There’s a must read column in today’s on-line Forbes by Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur and strategy consultant Saramana Mitra. Anyone who thinks about the role of creativity, of invention – the absolute thinking processes we learn from and through the arts – should ponder it.
Writing about our economy, Mitra says,
“We’re not having any recovery. We need the innovators, the entrepreneurs, the creators, the scientists, the technologists–those who build value, those who create jobs–to lead us out of this nightmare. Not a bunch of speculators who make money regardless of whether value gets created or destroyed. In fact, many of them are incentivized to destroy value by spreading fake rumors about companies and stocks, and they do so often. Some get caught, most don’t.
And our talented youth gets seduced by this profession of speculation known for its easy and abundantly flowing financial rewards, avoiding those that require much greater intellectual capacity. Most importantly, very early in their lives, our talented youth come to realize that fields that may earn them a Nobel Prize–cancer research or multi-core computing–may not make them rich. But moving money from here to there will.
And thus, we lose Berkeley Ph.Ds in nuclear physics to hedge funds and MIT computer scientists capable of delivering computing to 6 billion people to derivative manipulation on Wall Street.”
Mitra’s focus on nuclear physics and computer scientists could well have included the documentary film maker, the author, the composer, the designer whose creativity and innovation should also lead the way.
Until we see that creativity is fundamental to economic as well as social progress, and make creativity a fundamental (and attractive) value throughout our culture, we’re stuck. Intellectual property is the currency of the future. What drives its creation?
Creativity and innovation.
1 response so far ↓
Shanon Orrock // November 8, 2009 at 11:19 am |
As an educator, temporary tho’ it may be, I agree with Ms. Mitra. I teach Drama in a small town in Arizona — one would think the students would want to explore their inherent creativity; some, yes, the majority, no. Most come into class with the desire to be entertained. Not participate, entertained by someone else. Everyday I battle with students who are so self-obsessed that the activity of constant talking through what either I am or another student is saying is continued after numerous requests to be quiet, the reality of grades being lowered, and even being called into the Vice Principal’s office. The word “battle” was chosen with intent, for that is what it is. I find myself doing and saying things I swore I would never do because these kids are so damn dense and distracted with themselves and the media that supports their self involvement, that at times being (an admitted) harridan is the only way to get through to them. What I find ultimately sad is that when I later apologize for my behavior to the students who actually pay attention, they tell me they’re used to it. This is not education it’s intimidation. Between parents feeling the need to keep their children amused and/or busy and the media doing the same children are not being allowed to discover their own creativity and through that develop concentration and follow-through. In a world that presents everything as being instant we are forgetting that at least 95% of life is process. We are so product oriented (and within that the ever-increasing money first mentality) that we are killing ourselves and our children.