As a society we tend to fuss about creativity and its role in society.  While there is little doubt that creativity and innovation are immensely important in many endeavors, it is still an open question as to how important (or relevant) it is for the overwhelming majority of individuals.

Certainly most people want to be perceived as creative, and if you listen to them, you'll undoubtedly hear all manner of stories about how their creativity is being stifled by everyone ranging from the government to the educational system to their mother or their spouse.  Obviously no one understands them, or they would appreciate their inherent genius.

Yet how realistic is such an assessment?  There is certainly a great deal of anecdotal evidence to suggest that a significant number of people have an inflated view of themselves and correspondingly place a higher value on their ideas than others do.  Such examples have become vertible ritual in people watching the number of untalented competitors in "American Idol" auditions that believe they're superstars.  Undoubtedly, we all tend to over-value our own ideas, although some of us are better at self-editing than others.  

Ironically most people that are truly creative don't really know where their ideas come from, nor why they should be considered creative. For that matter, we may not even agree on what should be considered creative.  To some a particular songwriter may be a genius, to others it may be elevator music.  It would seem that there isn't some objective standard by which to judge creativity.  This also tends to suggest, that we are not good judges of our own ideas and that combinations of luck, timing, and fortuitous coincidences are the agents for generating the acceptance of some creative ideas.  However, it is equally true that creativity can rarely occur in any meaningful way without a solid base of knowledge on which to expand (1).

Personally, I'm a firm believer that "necessity is the mother of invention", and consequently there isn't much innovation or invention possible without a level of knowledge that requires an individual to stretch the boundaries of their minds.  As a result, I'm skeptical of claims that place creativity in some privileged position of brain processing.  No doubt, the brain may well engage in arbitrary combinations of ideas, which may be how creativity originates, but in the absence of a solid context, most of the results will likely be gibberish or nonsense.

Just as we all possess the genetic potential to train and be athletes, it is equally true that the overwhelming majority of people can never achieve athletic greatness, regardless of how much they train.  It is equally likely that a similar situation exists for human creativity.  

Which brings me to the crux of this post.  Does the educational process stifle or encourage creativity?  When people perceive that it stifles, is this simply a case of where more knowledge forces recognition on the individual's limitations?  That their "creativity" is largely based on erroneous data or is simply uninspired?  Perhaps as a result, the individual begins to recognize that they aren't nearly as creative as they first thought?  Could this be the reason why we perceive education as stifling creativity?  Similarly, does an individual gain a boost in creative confidence when they suddenly acquire knowledge or information that allows them to connect previously unrelated ideas?  It is obvious that many of the most creative ideas in science are a direct result of acquiring significant amounts of rigorous, painstaking data.  Similary, it would be hard to imagine a virtuoso musician that didn't spend grueling hours acquiring the physical dexterity and knowledge through practicing scales.

Personally I view the overall concerns about creativity as a non-issue.  However, maybe someone has a creative response that could change that perspective.

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(1) Note that I am deliberately ignoring issues that surround the problem of implementing creative ideas, such as financing, support, etc.  These are certainly additional barriers that many people will criticize, but within this context they are not a relevant part of the discussion.