“There is Nothing New Under The Sun”

What I learned from the Podcast with Danny…

The most creative people in the world have one thing in common: they are also the best collectors.

That’s right. To create, you need to collect. Creativity is often defined as the ability to generate or produce unique ideas or solutions. But I would describe it differently. Here is my refined definition: Creativity is the ability to curate a unique composition from a catalogue of pre-existing ideas.

“There’s nothing new under the sun.” Everything has been seen before. At present, there is no such thing as a completely original idea. These ideas always stem from concepts that have existed before. They are just variations of past ideas. There is nothing unfamiliar about them. What is novel, though, is the adaptations of these ideas. Your originality is tested when you reinterpret and reshape them.

To be able to reinterpret and reshape the past, you need to acquire knowledge and understand different perspectives. By being open to new experiences and connecting with others, you not only increase the catalogue of ideas which you can pick from, but also enrich your understanding of the world. A larger index entails more unique possible variations. And creativity is the ability to select the necessary adaptation.

Creativity is developable and can be trained. But to be able to develop and train it, give yourself a large index. Then, you can start practising finding the right combination of past ideas.

The most creative people in the world have collected immense knowledge in their field. By doing so, they have access to a vast collection of perspectives to curate. Over time, they have trained and recognized which combinations are effective and which are not.

So, if you want to become more creative, master the art of collecting experiences. Without collecting perspectives and knowledge, you limit your capability to reinvent the future.