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Old Age and Creativity

inference-review.com

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Re: Old Age and Creativity

#71

Post by openfuture »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #48

Like many of these types of sweeping inferences, I suspect that the devil is in the details. Namely, what , exactly, is being measured? Everybody changes, as we age. I'm almost 60, and, as I look back on my yute (I live in New York, so I have to use the correct lingo), I am amazed at what an addlepated, compulsive, reactive, emotion-driven, knucklehead I was. When I think about what I considered "earth-shatteringly i…

Man, have some sympathy for yourself. The reason you get stuff done now is that you suffered from an inability to put these speeches into practice but eventually you figured it out, sitting with your frustration paid off. Thanks to old you, now you get stuff done. Clearly he had good priorities.

Re: Old Age and Creativity

#72

Post by yetanother12345 »

This was interesting. My background is that I'm a creative artist ("one of them pesky painters") who has to eat, and due to this has been forced to work in several IT related areas for the past three decades or so, employed as well as self employed.

Reading this piece I was struck by the thought - "hey shouldn't this be about creativity, and now he's off to talking about physics and math in stead?"

It's true that while working in "problem solving" fields you may sometimes feel that you are doing something creative. I mean, you actually come up with this solution to that issue which did apparently not exist previously. So, you did "create" something.

However, a painter (and/or a writer, or dancer, musician, any other "pure creative") does not have that luxury of a pre existing problem that is in need of a solution. S/he has to invent both the problem and the solution - and more often than not (IMHO) such problems are extremely abstract, to the point that one that observes the solution (eg a painting) will hardly be able to even guess which general type of problem that solution may offer a perspective on.

So, that was one thing. Another is that being a painter is not a career. Physics, math, sciences in general has a lot of different career paths to choose from, so if you have that general inclination you will no doubt be able to support yourself (get food) while doing stuff related to your interests. In painting, not so. The best you can hope for is that someone will note your work long after you're dead and gone. It does not pay the bills (except for rare exceptions which are just that).

I think that would be my two cents

Re: Old Age and Creativity

#73

Post by yetanother12345 »

paulpauper wrote: post #9

Art has the advantage of being a market. so even in old age there will always be demand for well known artists. but academia is more about quantifiable merit and results

You may be confusing matters. To a living artist in general the market is not an advantage. The artist is not even an actor on said market, the market operates totally removed from the artist. Mostly the "well known artists" that you mention are either very very dead or among the chosen (very!) few "contemporaries" that for whatever reason are able to command exorbitant prices. Those artists that you hear about and those that gets any share of any market are an extremely small minority. It is of no help to any artist that there is an art market.

However, as to "quantifiable merits and results" that is very applicable to the art scene in general. An artist is above and beyond all else identified by his/her accumulated body of work.

Re: Old Age and Creativity

#74

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

openfuture wrote: post #71
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #48

Like many of these types of sweeping inferences, I suspect that the devil is in the details. Namely, what , exactly, is being measured? Everybody changes, as we age. I'm almost 60, and, as I look back on my yute (I live in New York, so I have to use the correct lingo), I am amazed at what an addlepated, compulsive, reactive, emotion-driven, knucklehead I was. When I think about what I considered "earth-shatteringly i…

Man, have some sympathy for yourself. The reason you get stuff done now is that you suffered from an inability to put these speeches into practice but eventually you figured it out, sitting with your frustration paid off. Thanks to old you, now you get stuff done. Clearly he had good priorities.

Well, it's not really being "hard on myself." It's just a rather humorous reflection on me (and on others). One of the things that young folks do, is take themselves way too seriously. After we get some wrinkles and gray hair, we come to realize that a lot of life is paper tigers. There's plenty of stuff that needs to be taken quite seriously, but time allows us to apply a razor; cutting away the chaff.

Also, some of the best lessons I learned, were from ass-kickings.

"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."

--Attributed to Nasrudin, but I read it from Will Rogers

Everything has worked out, the way it needed to, in order to bring me to where I am now.

I have no regrets, but I do get a chuckle or two, from reflection.

Re: Old Age and Creativity

#75

Post by openfuture »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #74
openfuture wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man, have some sympathy for yourself. The reason you get stuff done now is that you suffered from an inability to put these speeches into practice but eventually you figured it out, sitting with your frustration paid off. Thanks to old you, now you get stuff done. Clearly he had good priorities.

Well, it's not really being "hard on myself." It's just a rather humorous reflection on me (and on others). One of the things that young folks do, is take themselves way too seriously. After we get some wrinkles and gray hair, we come to realize that a lot of life is paper tigers. There's plenty of stuff that needs to be taken quite seriously, but time allows us to apply a razor; cutting away the chaff. Also, some of…

I guess I reconize myself in you, although younger I am precisely at the turning point where walking feels less work than talking.. the talking was definitely not a waste though, it is the privilege of the young to feel passionate about things.
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