Are we hard-coded to be creative?

Adaptation of the monolith image, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alphacoders

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A number of anthropologists, but not all, postulate that something occurred 50,000 years ago that caused the appearance of modern human behavior. While this theory may be viewed as a line in the sand soon to be erased by the weight of incoming evidence, it is intriguing to envision man being touched by a higher intelligence, or a sudden convergence, or the monolith TMA-1 (official site at Warner Brothers).

Several articles speak of 50,000 years ago as a turning point for mankind, such as Neanderthals and Humans First Mated 50,000 Years Ago, DNA Reveals. Author Hillary Mayell in When Did "Modern" Behavior Emerge in Humans? quotes paleoanthropologist Richard Klein in this snippet:

No one, it seems, thinks the Neandertals, our closest relatives, were modern. Neandertals evolved in Europe, emerging in full-blown form by 130,000 years ago. By 80,000 years ago populations stretched from Spain to western Asia. However, "fossils show that the African contemporaries of the Neandertals between 130,000 and 50,000 years ago were more modern in anatomy," said Klein.

Note that the experts define a difference between anatomy and behavior. So what is "modern human behavior?" Looking at the Wikipedia article linked above, we can find

Modern human behaviors characteristic of recent humans includes a language, the capacity for abstract thought and the use of symbolism to express cultural creativity. There are two opposing hypotheses regarding the origins of modern behavior. Some scholars argue that humans achieved anatomical modernity first, around 200,000 years ago. Later, around 50,000 years ago, humans then adopted modern behaviors. This hypothesis is based on the record of fossils and biogenic substances from periods before 50,000 years ago and the human artifacts found after 50,000 years ago. Correspondingly, as stated by Paul Mellars, the view distinguishes anatomically modern humans from behaviorally modern humans. [highlights added]

Wikpedia article Behavioral modernity gives a nice list:

burial
fishing
figurative art (cave paintings, petroglyphs, figurines)
systematic use of pigment (such as ochre) and jewelry for decoration or self-ornamentation
Using bone material for tools
Transport of resources long distances
Blade technology
Diversity, standardization, and regionally distinct artifacts
Hearths
Composite tools

This article also gives an interesting comparison between inventing and adopting:

There is also an important distinction to be made between when humans developed the ability to invent, in contrast to developing the ability to adopt, modern human behavior. As a modern analogy, there is no shortage of musicians in the world trying to compose new and original music, but only a handful every year that successfully manage to compose lasting world wide hit songs; yet essentially all of the other aspiring composer musicians can almost trivially learn to play those hit songs once they've heard them (with analogous undertakings in literature, art, science and technology etc.). A dramatic and sudden increase in complexity of human behavior is thus fully plausible even if significantly less than 1% of humanity developed the genetic ability to "invent", provided that the remaining 99% had no significant problems with "adopting" those inventions. There is potentially an evolutionary abyss between inventing and adopting; for instance, Homo erectus and Homo ergaster produced with little advancement essentially the same sharpened stone tools for over a million years, but there is no scientific evidence at hand that could prove that they were incapable of producing composite stone tools, such as spears, if shown how to do so.

Despite the many challenges to survival (H.G.Wells, A Plain History of Life and Mankind,1920), to date we have survived and flourished.

-- Marge

DIY: doodling

GenerallySpeaking, Creative Bloq

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Recently I've been working on getting back to doing artwork by hand, rather than digitally. The first step is getting my hand re-trained by sketching.  Because of a tendency to go blank as the blank piece of paper in front of me, I've enlisted the aid of a book found on Amazon, Keys to Drawing with Imagination by Bert Dodson ($22.26).

In using the book, I was surprised me that Dodson referred to the work at hand as doodling. To me doodling is what you do when you're on the phone or in a meeting.  As an aside, here's an article--"Why you should doodle in meetings"--that has some interesting tidbits.

A study by Jackie Andrade, psychologist, revealed that doodling helps you retain information.  Quoting from the paper "What does doodling do?:"

Doodling is a way of passing the time when bored by a lecture or telephone call. Does it improve or hinder attention to the primary task? To answer this question, 40 participants monitored a monotonous mock telephone message for the names of people coming to a party. Half of the group was randomly assigned to a ‘doodling’ condition where they shaded printed shapes while listening to the telephone call. The doodling group performed better on the monitoring task and recalled 29% more information on a surprise memory test. Unlike many dual task situations, doodling while working can be beneficial. Future research could test whether doodling aids cognitive performance by reducing daydreaming. (Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

According to a number of writers, doodling is a creative process. Wikipedia's entry on doodle says,

A doodle is an unfocused or unconscious drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be abstract shapes.

Seems to me, anytime you pull expression from below the surface (the unconscious), you are touching the wellspring of creativity. From "A Journey into Chaos: Creativity and the Unconscious," published at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), there's this:

Describing their subjective experiences, creative people say the same things repeatedly:

“I can’t force inspiration. Ideas just come to me when I’m not seeking them-when I’m swimming or running or standing in the shower.” “It happens like magic.” “I can just see things that other people can’t, and I don’t know why.” “The muse just sits on my shoulder.” “If I concentrate on finding the answer it never comes, but if I let my mind just wander, the answer pops in.” (Andreasen, 2005.)

For some examples of artistic doodling, check out "48 great examples of doodle art."  Three of the pieces are posted here.

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Fred Blunt, Creative Bloq

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Faith Georgia, Creative Bloq

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It seems that being more creative requires keeping paper and pencil handy.

-- Marge