Sarah Gibbard Cook
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing
  • Contact

Outgrowing Imagination

9/2/2019

3 Comments

 
Faced with the unprecedented challenge of sending people into space in the 1960s, NASA asked researcher George Land to predict which engineers were most adept at thinking outside the box. His simple tool predicted so well, Land tried it on 1,600 four- and five-year-olds, and later the same group as they grew. His results:
            Age        Percent scoring “creative genius”
            4-5          98%
            10            30%
            15             12%
            Adult        2%

We don’t lose creative ability so much as we learn to hold it in check. To prepare for the responsibilities of adulthood, we develop essential skills at judgment and decision-making. The prefrontal cortex isn’t fully formed until age 25. Land says when we try to generate and evaluate ideas at the same time, imagination loses. Adults who show childlike creativity are those who separate generation and evaluation into two separate stages, letting the mind run free before weighing the pros and cons.

Today’s favorite scapegoats for lost creativity are standardized testing and a school system designed to provide compliant industrial workers. I don’t buy it. Land did his research long before standardized tests became prevalent, and I’ve seen no evidence people were more inventive before the Industrial Revolution. If anything, children were pushed into adulthood even younger than today. What may be different now, due to rapid technological change, is an increasing need for creative imagination in meeting the challenges of adult everyday life.
3 Comments
Rebecca link
9/4/2019 09:56:34 am

Thanks for a fascinating post. I like how Land reminds us we can re-activate our inner five year old at will, and generate several dozen ideas without winnowing. We have difficult problems in the world that could use all the creativity we can muster! : ) Rebecca

Reply
Sarah link
9/7/2019 08:32:36 pm

Oops, Rebecca, sorry I missed this earlier! Yes, I like his tip for how to free up the inner five-year-old. Not only is the world facing difficult problems, but everything changes so fast that every answer is quickly out of date.

Reply
assignment writers uk link
1/17/2020 05:12:54 am

It is when we are kids that we are all very imaginative, and it is probably when we are all very creative. I think that it is when we start using creativity to our advantage that we can make a name for ourselves. Of course, not every kid can remain imaginative, all of us grow at some point. I think that we all just need to remain as kids for a longer time period. I will try to have my kid retain his imaginative ways.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin. 

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed


      ​get updates

    Sign up
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing
  • Contact