Creativity

Paper Summary:

In "Zen and the Art of Writing," Bradbury discusses writing and creativity in various essays that he wrote over a period of thirty years. The paper first looks at the way in which Bradbury defines what is creative. Csikszentmihalyi depicts a somewhat opposing viewpoint in his book, "Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention." The paper compares and contrasts the ideas from these two books.

From the Paper:

"Whereas Bradbury says that everyone must find their creative outlet and pursue it, Csikszentmihalyi is investigating the substantial creative works, such as new music, literature, art or machines (Csikszentmihalyi, 9). He goes further to say that creativity is what gives human life meaning. This is due, in part, because most of the important contributions that make us human are due to creativity; the main difference between humans and apes stems from the intrinsic creative abilities that humans possess. Another factor involved is the intense feelings of vitality humans possess when involved in a creative endeavor (Csikszentmihalyi, 2). A sense of purpose or fulfilling ones destiny is achieved through creativity, with the added benefit that the outcome of human creativity often improves the future. According to Csikszentmihalyi, achieving creativity is a process of investing a large amount of attention to a chosen pursuit (11). On this point, Csikszentmihalyi seems to agree with Bradbury, who explained that in order for a writer to allow a creative flow to come forth, the rudiments of writing must have already been thoroughly nailed down."

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