Creative Gobbledygook - Innovative Boloney

Let us not confuse “that which is different” with the loftier concepts of “that which is innovative or creative.” Many are mere expressions of intellectual fraud, as though there isn’t enough fraud going around.

Innovation studies – Nowadays there are full university programs offering degrees in innovation. As honey to flies, grants are available is why. Websites are available for all innovators, to infect those without ability with a perception they have it. Innovation studies programs are even available to youngsters aged 10-18.  Mostly, they just train folks about new stuff, though leaving them unable to contribute to it. For example, business innovation is little more than awareness of needs for better products and marketing. In brief, these programs mostly only teach “new” or “different.”  The world so craves new ideas that it invests huge sums to produce what will soon be called innovative nonsense. Futurists are their philosophers.

Creative writing – Change the order of sentences, use a twist of words, conflate incongruous themes, throw in a couple of curse words, involve socially frowned-on themes, and you’ll get an “A” in your creative writing class. Why? Because the instructors don’t know what it is either.  They simply teach writing “different” and call it creative.  Nobody ever reads it but the teacher and maybe the student’s mom.

Contemporary anything – Frequently, it means unusual or bizarre, sometimes following new rules but often simply abandoning old rules and having no discipline.  Witness the spectrum of contemporary music or art ranging from pure trash to the most interesting. But we do see considerable creative writing efforts to describe schlock art in complementary terms. Ditto for contemporary schlock wine, furniture, and yes, high fashion.  Here we see “different” in the service of “contemporary.”

>>You never hear about contemporary or innovative physics or math, chemistry or biology. These subjects are creative, contemporary, and innovative by construct.  Occasionally, you’ll hear about classical versions, though for comparison.

>>In most cases innovative this, creative that, or contemporary something come from years of study and actually being at the research cutting edge, not just having read a book about it. And this is just what the best innovation programs are.  They are the familiar nanotech, immuno-systems, quantum, and similar researches now wearing a new “innovation” hat.

>>Everyone acknowledges the importance of these topics.  Innovations, creations drive the world onward, for goodness sakes.  But who knows how to teach them?