What gets in the way of creative thinking? What prevents creative development and how to remove obstacles on the way to the goal. What prevents a person from being a creative person.

WITH Serious attempts to find an answer to the question of what interferes with the manifestation of creative abilities were made by G. Lindsay, K. Hull and R. Thompson. They discovered that creativity is hampered not only by the lack of development of certain abilities, but also by the presence of certain personality traits. Thus, one of the striking personality traits that hinders the manifestation of creative abilities is the tendency to conformism. This personality trait is expressed in the desire to be like others, dominating over creative tendencies, not to differ from most people in one’s judgments and actions.

Another personality trait close to conformism that interferes with creativity is the fear of appearing stupid or ridiculous in one’s judgments. These two characteristics reflect a person’s excessive dependence on the opinions of others.

WITH The next reason inhibiting the manifestation of creativity is the existence of two competing types of thinking: critical and creative. Critical thinking aims to identify flaws in other people's judgments. A person who has developed this type of thinking to a greater extent sees only shortcomings, but does not offer his own constructive ideas, since he again focuses on looking for shortcomings, but in his own judgments. WITH on the other hand, a person whose creative thinking predominates strives to develop constructive ideas, but at the same time does not pay due attention to the shortcomings that they contain, which also negatively affects the development of original ideas.

But, if the negative aspects that interfere with the creative process are removed, then modern concepts of creative thinking require the passage of several independent stages.

Stages of the creative process

1. Awareness of the problem. In the process of recognizing the problem, the moment when the problem situation arises is emphasized. If a task is not given in a ready-made form, its formation is associated with the ability to “see questions.” U consideration of the issue is usually stated on the basis of the presence of an accompanying emotional reaction (surprise, difficulty), which is then characterized as the immediate cause, forcing a careful consideration of the situation, which leads to an understanding of the available data.

2. Hypothesis development. This is where problem solving begins. This stage is most often qualified as the culmination point of the decision, as its central link, as a kind of leap, i.e. the decisive transition from what is visible to what is absent. As at the previous stage, the greatest importance here is attached to past experience, the use of theoretical principles, the generalized content of which takes the decider far beyond the limits of existing knowledge. The use of previously acquired knowledge as a means of solution by comprehending it and transferring it to new conditions makes it possible to compare part of the conditions, on the basis of which a guess or hypothesis is built (assumption, idea, concept taken on trial, conjectural principle of solution, etc.).

3. Checking the solution. The final stage is the logical proof of the truth of this judgment and verification of the solution by means of practice. Under favorable conditions, a successfully put forward hypothesis turns into a theory.

In addition to feelings that stimulate creative activity, there are feelings that inhibit creative efforts. The most dangerous enemy of creativity? fear. It is especially evident in people with a rigid mindset of success. Fear of failure stifles imagination and initiative.

Another enemy of creativity? excessive self-criticism. Accurate measurements in this area are not yet possible, but there must be some “balance” between giftedness and self-criticism so that too picky self-esteem does not lead to creative paralysis.

The third enemy of creativity? laziness. However, such reasoning is also possible here. People strive to improve production in order to increase its productivity and reduce costs. Are they driven by the desire to have maximum benefit with minimal effort, in other words, to work less? get more. It turns out that laziness serves as a stimulus for all innovations that make work easier, and therefore is the “true mother of inventions,” as Norbert Wiener puts it.

Despite all the seduction of such reasoning, we still have to admit that laziness does not contribute to creative activity. Just as the natural enjoyment of food for a person can lead to gluttony and gluttony, just as the enjoyment of rest and peace can acquire a self-sufficient meaning. The “feast of laziness” becomes a highly prized pleasure. Apparently, more than one talent was ruined by laziness.

· uncritical acceptance of someone else’s opinion (conformism, agreement)

· external and internal censorship

· rigidity (including the transfer of patterns, algorithms in solving problems)

desire to find an answer immediately

Dialogue of creative thinking

Understanding creativity means understanding the mind of the creator, but not describing (or prescribing) how to create. The most terrible thing is this creature, incapable of inventing, but knowing “how it’s done.” There is only one way to grasp the inner life of the inventor of ideas and poems - through the mental dialogue of the inner “I”.

