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| "The infant Hercules strangling serpents in his cradle" (1788) by Joshua Reynolds |
Have you ever felt that your creativity was stifled about the shared by a group’s established habits and expectations?
Do you think our society is threatened more by those who defy traditional values and habits or by those who seek to uphold them?
While a time does not immediately come to my mind in which my creativity was strangled by expectations, I would like to note that what type of culture you live in can have a huge effect on what happens to your creativity. For example, studies have shown that the US populace puts in more hours at work and takes less vacation than practically anywhere else in the free world. This is a cultural aspect that many US citizens take pride in. Because of this, you see a culture in which innovations are expected in order to get more done. Case in point, I am currently writing this post on a computer because someone didn’t like using paper and pen and I will post this onto an internet blog because someone thought conventional mail was too slow. While culture can sometimes stifle creativity, culture often encourages and even promotes it. That being said, who we’re most threatened by in terms of upholding tradition versus defying tradition depends both on the culture in which you are located as well as what point of your culture is in question. I certainly would defy being forced to send correspondence via the pony express when I can use E-mail, however, I definitely seek to uphold the age old tradition that murder is wrong and punishable by law.
ReplyDeleteI like your opinion- very intriguing. We are constantly reminded by our society to continue to broaden our imagination and use our creativity to make life more enjoyable and entertaining. The sky is definitely the limit and the earth our playground so to speak.
DeleteI cannot remember a time that cultural society actually tried to stifle out my creativity. There has been plenty of people that have attempted this but there will always be those that try to wreck and destroy your imagination by telling you that your ideas are "not good enough". The US and other 1st world countries do take great honor in the amount of work we do do. This leads to new innovations, inventions, technology (as talked about in another discussion), and creativeness. I would like to believe that depending on the situation that defying traditional values and upholding them would both be ok and correct. Defying slavery back in the 1800's in the US would of stopped a couple of catastrophic battles and countless deaths. But upholding the traditional belief of every man is equal and deserving of equal opportunity will continue to open people's minds to endless possibilities and in result creativity.
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