CREATIVITY -  is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created (such as an idea, a joke, an artistic or literary work, a painting or musical composition, a solution, an invention etc.). The ideas and concepts so conceived can then manifest themselves in any number of ways, but most often, they become something we can see, hear, smell, touch, or taste. The range of scholarly interest in creativity includes a multitude of definitions and approaches involving several disciplines; psychology, cognitive science,education, philosophy (particularly philosophy of science), technology, theology, sociology, linguistics, business studies, songwriting and economics, taking in the relationship between creativity and general intelligence, mental and neurological processes associated with creativity, the relationships between personality type and creative ability and between creativity and mental health, the potential for fostering creativity through education and training, especially as augmented

by technology, and the application of creative resources to improve the effectiveness of learning and teaching processes.

CREATIVENESS - having or showing an ability to make new things or think of new ideas

: using the ability to make or think of new things : involving the process by which new ideas, stories, etc., are created

: done in an unusual and often dishonest way.

 1marked by the ability or power to create :  given tocreating <the creative impulse>2:  having the quality of something created rather than imitated :  IMAGINATIVE <the creative arts>3:  managed so as to get around legal or conventional limits<creative financing>; also :  deceptively arranged so as to conceal or defraud <creative accounting>

— cre·a·tive·ly adverb— cre·a·tive·ness noun

Creativity works in mysterious and often paradoxical ways. Creative thinking is a stable, defining characteristic in some personalities, but it may also change based on situation and context. Inspiration and ideas often arise seemingly out of nowhere and then fail to show up when we most need them, and creative thinking requires complex cognition yet is completely distinct from the thinking process.Neuroscience paints a complicated picture of creativity. As scientists now understand it, creativity is far more complex than the right-left brain distinction would have us think (the theory being that left brain = rational

and analytical, right brain = creative and emotional). In fact, creativity is thought to involve a number of cognitive processes, neural pathways and emotions, and we still don't have the full picture of how the imaginative mind works.And psychologically speaking, creative personality types are difficult to pin down, largely because they're complex, paradoxical and tend to avoid habit or routine. And it's not just a stereotype of the "tortured artist" -- artists really may be more complicated people. Research  has suggested  that creativity involves the coming together of a multitude of traits, behaviors and social influences in a single person."It's actually hard for creative people to know themselves because the creative

self is more complex than the non-creative self," Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist at New York University who has spent years researching creativity, told The Huffington Post. "The things that stand out the most are the paradoxes of the creative self ... Imaginative people have messier minds."

There are a surprising number of blog posts

about the characteristics of creative people.

However, most of these seem to focus

either on an idealized vision of an artist or

the blog-writer’s idealized self-image! Here

is my take on the characteristics of highly

creative people. However, what I have done

is looked at how creative people think --

based on my understanding of the latest

research -- and applied it to behavior.

It is also worth bearing in mind that

creativity is not all positive. There are good

and bad creative people. Moreover, there

seem to be some characteristics of creative

people, such as dishonesty, that are not

very nice. More controversially, some

research has shown a correlation between

creativity and mental illness. (The validity of

this is contested, though.)

The characteristics of highly creative people

are, I believe, the result of two specific

behaviors of such people. Let's look at

those behaviors and how they affect

broader behavior.

Behavior One: Make More Use of Their

Mental Raw Material

It seems that when highly creative people

try to solve a problem or achieve a goal,

particularly when the goal is related to their

area of creative strength, they use much

more of their brains than do ordinary people

or, indeed, than even themselves when

they are not focused on a creative task. If

the average person is asked to draw a

picture of a cat, she will most likely think

about the physical appearance of a cat and

replicate it as best she can with pen and

paper. The creative artist, on the other

hand, will think in much more depth. She'll

think not only about the cat, but the

placement of the cat; what the cat is doing;

the lighting; the kind of lines to use and

much more. She may decide to humanize

the cat and give it emotions. Perhaps she'll

decide to draw a sexy cat with a human

body wearing an evening gown. Maybe

she'll simply draw a blur representing a cat

in motion.

