Creative Thinking Creative thinking has been defined by North Carolina State University as, “the generation of new ideas within or across domains of knowledge, drawing upon or intentionally breaking with established symbolic rules and procedures.” Use of the creative mind requires that an individual have the courage to step outside the boundaries of the ‘known’ world and conceive ideas and solutions previously unexplored. Creativity at its core is the foundation of everything we know and everything we have yet to discover. Each man and woman has a born desire to create on a scale sliding from simple to revolutionary. But every day more and more students are discouraged from thinking creatively.
But … Critical Thinking!? Students are increasingly asked to only ‘think critically’ about a problem or idea. “Critical thinking is the active, persistent, and careful consideration of a belief or form of knowledge, the grounds that support it, and the conclusions that follow. It involves analyzing and evaluating one’s own thinking and that of others.” Critical thinking trains a student to meticulously examine founded information and explore an existing base of knowledge. It teaches individuals to understand clearly the ideas of others while being able to deliver their own ideas with scholarly precision. Teaching critical thinking as a method for learning and examining the world around us is a vital aspect of the educational process. However, I would submit that critical thinking as a study of our world and experience is incomplete without creative thinking.
Creativity is Just for the Arts … Right? Creation and artistry has been culturally and socially relegated to music halls, performance stages, and art studios. Yet creative thinking, by the above mentioned definition, has been employed by scientists, philosophers, and other renowned thinkers throughout history. From Galileo and Aristotle to Albert Einstein and Jean-Paul Sarte, all of these men broke with the traditions and ‘rules’ of their current day. Each used critical thinking to understand the foundation of knowledge for their day. Then, employing creative thinking, they were able to revolutionize and in some cases overturn centuries of inaccurate information.
Creative thinking allows the mind to free itself of the boundaries set by our cultural knowledge base to find a new perspective of our world. The potential to create something unique and new exists in every single school of study or thought whether academic, scientific, or artistic in origin.
Be Creative ‌ AND Critical! Thinking critically provides a valuable springboard for creative thinking and the development of new ideas. Again, I feel that one without the other leaves a student or educator with only half the puzzle solved. An exclusively critical mind is bound by the rules that currently govern cultural and social knowledge, while an exclusively creative mind has grand ideas based on nothing more than dreams. Critical thinking is the foundation that gives creative thinking the support it needs to break away and achieve brilliance. Whether you are a student pursuing a web design degree or you are the CEO of your own business, you will find more success by using critical and creative thinking as collaborative tools to help you rise to success and potentially change the world in ways previously unimagined.
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