there are people or parents who still think that education is more important than persuing unrealistic dreams.
Because of this, most individuals could not expand their creativity to the maximum potential and I think that some schools do kill creativity in a way of thinking that core subjects are more important than art subjects.
I do personally experienced it as in school , most teacher has high hopes on the science stream students but along the line they actually negleting the importance of the art stream students too. It doesn't mean that having greater intelligence and knowledge would be better than being a carefree, creative person.It's just about one being themselves...... :) All in all, to have a better world, creativity is needed to expand every country just like how Renaissance have borned many creative, artistic individuals. ^^
" Creativity is contagious, Pass it on". A famous and inspiring quote by Albert Einstein. While reflecting on these words, what would come across your mind first? ... Who and what would you think of ? MOST importantly, how do we judge or hold the concept of creativity? I am sure it means differently to every individuals If I would think of 5 WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH CREATIVITY, I would say:
Originality
I think of this word because in the content of creativity, something new and different has to be created. The idea is to provide something that would hold aesthetic value and at the same time capturing the attention of the audience.
(SOURCE OF PIC :
GOOGLE IMAGE)
Being creative is to create new form of art or self-expression that has never been seen before. For example, the artist in the video below, Natalie Irish creates a potrait using her lipstick. I would say it is original in the content of creativity from my perspective becoz it's a new exploration for me.Well, also as a FCM student, I learnt that what's important is how we make use of things around us and transform it into an art :D
I feel that it's important to believe in our own capabilities.We should not look down or doubt ourselves.When we talk about creativity, I personally feel that one is able to be creative if we believe in the thoughts of many things we could do and go beyond our limit. Then only we won't be afraid to do the impossible and let our emotion, thoughts, and imagination flow freely in both our mind and soul aside from leading us to a higher achievement....^^
[FROM:GOOGLE IMAGE]
Impression
The ability of making an impression is foremost important.One need to think creatively and act accordingly to impress any individuals.For instance, in the world of business, there is a high level of competition from rival companies in the same industry. So, it all comes down to which company is able to take the upper hand by coming up with new ideas and innovation that will impress customers and investors. It should be something new and unique to the people we want to sell it to. Hence, I would say that my own definition of creativity is the ability to impress and interconnect with someone through ideas, thoughts, believes,or even the end-product itself.
Value
An art, idea, sketches, products,and such more holds different value in the context of society.The concept of creativity lies on how valuable a thing or subject is.I mean ,one could come out with a creative product but the world is a harsh reality. Not only it should hold meaningful value from our perspective but it also need to stand up to the requirement of a certain person or the society itself since cultural background and difference in thinking are interconnected and should be taken into consideration in this matter.
Valuable masterpiece animation in Japan:One Piece :D
( GOOGLE IMAGE)
Imagination
There is a saying that chidren are individuals with the most highest level of imagination. Who doesn't do that back when we were kids??? As kids, we would be curious about the world and ask many questions to ourselves. "Imagination as well as careful observation cultivate creativity".That is what my lecturer always tells us.Creativity indeed lies on imagination itself. When I imagine things, it helps me to generate ideas or new thoughts .It's thanks to our dreams and imagination that sparks the idea to something new or the ability to come up with a creative solution.
In contrast, 5 WORDS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH CREATIVITY are:
STAGNANT
I feel that this word has nothing to do withcreativity because a creative person would not stuck in the same place.Instead, they make improvement and make paradigm shift in terms of developing creative thinking with outstanding and unique thought of their own.
DULL
The word dull is not associated with creativity simply because creativity is all about being lively, whether in making self-expression or let imagination roam freely both in our mind and soul.
IMPOSSIBLE
There is no such thing as impossible in the vocabulary of a creative person.When one assume to be unable to achieve something,it will kill the creative side of an individual and the ability to think as well. Hence, impossible is a word that is not associated with creativity..... :)
[ GOOGLE IMAGE]
LOSER & WINNER
Being creative is not about winning or losing.To me, I think that creativity is about enjoy the flow of imaginations, dreams , hallucinations, nightmare and such more. It is also about experiencing the joy and fun of the process of creativity itself ^^ .Besides, the one we should overcome is ourself, not competing with others in term of being creative .......
In addition to these direct use cases, data retrieved from mind maps can be used to enhance several other applications, for instance expert search systems, search engines and search and tag query recommender. To do so, mind maps can be analysed with classic methods of information retrieval to classify a mind map's author or documents that are linked from within the mind map.
