Creativity and Wisdom in Aging[i]
In
the introduction of his book the author, Dr. Simonton presents the idea that
while humans share a number of traits with other animals like being able to
discriminate, form concepts, and move with goals in mind. (Very clear when my
cat meows at the door and when the door opens she runs to her food bowl) we
humans do have two very special abilities, wisdom and creativity. This post will attempt to convey some
of the information in his book about how these processes work for us.
He
first discusses wisdom. I want to give a quote that has special importance to
me because I spend a great deal of time developing the “skill” of staying in
the “here and now.”
“The
first capacity is wisdom. Rather than live from moment to moment with minimal
reflection and even less foresight, human beings can acquire a broad
perspective on life, discerning a larger view of life’s meaning than permitted
by a hand to mouth subsistence.” I
can evaluate the past and set goals for the future. A problem is that I often
get attached to thoughts about the past and the future and it’s difficult to
let go of them when I should be paying attention to what I’m doing.
Creativity
is the next capacity that Dr. Simonton discusses. He tells us that creativity
is “a hallmark of our species.” As
everyone knows not all creativity is wise and later in the chapter he gives a
broader description about wisdom.
A
difference between the two is that creativity is divergent thinking while a
convergent process, connected to intelligence, characterizes wisdom. It has been studied for centuries and
is described as a key human characteristic.
Creativity
He
presents three indicators of the creative process.
a) Creative production varies. It rises
quickly to a peak and then tends to decline slowly depending on the creativity
content. This is an example of
what can be described as an “age curve.”
The curve depends on the nature of the creative process including “novel
writing, history, philosophy, and general scholarship”
b) The relation between quantity and
quality is somewhat more complicated although through out artist’s careers
quantity and quality are positively connected.
c) In lifetime output there’s variety
· Some show creativity quite early
· For some, like great psychologists,
there is no
age correlation.
Wisdom
While wisdom
has been around for a long time psychologists have begun studying it more
recently. Eric Eriksson’s theory of wisdom development was first published in
the late fifties, just as I was graduating from high school and beginning my
university adventure.
The last
sage of his theory, in late life, “…is the final conflict between integrity and
despair, the favorable resolution of which yields renunciation and wisdom” That
of course does not mean that we all make the right choices.
Conclusion
So, it would appear the wisdom and
creativity may have a somewhat contrary relationship. It would appear the creativity reaches a high point in
middle adulthood, with the note that this depends on what kind of creativity we
are talking about. Next because
quality and quantity are connected the quality of creativity is not associated
with decline “…those who begin
their careers early and maintain prolific level of output will be expected to
continue productivity until late in life.”
Finally, while there seems to be a
difference in lifelong development of creativity and wisdom it could be that
they converge, there is still much work that needs to be done. I need to quit now because I have an
acrylic painting upstairs that I’ve been working on for three days. And, I hope I haven’t caused confusion
and I highly recommend that you get a hold of the book cited below; it’s great
[i] Simonton,
D. K. (1990) Chapter 19 In The Handbook of the Psychology of Ageing (3rd Ed) Academic press 978-0121012649
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