I have an artistic streak but I've never thought my creativity was tied to it; maybe my father was just an excellent example, maybe I would've grown up with that delusion if not for him. If so, thank god I had my father to show me the truth.
You see, when he was growing up, he thought he wanted to be a physicist. Then he got a BS in physics from CalTech and decided he simply wasn't smart enough (something I believe to be debatable, to be honest, but that is the conclusion he came to); he later went instead into computers and programming. And anyone who thinks that programming isn't a creative endeavour has never programmed, has never met a gifted programmer. He would dream about problems and wake up with a piece of the puzzle he hadn't had before.
Me, I'm a biologist at heart. Biology first and then the interstitial sciences where everything overlaps. But I do also love mathematics; I find physics beautiful and fascinating if often behind me. And I can say that I firmly believe all of the sciences require a great deal of creativity. It takes a great deal of it to be able to see the world as it is, and not as you thought it would be -- because, after all, our brains are pattern matchers, and so often do only see what they expect to.
And for that matter: synthesising widely different data into a coherent whole -- that's pretty near a definition of creativity, by some lights. And that's practically the definition of science as well.
I wonder, sometimes, if people who have such a skewed sense of creativity and science, have ever met a real scientist; they seem to be rare among teachers (I certainly have few good memories of my pre-college science teachersy). And so few people pursue the sciences past what high school requires.
no subject
You see, when he was growing up, he thought he wanted to be a physicist. Then he got a BS in physics from CalTech and decided he simply wasn't smart enough (something I believe to be debatable, to be honest, but that is the conclusion he came to); he later went instead into computers and programming. And anyone who thinks that programming isn't a creative endeavour has never programmed, has never met a gifted programmer. He would dream about problems and wake up with a piece of the puzzle he hadn't had before.
Me, I'm a biologist at heart. Biology first and then the interstitial sciences where everything overlaps. But I do also love mathematics; I find physics beautiful and fascinating if often behind me. And I can say that I firmly believe all of the sciences require a great deal of creativity. It takes a great deal of it to be able to see the world as it is, and not as you thought it would be -- because, after all, our brains are pattern matchers, and so often do only see what they expect to.
And for that matter: synthesising widely different data into a coherent whole -- that's pretty near a definition of creativity, by some lights. And that's practically the definition of science as well.
I wonder, sometimes, if people who have such a skewed sense of creativity and science, have ever met a real scientist; they seem to be rare among teachers (I certainly have few good memories of my pre-college science teachersy). And so few people pursue the sciences past what high school requires.