What does being creative mean to you?

I would agree with your definition at first thought. Using skills that you have to capture beauty that you see. However, I guess hers works also! In the sense of thinking outside the box. Interesting...

 

Creativity has often been used, limitedly to describe artistic efforts, when the nature of creativity extends far beyond that. Creativity, i believe, is the nature of reasoning through various possibilities to produce new or different ways of understanding and seeing the world. Problem solving requires creativity. To determine the best and possibly revolutionary way to approach a situation requires thinking of the variables involved, including the nature of the problem, people, situation, etc. and finding the best response considering all those variables. Being innovative is one way of being creative. Being resourceful is another way of being creative. Thinking outside and within the box are both examples of creativity. We simply need to expand our definition and understanding of creativity and a whole new world will open up.

 

To me, creativity is used when someone is being mentally creative; it is used when ideas are being conceived: "creativity is the fluency and originality of mental composition."

According to this definition, some artistic acts aren't creative at all, for example: drawing exactly what one sees.

 

It depends on what you see. What you see may not be what is visibly there.

 

Are you suggesting that people (can and/or tend to) subconsciously alter the data they observe as a product of creativity?

I would argue that this altering is a product of imperfect memory and memory efficiency mechanisms (it is easier on the mind to remember new data by associating it with already known data (which can distort the new data) than to memorize the new data thoroughly). Furthermore, I would argue that the initial data isn't absorbed perfectly anyway (although that point is accounted for when you said "visibly there" as opposed to "actually there").

I suppose one can observe something, put little emphasis on the details, and them jump to the interpretation of the meaning behind any patterns (this is the characteristic behaviour of Ne (Extraverted Intuiting)), but drawing what one interprets is not what I was talking about (and how is one to draw interpretations anyway?). Put it this way - I'm an Ne auxiliary, and I wouldn't be using Ne (much?) if the task were to draw "exactly what I see".

Yes; humans aren't perfect creatures.

I know there are different techniques to draw, sure, but these are "learnt off" by teaching or experience. If one is self-discovering a new way to draw while drawing a particular thing they are seeing, then sure, creativity is taking a part there. But after the new method is learned, the creative process stops (I suppose the method can be developed as well, but that would be the learning of a new (greater) method, would it not?).


Ok, put it this way people: there is data in your mind. There are various ways to get more data in your mind (e.g: observing things; being told/taught things; reading things). Whenever your mind creates more data out of just the data in your mind* and a secret ingredient, you are being creative (the secret ingredient is creativity).

(*= As opposed to extracting data from the universe outside your mind.

(It is also worth noting that a lot of situations are mixes of creative and non-creative activity. For example, when someone reads something, a lot of data is spoon-fed to them but other data has to be conceived inside their minds (also, more by-product (unintended/unforeseen by author) data can be conceived by the reader). The creativity required however would be significantly less than the creativity required to write the text (unless of course the reader comes up with a ton of by-product data.)

That's my understanding of it, anyway.

 

Creativity to me simply means exporing in an un- (or less) restrained fashion. Lots of creative ways to be creative.

 

Making money from my patents, which is what I do (and have done for 25 years).

 

Creativity can be the formation of completely new ideas.

It can also be the re-interpretation of old and stale ones.

I do not believe art is creativity, only expression. Originality shines through if the method of execution is unorthodox, or if the subject is being treated in a new light.

 

I believe creativity is expressings one's self.
Not being bound by limitations, being innovative, reflective and exploring new possibilities.

 

this. and it means i need to get on the ball.