Age and Creativity

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Freddielove
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Age and Creativity

Post by Freddielove »

Just got through with a conversation with some fiends, and a bottle of wine, and the subject of getting older and the creative process became a point of debate.

The position of two of us, the creatives if you will, a writer, and a graphic designer and part time semi-musician is that creativity often peaks early and then slowly erodes over time never to be recovered again.

Our significant others disagreed and argued that the responsibility of age and less time to devote to creative pursuits are the culprits and not age itslef.

So which is it? Or does the ability to create new things not degrade at all?
Ineterested in your opinions.
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Kamakura
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Re: Age and Creativity

Post by Kamakura »

Freddielove wrote:Just got through with a conversation with some fiends, and a bottle of wine, and the subject of getting older and the creative process became a point of debate.
The position of two of us, the creatives if you will, a writer, and a graphic designer and part time semi-musician is that creativity often peaks early and then slowly erodes over time never to be recovered again.
Our significant others disagreed and argued that the responsibility of age and less time to devote to creative pursuits are the culprits and not age itself.
So which is it? Or does the ability to create new things not degrade at all?
Ineterested in your opinions.
I think that if you are 'Creative', you never lose it and will always be 'Creative'.
What you lose over time is the desire to adapt to current trends. You get to the stage where you know what you like, and you know what works for you. Perhaps this is just a case of length of life experience, or perhaps it's that the older you get the more jaded you become.
I'll vote with your significant others. :wink:
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Kapitano
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Post by Kapitano »

I view creativity as a skill, or a collection of skills, with all that that entails.

You can begin creating at any point in life, though for some reason it's easier to start young. It takes years of practice to get good, and then frequent practice to stay good. If you let it slide for a few months or years, you can pick it up again later, but need time to get back to the previous level.

As to whether it declines with age, there is a principle of dimishing returns, whereby it's more difficult to avoid rehashing your earlier work. But that's not the same as getting lazy or conservative.

As Kam said, some artists get stuck in a rut about what they like and what they make. but I'd say that's a feature of their wider personality, not a problem with their ability to create.
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Caravan Ray
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Post by Caravan Ray »

Young people aren't more creative than older people - they're just louder and more obnoxious.

Having said that - I haven't done anything original since I was 16 - and all I did then was to make an amusing farting sound with a bicycle pump and an over-ripe mango. It's been all downhill since.

But Blink-182 just get better and better with every album - so does Kenny G.
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Post by erik »

Does "creative" just mean "able to create"?
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Post by Future Boy »

I recommend this book.
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Post by Hoblit »

erikb wrote:Does "creative" just mean "able to create"?
I'm not sure if in this particular case that it means exactly that.

I think there is a broader point than the actual definition of the word 'creative'.

Young people have more energy and ambition. It's natural. As already stated, older people do tend to fall into their own and stay there. This is all speaking in general of course... it's just a blanket statement. I'm sure there are older artist who are just as creative and ambitious as younger ones.

I think King Arthur is a good example of this. He makes (imo) really good songs. I like their content and they even tackle current events. Very creative in his ...uh...not so younger years *SMILEY*. However, every time I hear one of his songs it takes me back to the late 70's and 80's. His 'sound' is back there for me. I'm not saying this is a bad thing at all..just an illustration of where music slows it's evolution.

Jackson Browne still creates great albums...but relatively in the same vein he always has. He's lucky enough to have a sound that has evolved in a contemperary atmosphere. Therefore, there isn't much different in his sound from yesteryear to now...only subtle changes bring into modern sounding music.

Younger folk are always full of piss and vinager, know everything, and feel the need to express each and every one of their opinions as if it were all prophetic. Sometimes in danger of taking themselves way too seriously. I think their energy allows them to express these things in more volume. Older people need more time to nurse hangovers than these young guys, older people can't stay up as late, older people tend to have more adult problems to deal with (such as death and divorce) etc...

Of course, this is all in general as someone is sure to point out how somebody they know is not like this at all. I know...I can't speak about a society and not include it.

Now, I'm going to take a nap and go to work.
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mico saudad
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Post by mico saudad »

I have several overlapping thoughts:

<b>Age related peaks of creativity among different types of geniuses</b>
A great physicist's creativity is thought to peak early (einstein, fermi, heisenberg, etc - almost all of the great ones all peaked in their late twenties and early thirties), whereas a great composer's creativity is thought to peak as they age. Creativity peaks depend certainly on what activity one is applied towards. If you are a physicist you are unlikely to create anything spectacular after 40. I'd rather be an old composer myself.

<b>Creativity in typical people is affected by many outside forces besides aging</b>
If you must find an additional job to support your family then you will likely become less creative. There is a pattern of taking on more responsibility as we age and this is sometimes difficult to separate from the effects of aging itself. The psychological effects of thinking "I'm getting older" may also make a person believe that they are slowly losing all of their abilities when in fact it may not be true at all for any given faculty.

<b>Creativity is driven from within</b>
A creative person is a creative person, as Kamakura suggests, and it is an inherent part of every human I think to want to express it. The act of thinking about creativity, imho, diminishes the ability of a person to be creative. Creativity is a process (a different process for each type of creative act) and if you do anything to enhance or disrupt that process, or to develop a new process then that is the degree to which you will be creative.

I was once told not to stare in the mirror of creativity too long and I think that's good advice.
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Post by roymond »

Beethoven really lost it after he turned 20. And Martha Graham. Totally out of touch and unoriginal.

Oh, and :)
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Post by Leaf »

I believe that I get more creative as I age, but I understand the technical results as I age as well, thus dulling the personal impact. When I listen back a few months later, I'm like... whoa... where did that come from?

Of course, this whole thing depends on whether or not we are dealing with generalizations, or specific experiences. Generally... I have no idea. Personally, I haven't even touched my peak.. at least not today.



At least I'm not wearing track pants, so if I do get the urge, no one will notice.
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Post by sparks »

There is an obvious (and scientifically observed) psychological change that comes about as one grows older, especially passing into the early "senior citizen" years. You are often better at dealing with methods of reasoning that you've exercised a million times, but you are worse at coming up with wholly new ways of dealing with a problem. You've had lots of practice with what you know, but you're generally less able to be creative. There are exceptions, probably. There are also probably people who have had such skill for thinking in unusual ways that the results would not be as severe, as they would still think in unusual ways as they're older (for those would be familiar to them).
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