The creative process includes psychological, emotional, uniquely personal, paradoxically random moments. But you still need to agree with the possibility of finding, even through the logic of the internal dialogue in the creator’s head, depicting and understanding creativity as a logical process. But how can we agree with this, since there is no logic in creativity (more precisely, creativity cannot be the subject of the science of logic). Thinking as creativity is artistic thinking, but it is radically illogical!

Thinking is always theorizing, and the essence of any creativity as thinking can only be understood based on the processes of theorizing. The initial setting of thinking (a situation when thinking is necessary, when sensation and imagination cannot be done) is the need to reproduce in consciousness the possibility of an object, something that does not yet exist, is not given in sensations, but which can exist in some ideal, invented situations.

Thought arises when it is necessary to reproduce in consciousness (internally, for oneself) the possibility of an object in order to “understand” the object as it is, why it exists this way and not otherwise. It is this “in order to” that forces us to use the verb “to understand,” which cannot be replaced by any other verb, and forced us to define thinking through thinking (understanding). Understanding is the difference between thought and representation. The future possibilities of an object are quite possible to imagine, but turning them onto the object as it is, taking them as an “X-ray” of a present object is possible only by understanding, comprehending, possible only in concept. Separating the “essence of things” (their potential) from their existence means constructing in the mind an “idealized object” as a “means” to understand a real object that exists outside of our consciousness and activity. The eye loses focus; to see two objects at the same time? inside us and outside? impossible, we stop seeing and begin to understand. Such simultaneous existence of one? knowable, changeable? an object in two forms (in the form of an object of idealization and in the form of an idealized object) is the initial definition of thinking, which is rooted in the very “indivisible core” of human practical activity.

Primitive man began to think, painfully relating an “idealized object” (a supposed axe), still quite vague, indefinite, still identical to an idea, with a real, external object (a fragment of a stone), cross-checking these objects with each other. In the discrepancy between these two objects, in the gap between them, in the necessity and impossibility of their coincidence, the seed of thought is located, thinking grows. This is the original idea of ​​theorizing.

In thinking, I fix, consolidate the subject of reflection as something existing outside of thought and clarified by it, as something that does not coincide with thought (the idealized object). Only then is it possible to constitute thought itself as something that does not coincide with real practical action, although it constitutes it? practical action is a necessary definition. But this is the initial assumption of the theory. “This is only in theory, not in reality”? such an accusation constitutes a negative definition of thinking. And at the same time a fundamental paradox of thought.

It is possible to feel, imagine, perceive something, but it is possible to think only about something. In sensations and ideas, I merge with the object of my sensation; I feel the blade of the knife as my pain. In thought I separate from the object of thought and do not coincide with it. But the whole point is that an object that does not coincide with thought is an object of reflection; it exists for thought only to the extent that it correlates with the mental object. And at the same time, he is something “unthinkable”, existing outside of thought (outside of me and independently of my consciousness), given to thought as a riddle and never completely assimilated by it. It is in thought that I am confronted with the existence of things in their “metaphysical” integrity, self-closure, externality to the subject. But at the same time... The fairy tale about the white bull can continue indefinitely.

Of course, the logic of practice forms the rational basis of the paradox under consideration, but now we are talking about something else, since in thinking,? What is his “mission”? practice acts as a paradox, constantly being resolved, reproduced and deepening... One can even say that thought is practice in its paradoxicality.

Theoretical creativity is the invention of any ideas, any, the most grotesque idealized objects in order to understand the object as it is (or as if it were), outside of my practical activity and independently of it. The desire for the transpersonal, the superpersonal, this is the pathos of thinking. Only in detachment (theoretical in its potential) from oneself does it become possible to treat oneself as an “alter ego”, and the seed of internal dialogue arises. Poetry is radically non-dialogical, Bakhtin wrote about this very precisely. This is why the internal dialogue of thinking as creativity is only possible for the theoretical mind. It is no coincidence that, as a subject of logical research, creative thinking should be taken as theoretical thinking, as the internal dialogue of a theorist. This should be the language (speech) of internal dialogue, in which there is a continuous interchange of texts, their polyphony, counterpoint, and not just coexistence.

