In this fascinating excerpt from his book, Life Finds a Way, author and professor Andreas Wagner likens creativity to nature’s determination to problem-solve. We love the idea that being playful isn’t just for practise or fun, but it actually promotes flexibility and prepares for unpredictability. This can extend to dreaming and mind-wandering, too. Suspending judgement…
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The idea of creativity being ‘educated out’ or just losing that spark of imagination as we age is common. We’d certainly support nurturing it in children in every way possible, but there’s debate on how this develops as we get older. Some studies actually show a boost and peak between our 20s and 40s. What…
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As artificial intelligence and automation innovates, so, it seems, should we. Exercising creative skills allows us to bring to the table what only we can in terms of abstract, free, untaught thinking. This endorsement from the tech industry places much-welcome value on alternative methods of learning and arts education. uniquely human skills John Fallon, Pearson…
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Today we’re taking a look at philosophy and professor Tom McLeish‘s new book on science and creativity. We often espouse the benefits and importance, as Tom does, of imagination in learning and scientific discovery. However, what he does here too is argue for the study of science as integral to all learning. It’s easy to…
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At the Institute of Imagination (iOi), we are often asked what the difference is between imagination and creativity. We answer by referencing our Institute of Imagination champion Sir Ken Robinson’s definition: creativity is the application of imagination. Is There A Difference Between Imagination And Creativity? Through imagination we can step outside of our current context, revisit…
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This chapter from Larry G Maguire‘s The Artist’s Manifesto is an interesting exploration of a potentially binding concept we take for granted. In making our creativity timeless, we make room for new methods of expression, other points of view and openness of thinking. It can even free us from other common restrictions such as prescribed…
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Is creativity something we’re born with – a magic spark that some people have and some don’t? In this video from PBSoffbook, practitioners in a variety of fields talk about what being creative really means. We love this exploration because it characterises the process as something inclusive, both of people and ways of working. For…
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This is an interesting exploration into how important it is that we not only foster playful learning in children, but how we shouldn’t lose that impulse as adults. In making it an essential part of lifelong development, we can ensure we champion creativity and play from an early age. I know as an adult I…
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This is a great piece from Forbes about the importance of creativity in science. Not just in having ideas and thinking about a problem differently, but in the way we communicate. It’s an example of STEAM learning; of weaving arts into our understanding of science through stories. Stories are as old as humanity itself; they’re…
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This research into how creativity and ‘distant thinking‘ feed each other is fascinating. We focus a lot on the benefits of imagination for solving problems and navigating our world in the present, but it’s exciting to think that it can help us tap into our future potential. The common human default mode is that we…
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