According to research by NASA scientists, 98% of children are born with creative geniuses trait. However, the figure decreases as we get older. So, what could be the reason behind this? Take a look!

What is the reason behind the drop in creative geniuses?

First, let’s start with a bit of trivia on George Land’s Creativity Test! Back at the day, NASA deputy director wanted to grasp the knowledge on how to separate creative types from the rest. He then contacted George Land to help create a test to separate the candidates who could think outside the box. Plus, they could come up with atypical resolutions to some of NASA’s most intricate problems. As a result, Land introduced the test in 1968, which could accurately predict creativity.

After that, he raised a big question: does creativity comes from learning or experience? To test his theory, Land chose to apply his test to a series of age groups to see how creativity changed as we get older. Surprisingly, he discovered that by the time people approached maturity, only 2% of them passed the creativity test, despite their progress with it as kids. Moreover, he also found out that there are two patterns for the way we usually generate ideas in our mind.

Eventually, our mind was forcefully put to follow paradigms of right and wrong. We then get used to thinking ideas that don’t fit the mold will be rejected. On the other hand, Creativity And Ken Robinson’s Ted Talk also mentioned a reason for this decrease. He stated that our education system now teaches its students that being wrong is the worst imaginable outcome. Our thoughts are now just ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. As a result, if we have any ideas that don’t fit the mold, it will most likely get rejected.

An example

To give an audience a clear look, Robinson mentioned the story Gillian Lynne, who is one of the most famous theater choreographers on Broadway shows. You might have heard of her works, including big production like Cats and Phantom of the Opera. When Gillian was a child, she was struggling with school and was even described as having a learning disorder. Her parents took her to see the doctor in order to find out what happened. However, they said there’s nothing wrong with her, she just needed to pursue dancing. And then you can imagine what happened.

Do teachers play a big role in this situation?

If our education system, particular teachers took effort to guide our children in their schooling; imagine how many artists or creative geniuses we would be having. What are your thoughts on this matter? Drop a comment to let us know!