Some of the ads are ok, like the (paper boy falls in love with paper girl) from Streamyx and the (falling giant red phones crushing the poor boss) from Digi are okay.

The rest are run-of-the-mill "comparison" category (Dynamo liquid detergent, Nespray milk powder, Dove shampoo); the "not-knowing-what-they-are-selling" category (Panadol "horrible", Fab "what too much") among others.

But the worst part are the shows on tv nowadays. All trash !

Like who cares what they do in "The Gladiators", and who cares which b!tch wins the "super model" contract, and the so brainless "real life low life" series like the one with Paris Hilton and then the one from that black female designer and that hip-hop singer and his family, I mean, who cares what those low-lives do anyway?

Why showing all these on Malaysian tv? What benefits are we getting by showing all these trash to our young Malaysians?

This post has been edited by 4Atulan: Nov 1 2009, 10:22 AM

Err.."reality TV shows". Not very real and aren't doing anything to cultivate creativity. We might be going slightly offtopic.

I only read through the first couple of pages of this thread. First, I want to say that I agree with what Joey said. Stagnation, to me, is like being in a coma. But that deviates slightly from the topic at hand.

I think the one thing that stands as a hindrance to creativity in this age is instant gratification. Creativity requires imagination and effort. We live in "fast food" times where the main aim is to achieve results (and hence gratification) in the shortest time possible. So while new things are certainly sprouting up, ideas don't get to fully germinate and realise the full potential it could have. It is all about getting what you want with the least effort possible and in many respects, this "stunts" the end product. There is no sense of longevity and therefore, it limits the meaningfulness attributed to it. It will very quickly become obsolete or "so last year" very quickly. It ends up simply as a trend and does not endure. So I think that in that sense, while we can argue that creativity still does exist, it has been stunted to a great extent.

This post has been edited by Blue07: Nov 14 2009, 06:54 PM

Indeed this is what we have discussed in the latter pages, you might want to check on that as they contain some real informative stuff. So we highlight this instant gratification as the bane of creativity, but how does one challenge such a, if I may call it, pest to society? Not when, surely, everything is handed to us on a silver platter! Why, in the past decade or so, who would have heard of using the internet to check for meanings of words?

Certainly not then! We had to use a dictionary (without CTRL+F mind you) and painstakingly search

To be philosophical, there is no such thing as creativity in Man as all we ever do is improve on what already exists. We have never truly created something for ourselves. Chairs: improvisations of logs and stones. Cloning: improvisation of mitosis.

P.s.: Haven't read through any of the posts yet. Just replying to the topic

EDIT: After reading the first page, i just wonder how you can conclude that the younger generation lacks creativity? I don't believe we have reached the point where our generation impacts the world enough to let our flaws and good traits shine just yet.

What kind of creativity are you looking for? Creativity like Einstein's our Van Gogh's? Mozart or Con artists? Creativity is everywhere from how we devise new methods to cheat in tests to how we struggle to find ourselves & on the way create our own philosophies. Don't you think the rapid development of technology is a sign of creativity? Though i must admit that in the field of literature, things often get repetitive, predictable and utterly boring. Twilight, anyone? Though i must say that twilight does help prepubescent girls spark their creativity in creating their own versions of the oh,so perfect Edward Cullen (I'm sorry, the series simply disgusts me that any intellectual beings could worship it)

I don't believe that our generation is any worse off than the previous generations just because we're more shielded. Though i must say, i envy the days when you could just spend your days lying on a hill to watch the sky. In every generation there will be some who are more creative than others. You probably just haven't met them yet

This post has been edited by pllx: Nov 15 2009, 04:46 AM

Hmm, well. Abstract creativity. Instead of say, tinkering around with things, little kids are more content with playing on the computer (games) or their consoles. Perhaps one could argue that creativity in this age comes in the form of how much mods have developed, be it for the UI of a computer to just about any other program. The thing is, a vast majority of the children these days are complacent. What do you do in school? Study, study, exam, study, exam.

I must profess though, the rapid development in technology is a result of the works of those born prior to the computer-obsessed age. Why, when I got my first computer, Pentium 1 was the epitome of technology. Now the kids play World of Warcraft all day. Is any creative thought involved? I don't think so..

Take out the Ctrl C and Ctrl V function.
The world might be more creative.

I really can't grasp what are you trying to achieve in your first post lol~

Are you saying that we're losing creativity as a result of technology advancement? And you want to know what other causes people nowadays rapidly losing their creativity?

Are you sure we're losing our creativity? We really have to find some shocking statistics to prove that Intellectuality keep rising and creativity changes, they don't use old creativity yardstick (is there any?) anymore right?

Creativity is another way of measuring intelligent, human are different from animal because they had creativity..... rather than increase output of one variable, u switch to another variable to achieve it

Example, rather than pushing yoursself climbing mount everest, u build an helicopter and fly to the top...So tat was a sign of creativity

Creativity had similarity with intuition...U can grasp a piece of it, but could never hold it tight....I had always do a lot of research about creativity in my head, but i nearly forgotten it all...LOL...It was forsake to understand what the hell i am so creative, I really do...But i wasn't during my childhood....I dont think i am smart, but somehow i get piles of great idea effortlessly...Sometimes i think the universe is providing the idea rather than our brain itself...LOL

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Added on November 18, 2009, 2:31 amA person cling on the road would lose the way!!!! Malaysia education really cost too much damage to our creativity, seriously....But i had no idea where to start to explain it...Long long story..haha

This post has been edited by communist892003: Nov 18 2009, 02:31 AM

Then by all means please do try and refute the points with an adequate rebuttal. I would love to see your take on the situation. I'm not bothered to reiterate all that was discussed in the past 8 pages, a little reading back would be good.

