In this episode of the Idea to Value podcast, we speak with Dr Rob Weiner about the fascinating history of creativity.
Dr Weiner is a former Professor teaching creativity (as well as “Lying 101”) and author of Creativity and Beyond: Cultures, Values, and Change, which discusses how different cultures have defined and valued the key concept of creativity and how this has changed over time.
Topics covered in this episode:
- 00:01:45 – Dr Weiner’s history teaching creativity across several universities, and how that has brought him to his current creative outlets
- 00:06:30 – There was no word for creativity before the 1870s, and it was not in the dictionary before the 1950s
- 00:09:00 – In ancient times, there was no concept of individual creativity. It was only god who created things
- 00:11:00 – the ancient perception that “muses” or other external divine spirits were responsible for ideas
- 00:15:00 – in ancient Greece, most art and sculptures were considered “technologies”, because they were repeated processes from what had come before. It was in the Renaissance that many crafts went from the humans being the tools of production, to being the originators of the idea.
- 00:19:30 – Most things can be both a block or a spur for creativity, different for everyone
- 00:21:30 – How so many people don’t know how to express their creativity
- 00:24:00 – His recent research and work on understanding “lying” and truth, and how this is threatened by creativity
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Book: Creativity and Beyond https://amzn.to/3xrAM12
- Dr Weiner’s site: http://creativityandbeyond.com
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Nick Skillicorn
Chief Editor, Founder & CEO at Improvides Innovation Consulting
Creativity & Innovation expert: I help individuals and companies build their creativity and innovation capabilities, so you can develop the next breakthrough idea which customers love. Chief Editor of Ideatovalue.com and Founder / CEO of Improvides Innovation Consulting. Coach / Speaker / Author / TEDx Speaker / Voted as one of the most influential innovation bloggers.
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