Creativity for Smart People

Creativity(ˌkrēāˈtivədē) for Smart People

By Steve Pavlina

According to a well-known stereotype(ˈsterēəˌtīp,ˈsti(ə)r-), left-handed* people such as myself are supposedly(səˈpōzədlē) more creative(krēˈādiv) than right-handed people.

For example, in the previous(ˈprēvēəs) sentence(ˈsentns), I just alienated(ˈālyə-,ˈālēəˌnāt) most of my readers while simultaneously(ˌsīməlˈtānēəslē) giving myself a compliment(ˈkämpləmənt) — pretty creative, eh?

I don’t know if that stereotype has any basis(ˈbāsəs) in reality, but when I learned about it as a child, I assumed that because I was left-handed, I was supposed to be highly creative. That was the rule, right? I never thought to question it, so creativity became a big part of my value system from an early age.

Creativity has its downsides, but on balance it has served me extremely(ikˈstrēmlē) well over the years. Perhaps the biggest benefit (and curse(kərs)) is that it’s pushed me to do some very unorthodox(ˌənˈôrTHəˌdäks) things, which has certainly(ˈsərtnlē) made my life interesting. Because the value of creativity is so strongly conditioned(kənˈdiSHən) in me, if the majority(-ˈjär-,məˈjôrətē) of people are doing something, I almost automatically want to avoid it and do something else.

Most people have jobs and salaries(ˈsalərē), so I avoid that like the plague(plāg). Most people are afraid(əˈfrād) of public speaking, so naturally(ˈnaCHərəlē) I love it. Most people eat animals(ˈanəməl), so I go vegan(ˈvejən,ˈvēgən). I’m just a cesspool(ˈsesˌpo͞ol) of contrarianism(kənˈtre(ə)rēənˌnizəm).

When someone zigs(zig), I automatically(ˌôdəˈmadiklē) want to zag(zag). In my teenage(ˈtēnˌāj) years, I often made this choice irrationally(i(r)ˈraSHənlē, i(r)ˈraSHnəlē), such as when zagging was dangerous or destructive(dəˈstrəktiv). I soon learned that being different just for the sake(sāk,ˈsäkē) of being different isn’t very smart. So after a few years of painful zags, I eventually(əˈven(t)SH(o͞o)əlē) learned to rein(rān) in my creativity and temper(ˈtempər) it with some common sense(sens) zigs.

But if you can avoid being irrational when a common sense solution is superior(səˈpirēər) to a creative one, then developing your creativity can be a personal development goldmine(ˈɡōl(d) ˌmīn). It certainly(ˈsərtnlē) has been for me.

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https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/03/creativity-for-smart-people/