In the most popular TED talk of all time, now with over 64 million views, Sir Ken Robinson asks the question, “Do schools kill creativity?” His response, spun through an enchanting 20-minute talk, makes the case that creativity is as important in education as literacy.
And perhaps it’s becoming more scarce. We may indeed imagine that our aptitude for creativity dwindles as we ripen into adulthood. Are we taking ourselves too seriously? Or maybe we gradually become more cautious and unwilling to make mistakes, perhaps for fear of being judged.
For Robinson, we retain our creativity, like children, to the extent we are willing to be wrong. Not that being wrong is the same things as being creative, he says, but if we’re not willing to make mistakes we’ll never create anything original.
This month we’re going to tackle a Big Question that may be more light-hearted than our usual fare, but no less important. The topic this month is creativity and the personal questions with which we’d like to engage include the following:
- Are you creative?
- Why or why not?
- Are you more or less creative now than when you were younger?
- What is creativity, and where does it come from?
The topic may be somewhat lighter but it is no less profound. At this moment in history, our collective clinging to what is known, what is correct and acceptable may jeopardize our collective future. Can we risk making mistakes as we imagine new ways of being in the world?
We hope you will join us for this creative discussion on Tuesday, Feb 25th at 7:30 in the Parlor.