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Why Are Some People More Creative Than Others?

scientificamerican.com

11–20 of 118 posts

Re: Why Are Some People More Creative Than Others?

#11
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really believe this? Genetics help, sure. But it is just potential. Can you provide an example where one person was so genetically talented that they didn’t train and still were competitive at some semi-professional level?

Sure, Karsten Braasch seems like one such example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Sexes_(tennis)#1... "Another event dubbed a "Battle of the Sexes" took place during the 1998 Australian Open[51] between Karsten Braasch and the Williams sisters. Venus and Serena Williams had claimed that they could beat any male player ranked outside the world's top 200, so Braasch, then ranked 203rd, challenged them both…

[deleted]

Re: Why Are Some People More Creative Than Others?

#12

Some people are better athletes than others, but anyone who trains will be better than someone who does not, regardless of any innate potential. I see creativity along the same lines. Many folks are conditioned to memorize, follow processes, follow norms and paths laid by others, it may not occur to them to seek out originality. It is another form of learned helplessness. Creating is hard, especially when judged in a…

> but anyone who trains will be better than someone who does not, regardless of any innate potential I disagree. The genetic lottery is unfair; and some people are just better than you no matter what you do, and no matter what they don't do.

Does that matter? Do you take pride in what you've accomplished, or is the focus on who's better?

I'll never "catch up" to Musk, but I'm better than most people simply by trying my own business ideas.

Re: Why Are Some People More Creative Than Others?

#14
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really believe this? Genetics help, sure. But it is just potential. Can you provide an example where one person was so genetically talented that they didn’t train and still were competitive at some semi-professional level?

Sure, Karsten Braasch seems like one such example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Sexes_(tennis)#1... "Another event dubbed a "Battle of the Sexes" took place during the 1998 Australian Open[51] between Karsten Braasch and the Williams sisters. Venus and Serena Williams had claimed that they could beat any male player ranked outside the world's top 200, so Braasch, then ranked 203rd, challenged them both…

Pretty bad example. Dude was a semi-retired PROFESSIONAL tennis player. Who had been ranked as high as 38th in the world.

He obviously had a fuck ton of training, was just 'retired' when he played the game.

Re: Why Are Some People More Creative Than Others?

#15
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really believe this? Genetics help, sure. But it is just potential. Can you provide an example where one person was so genetically talented that they didn’t train and still were competitive at some semi-professional level?

Sure, Karsten Braasch seems like one such example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Sexes_(tennis)#1... "Another event dubbed a "Battle of the Sexes" took place during the 1998 Australian Open[51] between Karsten Braasch and the Williams sisters. Venus and Serena Williams had claimed that they could beat any male player ranked outside the world's top 200, so Braasch, then ranked 203rd, challenged them both…

[deleted]

Re: Why Are Some People More Creative Than Others?

#16
> Some ideas were more creative than others. For the sock, one participant suggested using it to warm your feet—the common use for a sock—while another participant suggested using it as a water filtration system.

> We also ranked their ideas for originality: Common uses received lower scores (using a sock to warm your feet), while uncommon uses received higher scores (using a sock as a water filtration system).

> Overall, people with stronger connections came up with better ideas.

The only objective measure used here is the originality rank. Just because an idea is "original" doesn't mean it is "creative". At least not in a useful way. What if I suggested using a sock to wash your car? Probably an "original" idea. So maybe they ranked it as less creative, even though it is original?

Of course this is just a contrived example, but it seems to me like this is an area that could introduce bias pretty easily.

Re: Why Are Some People More Creative Than Others?

#17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but anyone who trains will be better than someone who does not, regardless of any innate potential I disagree. The genetic lottery is unfair; and some people are just better than you no matter what you do, and no matter what they don't do.

I can't think of an instance where this is true for normal people. I can see an untrained 250lb person beating a 100lb one-armed boxer, but outside such extreme disparities, training >> innate ability, at least in my experience.

Most mental jobs are like this? Programming is notoriously difficult for people without the right mindset, and the right mindset is difficult to teach. During my degree I've met many people who've worked really hard, much harder than I did, and some of them quite smart - but just couldn't learn to write good code. They've eventually switched degrees or dropped out, because there's only so long you can try something for when you obviously aren't achieving much.

Re: Why Are Some People More Creative Than Others?

#19

Some people are better athletes than others, but anyone who trains will be better than someone who does not, regardless of any innate potential. I see creativity along the same lines. Many folks are conditioned to memorize, follow processes, follow norms and paths laid by others, it may not occur to them to seek out originality. It is another form of learned helplessness. Creating is hard, especially when judged in a…

> but anyone who trains will be better than someone who does not, regardless of any innate potential I disagree. The genetic lottery is unfair; and some people are just better than you no matter what you do, and no matter what they don't do.

A You that trains will be better than a You that does not train.

Re: Why Are Some People More Creative Than Others?

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but anyone who trains will be better than someone who does not, regardless of any innate potential I disagree. The genetic lottery is unfair; and some people are just better than you no matter what you do, and no matter what they don't do.

Does that matter? Do you take pride in what you've accomplished, or is the focus on who's better? I'll never "catch up" to Musk, but I'm better than most people simply by trying my own business ideas.

I don't know, doesn't the outcome matter? Trying is admirable, but if a person tries and fails and I never try; at the end of the day we're both in the same place, no?
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