Creative Thinking . Article by : Tengku Aisyah Zaharah , Raja Fatimah Azzahrah , Nurain Ariff , Nur Faizah

CREATIVE THINKING

Creativity ? and Thinking?

What do you mean by creativity and thinking ?

Creativity and thinking can be defined in three ways , which are can be seen through 

An Ability is to imagine or invent something new. Creativity is not the ability to create out of nothing (only God have the power to do that), but the ability to generate new ideas by mixing,emerging ,changing, or reapplying existing ideas. Some creative ideas are astonishing and brilliant, while others are just simple, good, practical ideas that no one seems to have thought of yet.

An Attitude , which to accept changes, a willingness to play with ideas and possibilities, a flexibility of outlook, the habit of enjoying the good, while looking for ways to improve it. We are socialized into accepting only a small number of permitted or normal things, like chocolate-covered strawberries, for example. The creative person realizes that there are other possibilities, like sardine and tuna sandwiches, or chocolate covered strawberry .

A Process. Creative people work hard and continually to improve ideas and solutions, by making gradual alterations and refinements to their works. Contrary to the mythology surrounding creativity, very, very few works of creative excellence are produced with a single stroke of brilliance or in a frenzy of rapid activity.

We might differentiate these two kinds of thinking which are 

Critical Thinking	Creative Thinking
analytic	generative
convergent	divergent
vertical	lateral
probability	possibility
judgment	suspended judgment
focused	diffuse
objective	subjective
answer	an answer
left brain	right brain
verbal	visual
linear	associative
reasoning	richness, novelty
yes but	yes and

Much of the thinking done in formal education emphasizes the skills of analysis--

1. Teaching students how to understand claims
2.  Follow or create a logical argument
3.  Figure out the answer
4.  Eliminate the incorrect paths
5.  Focus on the correct one. 

However, there is another kind of thinking, one that focuses on exploring ideas, generating possibilities, looking for many right answers rather than just one. Both of these kinds of thinking are vital to a successful working life, yet the latter one tends to be ignored until after college.

In an activity like problem solving, both kinds of thinking are important to us. 

• First, we must analyze the problem; 
• Second, we must generate possible solutions
• Thirdly, we must choose and implement the best solution

 and finally, we must evaluate the effectiveness of the solution. As you can see, this process reveals an alternation between the two kinds of thinking, critical and creative. In practice, both kinds of thinking operate together much of the time and are not really independent of each other.

There are also Negative attitude thinking that blocks Creativity and some of them are,

1. It can't be done. 

This attitude is, in effect, surrendering before the battle. By assuming that something cannot be done, a person gives the problem a power or strength it didn't have before. And giving up before starting is, of course, self fulfilling. But look at the history of solutions and the accompanying skeptics: man will never fly, diseases will never be conquered, rockets will never leave the atmosphere. Again, the appropriate attitude is summed up by the statement, "The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer."

2.But I'm not creative. 

Everybody is creative to some maximum limit. Most people are capable of very high levels of creativity , just look at young children when they play and imagine. The problem is that this creativity has been suppressed by education. All you need to do is let it come back to the surface. You will soon discover that you are surprisingly creative.

3. What will people think?

Some people have high insecurities that made them very ordinary and re-think every moves they make and does not want to come out for their comfort zone . Eg ; Some girls have a way of thinking that by wearing make up they will feel more comfortable rather than not wearing make up because they are scared of the way people think towards them .

Positive Attitudes for Creativity

1. Curiosity. 

Creative people want to know things--all kinds of things-- just to know them. Knowledge does not require a reason. The question, "Why do you want to know that?" seems strange to the creative person, who is likely to respond, "Because I don't know the answer." Knowledge is enjoyable and often useful in strange and unexpected ways.

2. Challenge. 

Curious people like to identify and challenge the assumptions behind ideas, proposals, problems, beliefs, and statements. Many assumptions, of course, turn out to be quite necessary and solid, but many others have been assumed unnecessarily, and in breaking out of those assumptions often comes a new idea, a new path, a new solution.

For example, when we think of a shopping mall, we traditionally think of a physical shop that sells shoes,clothes, toys and book stores . But why must shopping mall be a place (with normal citizens and shops) at all? Thus, the electronic shopping mall now exists, where people instantly shop at home,such as e-Bay , theamazon.com and etc .

3. A belief that most problems can be solved. 

By faith at first and by experience later on, the creative thinker believes that something can always be done to eliminate or help alleviate almost every problem. Problems are solved by a commitment of time and energy, and where this commitment is present, few things are impossible.

The belief in the solvability of problems is especially useful early on in attacking any problem, because many problems at first seem utterly impossible and scare off the fainter hearted. Those who take on the problem with confidence will be the ones most likely to think through or around the impossibility of the problem.

In conclusion , Creative and Thinking can be defined in many ways , this is basically depends on the individual itself and the situation. That is why , not most people can think in the other way of the other side of the brain works.We humans have the ability to choose whether we want to be creative or a thinker or even both.

Source : http://www.virtualsalt.com/crebook1.htm