Another great snippet from The Midnight Disease by Alice W. Flaherty:

“Although–at least in principle–everyone approves of creativity, many have been skeptical of attempts to study or enhance it. The artist’s view is often that creativity should be left alone, that looking too closely could endanger it. The basic scientist’s view also is often that creativity should be left alone; that it is by definition too anomalous for controlled study. That has left the study of creativity enhancement to New Age practitioners, inspirational business seminar leaders, and a few brave social scientists.”

This is true, and I’ve seen it many times. What we don’t know can’t hurt us, so it’s better to just leave everything alone?

I strongly disagree. The only way I’ve ever improved a thing in my life was by learning more about it, and the principles under which it operates. I’ve never increased my skill or ability through ignorance. Ignorance only supports the status-quo of mediocrity.

And yes, the study of creativity enhancement has indeed been left up to New Age practitioners, inspirational gurus, and people who are often otherwise known as ‘quacks.’ The fact that they are profiting off the ignorance of others, well… I will hold back from making a moral judgment on that. In one sense, I say more power to them. It is up to every individual to be wary, alert, and self-educated, to avoid being swindled by the magical aura of self-declared authority figures.

The role of the creative person is not to mindlessly crank things out of infantile self-expression, but to also gain & lend perspective. To go a step further, open-minded exploration should not just be done through our mediums, but it should be applied recursively to the creative process itself. Creative people exist alongside a polygamy of methods. There is a wide array of tools and processes available to us, and we are not married to any particular one of them.

The belief that creativity should be left alone isn’t far from superstitious or religious belief. It is the idea that examining a process might destroy it, just as mentioning a possible bad outcome might ‘jinx’ that outcome.

It is no surprise that people involved in the creation of myth are also susceptible to believing myths. And certainly when it comes to entertainment, we should not deny ourselves the pleasure in suspension of disbelief. But when it comes to improving at the creative process, we need to be honest with ourselves and set aside the myths we use to craft our fiction, and apply the razor of logic and intuition. Our beliefs about the creative process should not share in common with our work, the label of fiction.

In respecting other peoples’ beliefs, I also must admit that my view on creativity is also just my belief. But I can’t help ask…

Why should creativity be left alone?