As mentioned prior, I am reflecting from the viewpoint of a Malaysian citizen in the 21st century, both brought up in a childhood without computers, nor ease of access, having experienced the Malaysian education system as well as those of other countries. (A-levels, SAT comes to mind). The old creative yardstick as you so aptly put it is a clear indication of how well one can think, which is hardly the case with our children these days.

I ask this because, why, my brother is so straight-forward. He cannot think outside the box, cannot view things from another facet. We are discussing with regards to the children born in this age, not those prior to the Y2K. But all the same, if you view this differently then by all means : tell me why.

I don't deny that creativity exists, but as some others have mentioned, its being repressed rather than encouraged. Our education system is a testament to that. If you ask, you will be told to forget about it and focus on your exams.

This post has been edited by ZeratoS: Nov 18 2009, 04:36 AM

I agree that our national education system is not conducive to the growth of creativity, but it does exist. We don't just study and exam. Not all of us at least. I enjoy discussing physics-related things with my friends, i read lots of books out of interest, i independently devised the correct formula for arithmetic progressions when the teacher asked us to try to find one ourselves and i had independently partially devised a half-baked theory of relativity. Of course, after i found out and read up about einstein's complete theory(still working on that), that's all pointless unless i study further

I asked my teacher about the mechanics of gravity and he told me to stop interrupting the class. Same when i asked how an electric current seemed to know to take the path of least resistance, when the resistance is further down the circuit. That is a testament to how the education system is not conducive to creativity. However, what i DID do after that was go to a bookstore and look it up. I found the equation relating gravity, distance and mass. However, no one has the answer to why gravity exists. YET

I resent the statement that we're losing creativity, even if it may be right. But ya know, with every new thing created you need more creativity to come up with something new/better.

& haha, just read the prior to Y2K bit... They're 9 year old kids. They should be tipping over with creativity. But then, not everyone is like that. You're not judging their whole generation based on your brother alone, are you? I'm confident that they have lots of smart, creative kids too. Not everyone is a computer game-addict.

I believe there's alot of creativity going around, just not in MALAYSIA. Why? Because kids nowadays do more or less the same things, watch TV, listen to pop music, play Online games like no tomorrow. In school kids are thought to follow 1-10.

I don't know if there's still many kids reading novels, sewing shirts, making decorative stuffs, drawing/painting, you know like what they call "HOBBY"? Other than those too convenient ones like online games & internet.

To make a summary, kids nowadays in Malaysia don't get much of a choice. With everybody doing/playing the same thing, where is the uniqueness & creativity?

This post has been edited by advocado: Nov 25 2009, 08:18 PM

that problem is not unique in malaysia. it's everywhere.

but even if everyone around u are into online gaming and the internet, doesnt mean that's the only thing that malaysians are only limited to. we're renowned for not having the best internet connection. at the same time, our broadband penetration is one of the lowest around. so what do those people not having good internet connection, if at all, do?

this problem is more prevalent in countries like korea and japan. but they still produce creative individuals. why?

I don't know how to say it but Malaysia is an unique country, it's like hanging in the middle of no where. Choices for kids weren't much to begin with before internet. Back then learning music is an expensive thing to do, kids nowadays learn it mostly because their parents couldn't afford to learn back then, or have a elitism mind set, kids get pushed into doing stuff they might or might not like. They may have liked it one day if they weren't pushed. So many kids just busy doing stuffs their parents wants them to.

I don't know about you people but when i see small kids in shopping mall, i hardly see the kid in them. If you compare in other countries kids over there are much more lively. Let kids be free then we can talk about creativity.

This is inherently due to our Asian stereotypes. We are taught different cultural values, and you will find that kids brought up in a more western setting, if I may call it that, will definitely stand out. The west promotes a different set of values, and I must say that it promotes creativity far more than our system does.

There is just 1 draw back on westernization, the sort of aggresiveness that comes with the package. If only there's a balance between east & west. You know like those karate kid that grew up in the west while learning the way of the east.

unfortunately, aggressiveness is a characteristic of creativity.

Au contraire, if one is not aggressive, new ideas are lost in the working world. As azarimy stated, it comes with creativity. I believe people want others to conform with their ideas or concepts.

But in any case, being aggressive isn't always wrong. Nobody is going to listen to a vegetable you know.

we should clarify, being aggressive doesnt mean offensive. meaning, u can still be aggressive without having to step on another's toes. u can be strict, bold and strong, but not necessarily have to be arrogant, demanding and a prick.

individuality is one of the easiest motivation to drive creativity. the desire to be acknowledged as an individual drives people into establishing themselves in this world. the western world doesnt want to comply with the idea that we're only an insignificant speck in this universe. at the end of the day, they wanna go home and think "i've accomplished something today...".

in most asian countries, individualism is not that prevalent yet. but if u see in japan, u can easily look at the young culture. they have the same elements that influences us - pop cultures like manga, video games, fashion etc. but because of the massive conformist idealism that drives everyone to wanna be like their idol, a few of them bound to stand out by being different.

and this is the other drive for creativity - being different.

in the end, there's nothing wrong about being stuck with video games, tv or the internet. we just hadnt reached critical mass yet. we dont have enough people to follow one stream or the other. i mean, can u seriously get 10,000 people who're into cosplay in 1 place in malaysia? i've been to comic fiesta, u'll be lucky to get 100.

so at such small number, perhaps 1 or 2 might stand out. the bigger the pool, the more creative people get.

Reviving creativity!

Do you still design architectural works or just lecturing full time at UTM?

Sustainable Buildings Resembling A Stack Of Pebbles