Technology and Creativity
February 26, 2014
Technology often appears to be more related to the sciences than the arts. However, in some instances technology requires more creativity than other disciplines. This is because developing something new in technology requires rewriting and rethinking all previous conceptual algorithms. Jones (1990) discusses several examples where adherence to traditional thinking is illustrated stating that these instances show “…the tendency to set limits of ‘the possible’ based on previous experiences, knowledge and conceptual frames” (21). Do thinking that the development of new technology requires more or less creativity than more traditional art forms like painting or music?
2 Responses to “Technology and Creativity”
February 27th, 2014 at 1:35 pm
I thought one of Jones’ main points was that the creative process and goals of multiple fields are not as different as people believe. Jones said, “Individual computer graphic pioneers are merging education in art and computer science in themselves or forming a partnership with others who have complementary skills.” (Jones, 52) This leads to the question you proposed regarding the creativity of the two assumed to be opposing fields. Creating these effective inter-disciplinary teams shows that the creative process of multiple backgrounds are highly valued, and I’m not sure I would say that one field requires more creativity than the other. There may be slight differences in the way each field looks at the creative process, but they both require immense creativity.
One key distinction that I like about your comment is related to the idea of being stuck in the past. In most fields, people get stuck thinking that change is obsolete, and a shift in market, or science is difficult to comprehend or see coming. In science, you have to push the boundaries of what is possible, and I can imagine it would be quite difficult to accept an alternative hypothesis. However, I’ll add that many fields have a problem regarding the boundaries of what is possible. I’m sure some of the greatest artists and music artists feel the same pressure to conform to the past when they are pushing the boundaries of what is to come.
February 28th, 2014 at 8:20 pm
Dear CjB,
I believe that the art-related technology is more attractive than the science-related technology because the art-related technology creates more enjoyments or happiness to all human beings, such as games and 3-D movies. Also I believe the development of technology requires more creativity than ever since we are living in the age of information explosion for seeing a lot of new technologies. Then people will become very picky about the high-tech things they buy. Their feedbacks will become the key development of the new technology. Jones (21) states “those who originate and use new forms of art and technology embed their assumptions in the new symbolic and material forms. As time passes the original user develop familiarity and facility. New users bring additional assumptions and considerations for form, content, material, technique, meaning and purpose”. To meet with customers’ need is not enough for high-tech companies’ goals, they need to go beyond the customers’ need, which required more creativity and imagination for their new technology or products. Thus, the creativity or art factors are important to technology.