It's been a long time since I posted that initial musing. I think I forgot all about this enterprise. That is the trouble with turning 50 - the brain has a limited capacity. I can see this could be another advantage of keeping this blog in that I can "store" some thoughts here that have a habit of falling out of my ageing brain -and find them again!
I'm actually back through inspiration from a free class offered by "The Landing", a social networking platform through Athabasca University, where I am currently studying for a MA. The course is on using social media tools, something that intrigues me in its potential application for future studies and work.
I want to reflect a little here on a wonderful TEDtalk given by Sir Ken Robinson on creativity and divergent thinking. (The link leads to the animated version, scroll down for the full 55 minute lecture on "Changing Paradigms") As Sir Ken points out, divergent thinking is not the same thing as creativity but a necessary part of being creative. He references studies that show that all of us are born with a capacity for divergent thinking, which for some reason diminiushes over time. He advocates not for the reformation of education but for its transformation. He wants a new metaphor - rather than the mechanistic metaphor of an education designed for the industrial age, he calls for a paradigm shift to an organic agricultural metaphor that is vital, creative, diverse and customized. He's a compelling lecturer and he's convinced me. In fact, I am happy to see some of this changing paradigm reflected in our school division in the region I live.
It reminds me of the very brief introduction in one of our first Masters classes we had to Deleuze and Guattari's philosophy as presented in A Thousand Plateaus, a book I do not pretend to have read or understand. It's an idea that has been seized upon by many artists, writers, would-be philosophers, etc, who likely are also bemused and bemuffled by the book - the idea of Rhizomes and how they apply to how we think and how we communicate.
According to Sir Ken, the roots for an incredible burst of of creativity and innovation are lying beneath the surface. We just need the right environment, perhaps a spring rain, in order for it to burst into full flower.
Hmm.
