To TS,

The answer is a definite NO

For some, they don't lose something they do not have to begin with

For others, no matter what the outside society wants to do to them, what they have they still retain

And for this country, sad to say, more than 99% of our countryfolks fall into the first category

No, it ain't the education system, it's the people

Face it, we are a ppl with no imagination

In other words, we are stupid, very stupid, as compared to ppl from other countries

Or more precisely, subjective.

Creativity in the human sense can only be evaluated by another human (or the creator himself), after all.

cheers

Just to want ask a question. How do you all defines creative?

Is creative is like:

a) Leonardo da Vinci, a painter and many2 things, he also invent scissors?
b) Einstein guys? Know theory, and the one that superficial thoughts?
c) A man that creative, where they know how to survive?

If we could see, creative is practically seen or not?

Actually, the easier life is, the more time you have to think. Suffering simply expands your perspectives and gives you more material, it doesn't make you more creative. Many who suffer are not creative at all. The problem is that priorities are not on thinking, but on self gratification. Being a leech of resource rather than using society's resources to give something back in return.

in the case for China, it's the burdening custom that hindered the development of science and technology

there's a Chinese saying --- don't stick your neck up

and then there's the Confucius thinking --- one has to obey their superior with utmost respect

combine the two, we got a stagnant culture in China, and they end up wasting 3000 years out of their 5000 years history

A FULL pot cannot receive any more water.  You have to empty the pot first.

If I made it aware to you, and you're dismissing it, aren't YOU the one thinking in the box?

Yes, exactly. Our times we could make anything into toys, Lego's the best. What are kids playing nowadays? Maybe that would answer why kids today have so little in their minds.

Whether society accepts creativity, it's there. It's always there, in one form or another.

Creativity can be used in arts, or in military, or even in crime.

Put it in another way, if the society doesn't accept creativity "legally", creativity will then be channeled to boost illegal activities

exactly.

but interestingly, in school we were taught that the more beautiful a painting we produce, the "higher" our creativity is valued. that is inaccurate, as creativity should be valued on the process of making.

for example, the simplest sense of creativity is on problem solving. lets say ur teacher gives u a problem: how to throw an egg from the 3rd floor without breaking it? so u and ur friends start to conjure up solutions creatively. i'll show u some solutions people usually come up, from the simplest to the more complex and finally to the most elegant:

i. bundle the egg in a huge amount of bubble-wrap to cushion the fall.
ii. increase air drag by parachuting the egg down.
iii. suspend the egg in a collapsible frame to absorb impact.

(can u see that the solutions are becoming more elaborate and creative? and finally...)

iv. stand on the 3rd floor, throw the egg slowly up and catch it back.

does the no. iv solution makes sense to u?

I couldn't agree more.

Basically, franchised companies in Malaysia seem to like reusing ads that from overseas. Dumping them to english/malay/mandarin. It does send out a message how "creative" we have become.

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.

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

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?