By using much more of her brain to achieve

her goal, the highly creative person, in

effect, provides herself with more raw

material from which to construct ideas than

the average person. The average person

thinks only about drawings of cats and the

basic characteristics of cats. This limits the

level of creativity she can achieve. The

highly creative person thinks about much

more -- all the while retaining some

connection to cats. It is not surprising that,

with so much raw material, she is able to be

more creative in the realization of her ideas.

They Think Before They ActIt takes time to run through all that raw

material in the brain. This is why creative

people tend to think before they act. They

play with the issue in their minds for a time,

looking at a range of possibilities before

choosing a direction. I see this when I work

with creative people. When you give an

average person a creative challenge, she

tends immediately to try and come up with

ideas. But because her mind is too focused

on the issues of the challenge, her ideas

are limited in scope as well. They are

conventional, obvious ideas. The highly

creative person, on the other hand, tends to

turn the problem around in her head. She

asks questions, thinks about it in various

scenarios and brings seemingly unrelated

information into her problem solving.

For example, if you ask an averagely

creative person to come up with ideas for

things you could do with a big box (for

example, the kind of box a new washing

machine might be packaged in), she will

immediately think of boxes and their usual

uses: storage, children's toys, perhaps

protection against the elements.

A highly creative person would go further.

She might think about using a box as a

children's toy (as would most people), but

she would also think about the kind of

games children might play in a box. She

might imagine climbing into the box and

then wonder what it would be like. She

might think about tearing apart the box and

what to do with the pieces - perhaps use

them for kindling for a fire or raw material

for a sculpture. She might invert the box in

her mind and climb on top of it. What would happen if she did that, she might wonder.

All of these thoughts enable her to come up

with many more ideas than the averagely

creative person. But these thoughts all

come from her mind. She is simply using

more of her mind and its memories,

thoughts and notions in order to construct

ideas.

Incidentally, the highly creative person does

not focus on her left brain or right brain for a

simple reason: it's a myth. Creative people

use a lot of their brains, not one

hemisphere or the other!

Curiosity Is Creative PlayHighly creative people are often cited as

being very curious. This fits with the way

their brains work. Rather than simply collect

information, their brains play with it. One

person might see a horse standing in a field

and think it is a magnificent looking animal.

Another more curiously creative person

might wonder what the horse thinks about

all day in the field. She might wonder how

the horse can cope for long hours of

inactivity without a book to read. Or she

might notice that the horse tends to hang

out by the fence that borders another field

where another horse resides. The creative

person might wonder how two animals that

do not have spoken or written language

might bond and what kinds of friendships

horses might have.

Spontaneous IdeasIt is by often asking these questions,

wondering and being curious that creative

people come up with spontaneous ideas.

For instance, it is by asking what use could

be made of not-very-sticky glue that some

people discovered Post-Its. Pablo Picasso

wondered how he could depict three-

dimensional reality, as viewed from different

perspectives, and came up with surrealism.

Behavior Two: Less Intellectual Regulation

The dorsolateral prefrontal region of the

brain is responsible for, among other

things,intellectual regulation. It includes the

brain's censorship bureau: the bit of the

brain that prevents us from saying or doing

inappropriate things. It allows us to control

impulses and to choose appropriate

courses of behavior according to our

circumstances. It seems that in highly

creative people, this part of the brain

becomes much less active during times of

creation. This makes sense. If you can

reduce the level of thought regulation when

generating creative work (whether ideas,

music, or artwork), then fewer ideas will be

filtered out as inappropriate and more will

be developed and shared.

In averagely creative people, on the other

hand, the dorsolateral prefrontal region

remains more active all the time. It filters

out crazy thoughts; it prevents the person

from saying, doing or even thinking too

much about outrageous ideas. It ensures

that averagely creative people think and

behave conventionally. And for many

people, this is preferred. Most people desire

to fit into society and succeed according to

existing rules. It is only creative misfits who

want to succeed by doing things their own

way—by ignoring convention, by having the

audacity to believe they know better than

convention.

For many people, this is a good thing.

