Because the hot button issues in the Arab World are so numerous right now – Women’s rights, Israel, free-market liberalization, democracy, Westernization – the scenario facilitators might gain the most productive results from devising depoliticized hypotheticals and concentrating on horizontal thinking solutions to systems-based problems that do not easily ” fit” the shopworn but emotionally negative frames that block so much potential progress in the Mideast. If the Conference yields answers that can be expressed in a script that does not alert vested interests to mobilize to defend their broken status quo, then the ideas generated will have some chance, however slim, of being realized on the ground.
More on horizontal thinking:
“Ed DeBono ” Lateral Thinking & Parallel Thinking”
” Think Horizontally and Vertically“
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Dan tdaxp:
November 29th, 2005 at 9:31 pm
(Cross-posted)
Hmmm
Several studies with this test have shown that creative individuals show a marked preference for the complex and asymmetrical.
Would this apply to beauty surveys too, particularly that symetrical faces are more beautiful than asymmetrical ones?
This test has the same problem that “intelligence” tests have — unable to define something in reality, they invent a test which defines it. It doesn’t matter if the test is cons
(Original)
I wonder to what extent the tests punish an analytic brain, rather than reward a “creative” mind. To the extent these are negatively correlated it is fine, but definitely, say, would harm a test-taker who enjoys both computational modeling and discombobulated ramblings
/end rant of a low-scorer
😉
mark:
November 30th, 2005 at 5:55 am
Hey Dan,
Well, first of all – creative thinking can be a consciously methodical process of synthesis ( not analysis) or it can be intuitive. You certainly demonstrate superior synthesizing abilities.
As you know, my hypothesis is that both kinds of processing play a symbiotic/feedback loop role in generating insight. Not everyone in the cognitive psych fields would accept my assumption, outsider that I am, but I think MRI brain imaging studies are building evidence.
And on a psychometric note, no single test is definitive ( and even if it was the case, it would remain a ” snapshot in time as “creativity”, unlike g, is a mix of native talent, skill-sets and persistence to task). Tests of creativity use varied methodologies. You might score differently on the Torrance, for example.
For creativity – proof is in the pudding – creative individuals regularly do creative things and have insights from looking at familiar scenarios from unusual perspectives.
To an extent, this tends to correlate with high IQ but not always – narrowcasting creativity in a particular field, ” the prodigy”, is a common phenomenon.