Approaching his logic from the outside, the philosopher faces a paradox. The philosopher has to criticize his own logic (logic in general) in the name of some logic that does not yet exist, but is in a state of formation. Here the logic of creativity can only be understood as the creativity of logic... What remains in general from that iron logic, and why is this “dialogic” needed at all, this verification of “logic” by “logic”?

Isn’t this whirling of the squirrel of thinking in the wheel of “dialogue” simply an escape from life, from practice, from the old wisdom of Goethe - “theory, my friend, is brimstone, but the tree of life is ever green...”?

Only in communication between “I” and “YOU”, in the relationship “between” is something new born. In other words, the nature of creativity is dialogical and non-subjective. Personality is not the center and source of creative activity, since it expresses a pluralistic (rational and irrational, rational and emotional, etc.) existence. A personality is creatively active only in a dialogical relationship with the “Other”. The dialogical relationship is transformed into “WE” as a dual existence of “I” and “YOU”, directing its creative intentions to the separate “I” and “YOU”. “I” is not the source of creativity; it finds creativity in itself as the creative intention of “WE”. The productive ability of a dialogical situation, appearing in the subject-transsubject relationship “I” - “YOU” - “WE”, becomes a source of novelty for the individual. Otherwise, creativity can be defined as the implementation of the creative intention “WE” - reality in the personal reality of the subject

The duckling mistakes any moving object for its mother, follows it and tries to repeat its actions. Thus, a beginner in art blindly imitates an idol and is afraid to formulate a personal point of view.

It’s normal to be guided by authorities, but for the development of style it is more useful to analyze works, highlighting the most and least successful features in them. In order not to judge art one-sidedly, it is worth focusing not on a single master, but on several. Let the views contradict each other! By studying opposites, you will quickly come to your own vision.

Too much information

Drama club, photo club... You are subscribed to a hundred public pages about art, each of them has 50 posts a day, in total you will have to look at 5000 photos daily. It's not about learning something.

Don't be afraid to miss an important post! Silence the information noise and limit yourself to the amount of information that you can process.

Uncertainty

Every day she fascinates with something new: painting, photography, felting, embroidery, interior design. There are enough materials, and the work is worth it. Why?

It's normal to have many hobbies. Such people of the Renaissance are called scanners. You are probably smart and well-read, broad-minded and capable of many things. The question is, are you happy with yourself? If you want to achieve more, you will have to prioritize and focus on what is important at the moment.

Inaction

You are saving beautiful pictures for the future. The browser is bursting with bookmarks, and VK albums are bursting with numerous saves. Where are the results?

What are you waiting for? The sooner you start working, the sooner you will enjoy the result. Are you afraid of mistakes? Correct as you learn. Practice every day to get results.

Burnout

A person cannot be productive 24/7. If you are tired from studying and practicing, you need a break. Do non-creative things: clean up, visit relatives, pay bills, go shopping, or laze around. Give your brain time to rest and return to work when you feel energized.

Creative problem solving [How to develop creative thinking] Lemberg Boris

What hinders creativity?

What hinders creativity?

Barriers to creativity can prevent us from realizing the creative potential that we are all endowed with and capable of. Knowing about these barriers should prepare you to recognize them when they come your way and equip you with the ability to overcome them.

Functional fixation means a tendency to see only obvious ways to look at a problem. These are situations in which a person does not leave his comfort zone while thinking about solutions to a problem.

This tendency has a lot to do with a person's past experiences. When you are locked into a certain, strictly limited perception, it prevents you from looking at a problem from different points of view. If you are limited to the traditional way of doing certain things, you will actually have a very difficult time coming up with new and creative solutions.

Self-censorship is the inner voice that holds you back and tries to prevent you from making a fool of yourself or looking stupid. These are negative thoughts that swirl around in your brain, such as “this will never work”, “this way nothing will work”, “I will look stupid”, etc.

Self-censorship would seem to protect you from error. The trouble is that with such a stubborn internal limiter, you deny yourself the opportunity to experiment and block your imagination. Plus, you deprive yourself of the right to make mistakes, which not only greatly narrows your horizons, but also keeps you in a state of continuous emotional stress, and stress, as we know, does not lead to good things.

Microcontrol stifles a person's ability to be creative, since this method of behavior specifies too many details related to how exactly a particular problem should be solved. By focusing on the little things, you reduce your ability to think about yourself, about your pleasure, you deprive yourself of the right to use creative talent, and, again, you keep yourself stressed by complaining about how many small things you have to think about.