Sharing stupid ideas is embarrassing.

People might laugh at the individual who

shares seemingly stupid ideas. People

might question her competence. Moreover,

the averagely creative individual may

wonder why she should bother with creative

ideas when more conventional solutions

work well enough. No one is going to be

laughed at or reprimanded for coming up

with a conventional idea that is in keeping

with the norms of the local culture (whether

it is society, a school or a workplace). On

the other hand, sharing a radical idea that

might be stupid could well result in ridicule.

Acting on an idea that could fail miserably

could get you in trouble.

In short, it is safer to be conventional and

incremental in your creativity than it is to be

unconventional and radical in your creativity

–for most people. Highly creative people

are different. Their brains are programmed

to worry less about fitting in with

conventions and staying within norms. It is

not that highly creative people are not afraid

of ridicule or criticism (indeed, many artists

are highly sensitive). Rather, it never occurs

to them that others might ridicule their

ideas.

Creative People Are Not as Rebellious as You ThinkThis leads to the myth that creative people

are rebellious. I do not believe this is

entirely true. But whereas most people,

thanks to their active dorsolateral prefrontal

cortexes, regulate their thinking and

behavior to fit with conventional behavior,

creative people are not so handicapped.

Instead, they follow their own rules or

systems for evaluating ideas and deciding

whether to move forward with those ideas.

These rule systems are often logical, at

least to the creative thinker. But, because

they are not about conforming to social

norms, it makes the creative thinker seem

rebellious. An artist, for example, will not

make a name for herself by studiously

copying current trends. Rather, she will

become famous by being unique. So, if she

makes decisions based on what is

commonplace, ordinary and conforming in

the art world, she will never make a name

for herself. However, if she purposely veers

from what is popular in order to carve out

her own, unique style –she may become

famous. She may make a name for herself.

Creative People Are Logical

Another common fallacy about creative

people is that they are not logical, that they

are driven purely by feeling and emotion. I

do not believe this is true. Rather, as noted,

creative people are not handicapped by a

need to conform to social norms. They are

not compelled to be a part of popular

culture. Rather, they are driven by a logic

that suits their needs and is logical to them.

That logic may be based in part on

emotions and feelings -- especially in some

artists. But it is a form of logic nevertheless.

All people need to make decisions and

decisions are based on some kind of logic.

The creative artist is no exception. If

anything, by not feeling compelled to fit the

demands of popular culture, the creative

artist needs to be even more logical than

the average person who assumes that if

everyone wears and buys a particular style

jacket, then it is safe to buy and wear such

a jacket.

Creative People Tend to Be Less HonestAnother apparent consequence of having a

relaxed dorsolateral prefrontal region,

combined with a brain that is adept at

building ideas, appears to be a reduced

need to be honest. Research by Francesca

Gino and Dan Ariely confirms that, in

general, highly creative people are less

honest than averagely creative people. The

reason for this seems to be that creative

people can use their creativity to justify their

actions in ways that less creative people

cannot do. A lot of people, highly creative

people as well as self-proclaimed creative

people, will balk at this and claim that they

are very honest. And it is true that they

believe that. That is because their creativity

is successful in convincing them that their

behavior is justified.

Creative People Are Introverts, Extroverts, Collaborators, Independent, Big, Small, Fat, Skinny...I have seen some bloggers claim that

creative people are introverts; others that

creative people are extroverts. I have heard

that creative work better in groups and that

they work better individually. However, I

have never seen these assumptions

supported in any way. The truth is,

creativity seems to have little to do with how

well one functions socially, one's weight

(though I would assume that being in good

health would help the brain function better)

or other personal characteristics. The truth

is, creative people come in all kinds of

shapes, sizes, colors and personalities.

What truly distinguishes them from others is

that they use more of their brains to

generate ideas -- which provides them with

more raw material for building unique ideas

-- and less of their brains to regulate the

development and sharing of those unusual

ideas.

What Do You Think?What do you think? Is this a fair portrayal of

the characteristics of creative people? If

not, why not? Have I missed anything? I'd

love for you to share your thoughts!