Week 4 Reading Reflection ch.5

1. Biggest Surprise in the Reading:
I thought the following statement in the reading was very interesting: "Most people assume that some people are born creative and others are not, or that only the gifted or highly intelligent person is capable of generating creative ideas and insights."  The reading proceeds to explain how this thought process is flawed and incorrect.  I have to admit, I too tend to think that creativity is a born-into character trait. I feel like a person either has a creative mind or he doesn't.  The same goes for someone with an analytical, numbers-oriented mind.  I feel like people are either born analytical, or born to grasp more anecdotal materials.  I believe anything can be learned to an extent, but strengths and weaknesses certain stem from born-into personalities and innate qualities.

2. Confusing Aspects:
The steps in the "creative process" are a bit confusing to me, only because I tend to think that creativity lies within, and using it doesn't naturally undergo a four-step procedure.  The reading mentions phase 1: background or knowledge accumulation; phase 2: the incubation process; phase 3: the idea experience; phase 4: evaluation and implementation.  I do agree that in "creating" a new product, information-gathering is very necessary to endure that your imagined product is both in demand and feasible to produce.  The incubation phase seems a bit strange to me, but I do agree that by "getting away from a problem and letting the subconscious mind work on it" helps in solving problems and coming up with solutions.  I can see how it would also help spark creativity.  How can you be creative when you fix your mind on one set thing and disallow yourself the opportunity to branch out of that bubble?  The idea experience seems to relay contrasting information.  One recommendation in finding that "eureka" moment  is to "fantasize about your project" while another is to "put the problem on the back burner."  The final step, implementation, doesn't seem like a creative process to me but rather an educational and planning process.

3. Two questions to the author:
What do you think is the main reason adults use only 2-10% of their creative potential?
How have your 6 problem solving exercises helped you personally to become more creative?

4. Disagreements:
The author stated, "a creative person tends to view things and people in terms of how they can satisfy his or her needs and help complete a project."  I think, however, that a person who thinks with this mentality is innovative, but not necessarily creative.  Innovation is the implementation of something new, so an innovative individual would think of products that could fit his needs and would implement them.  This person would think to himself, "does this market need this? Okay. Let's give it to them."  However,  creativity is the ability to imagine something original.  It is often not the goal of creative people to get a product to market, or make "this product" to fit "this need."  Rather, the goal is to explore endless possibilities and free the mind.

Week 4 Top 5 World Problems

Rank Order of Problems (Most Serious to Least Serious)

1. Overall health is a major concern in the world right now, especially in America.  More and more people are discovering issues with their health due to lack of proper diet, stress levels, etc.  Modern western medicine only seems to cover up symptoms and mask the underlying problems.  

2. Animal cruelty is a huge world problem.  Every day animals are enslaved, beaten, and killed for human consumption, clothing, enjoyment (such as state fairs and circuses), and lab studies.  Many people do not realize this harsh reality because it is kept quiet from the public.  Why would the media show it?  

3. There are several endangered species in the world, and we need to take action to stop this.  

4. Deforestation is a major concern.  40% of all Rain forests have been cleared to raise cattle for the meat industry.  

5. We need to reduce our water footprint (the amount of fresh water that we use daily) and make choices to conserve this vital resource.  The meat and dairy industry contributes immensely to this problem. 27% of the water footprint is related to the production of animal products while only 4% of this footprint is related to at-home water use.  According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) it can require up to 18,000 gallons of water to produce just one hamburger.  

*Justifications:  Many people are struggling with their health which is hard for not only the individuals to go through but for their families to witness as well.  By taking care of ourselves and putting our health first, we can then focus on other problems that are present in the world.

Rank order of solutions (in order of their corresponding problems with most-possible to implement (1) and least-possible to implement (5))

1. Diet choices and mental/emotional clarity need to be prioritized to truly reverse illness and regain health.

4. No animal or living being should be treated like property and have to go through such pain and agony. Sorry.

5. Destruction of wildlife habitats needs to end.

2. If we could all cut back on the consumption of meat, we could do a great service not only to our bodies but also to our rain forests and the amazing animals that naturally inhabit them.

3. Instead of cutting back on shower time, how about we just swap the hamburger at lunch for a delicious fruit smoothie?

*Justifications: I feel like a good amount of people can make better choices in terms of their diet if they are willing to take that step.

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