Rationalization means that when thinking about a certain matter, problem or task, you use only the logical side of consciousness. And very often creative solutions come to us not from logical structures, but from the subconscious. It is for this reason that sometimes, in order to find the ideal solution, you don’t need to rack your brains, but go for a walk or even just dream.

Myths about creativity act as barriers because of their power to shape everyday behavior. We will talk about these myths separately so that you understand how effectively they can destroy the craving for creative solutions.

Risk visualization means that a person, before proposing an idea, pictures in every detail in his imagination how he will fail and how badly other people will think of him. In other words, he concentrates not on the idea, but on the impression he will make. I note that, in addition to the neuroticism that such an attitude towards one’s ideas creates and maintains, it puts an obstacle in the way of making and executing a decision that could turn out to be truly creative, and kills an idea that had every chance of being alive and fresh. A person is especially prone to this behavior when his usual role - for example, at work - does not appeal to creativity or when he believes that colleagues or loved ones will think poorly of him if he starts trying and inventing best ways carry out routine actions and solve incoming tasks. Risk visualization is, again, the fear of angering someone by starting a change that upsets the conventional wisdom.

And, of course, this again is a factor of neuroticism. In general, as you may have already noticed, barriers to the manifestation of creative potential are at the same time direct roads to chronic stress, neurosis or depression. The barriers we'll look at next will further strengthen your guess.

Lack of time. Lack of time and/or opportunity... People often feel that they are too busy with everyday activities to make time for creativity, and constantly demanding tasks prevent them from focusing on being creative. “Where is the creative approach here?! Let’s at least somehow sort out this mess!” The choice is yours. Make time for creativity, or better yet, realize your right to creativity! A creative approach to solving the same everyday problems does not mean that the problems will not be solved. But the fact that solving them will take less effort from you is for sure. Moreover, there is a chance that you will even enjoy this routine. Rest assured that by giving themselves the right to be creative, people managed to introduce a creative element into everything that previously only angered them - be it getting up in the morning to work or ironing shirts. And they didn’t waste any time.

Lack of sleep. Lack of sleep creates barriers not only to creativity, but also to many other things. Think about lack of sleep as creatively as you think about lack of time. Organize your day, get into the habit of going to bed at a strictly defined time, during the day do not neglect physical activity and healthy eating. Even if the exercises healthy eating- not about you, then at least start going to bed at a set hour. You will get into a rhythm very quickly, your body will understand how much time it needs for proper sleep, you will fall asleep on time, get enough sleep and get up in the morning without the help of an alarm clock. Be motivated by the fact that you are more likely to generate ideas if you get good sleep and feel alert and rested.

Criticism. Criticism from other people can discourage creativity for a long time. How to deal with those who unreasonably criticize you? Moreover, it is precisely unfounded why the barrier is called “criticism” and not “criticism,” which can be quite constructive. Criticism implies an inadequate assessment, when you are wrong in advance, when you and your idea are condemned even before you have implemented it. Particularly advanced critics will judge you even before you express your idea. Because they assume that you have nothing valuable to offer.

Many of us have encountered such critics - at work, in our own homes or earlier, while studying at school. If you remember just one example of criticism directed at you, you will also remember how much it dampened your fire - and if you were subjected to criticism regularly, you yourself may have begun to doubt your creative potential. Well, understand one thing: when a critic condemned you and your idea, when he persuaded you in every way for your creative endeavor, he was not talking about you, but about himself. It was he who did not trust himself, it was he who did not see creative potential in himself. Why? Because only limited people see limitations in others. I definitely recommend that you put such critics out of your head: let them limit themselves. And you – awaken and develop your creative potential.

Rules and procedures. If the organization you work for has a lot of rules and clearly defined instructions and procedures, they can sometimes stifle creativity due to the bureaucracy they create. If you can't promote your project without a ton of signatures, maintaining momentum will be quite difficult for you.

Now ask yourself – which of the above barriers applies to you personally? Recognizing your own barriers is half the battle, because by doing this you will become aware of what is blocking your creative spark. And once you realize it, you can begin to act to overcome obstacles. Good luck!