Subject: Creativity

Posted by Jay Forrester on 10/11/2010
In Reply To:Creativity Posted by Charles Tse on 10/10/2010

Message:

The answer to what can be done in the city to instill the innovative spirit depends on your situation and whether you live in a house or an apartment. However, the following thoughts occurred to me in response to your question:

Limit television and other electronic diversions--not more that 30 minutes a day?

Depending on the children's age, have them do repair work around the house. Many years ago, I was teaching an MIT class on dynamics and started by having them consider how the water in a toilet tank is controlled. They came back with ideas about how it depended on the distance to the water reservoir, the size of the water mains, and other completely unrelated issues. When I asked how many had looked inside a toilet tank, not one in the class of thirty. Out of touch with the real world!!!! When my younger son was a freshman at MIT, seniors in electrical engineering were coming to him for help on how to solder wires together. It seems that they had not explored beyond television and their school books.

Build their own toys, if interested in chess, make their own chess men.

It might help to have them read books about major innovations and innovators--Edison, the story of discovering insulin, the Westinghouse air brake for trains, "Bright Boys" by Tom Green that relates the beginning of the computer age, and, if they find such of interest they can graduate to George Richardson's "Feedback Thought in Social Science and Systems Theory."

The problem is, if they are in public school, the pressure for standard examinations leaves little time for innovative explorations.

Jay Forrester

Follow Ups:

Creativity - April Roggio 10/12/2010