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What's So Right w/ Me Follow Up: Fear Vs. Envy
This follow up gives a hat tip to Mike C. who sent the following link as a part of a comment from my last post on this ongoing topic:
http://www.disinfo.com/2011/09/creativity-is-vomit-poison-and-agony-to-most/
And I think its good enough to recreate in full before I comment further:
“Why We Crave Creativity but Reject Creative Ideas
Sep. 5, 2011 — Most people view creativity as an asset — until they come across a creative idea. That's because creativity not only reveals new perspectives; it promotes a sense of uncertainty.
The next time your great idea at work elicits silence or eye rolls, you might just pity those co-workers. Fresh research indicates they don't even know what a creative idea looks like and that creativity, hailed as a positive change agent, actually makes people squirm.
“How is it that people say they want creativity but in reality often reject it?” said Jack Goncalo, ILR School assistant professor of organizational behavior and co-author of research to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science. The paper reports on two 2010 experiments at the University of Pennsylvania involving more than 200 people.
The studies' findings include:
- Creative ideas are by definition novel, and novelty can trigger feelings of uncertainty that make most people uncomfortable.
- People dismiss creative ideas in favor of ideas that are purely practical — tried and true.
- Objective evidence shoring up the validity of a creative proposal does not motivate people to accept it.
- Anti-creativity bias is so subtle that people are unaware of it, which can interfere with their ability to recognize a creative idea.
For example, subjects had a negative reaction to a running shoe equipped with nanotechnology that adjusted fabric thickness to cool the foot and reduce blisters.
To uncover bias against creativity, the researchers used a subtle technique to measure unconscious bias — the kind to which people may not want to admit, such as racism. Results revealed that while people explicitly claimed to desire creative ideas, they actually associated creative ideas with negative words such as “vomit,” “poison” and “agony.”
Goncalo said this bias caused subjects to reject ideas for new products that were novel and high quality.
“Our findings imply a deep irony,” wrote the authors, who also include Jennifer Mueller of the University of Pennsylvania and Shimul Melwani of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. “Revealing the existence and nature of a bias against creativity can help explain why people might reject creative ideas and stifle scientific advancements, even in the face of strong intentions to the contrary.”
Uncertainty drives the search for and generation of creative ideas, but “uncertainty also makes us less able to recognize creativity, perhaps when we need it most,” the researchers wrote. “Revealing the existence and nature of a bias against creativity can help explain why people might reject creative ideas and stifle scientific advancements, even in the face of strong intentions to the contrary. … The field of creativity may need to shift its current focus from identifying how to generate more creative ideas to identify how to help innovative institutions recognize and accept creativity.” “
Food for thought, eh?
I've been doing posts on why people go after me unjustifiably and the reason I posted about “what's so RIGHT with me” is because I was examining the idea that I'm being attacked due to ENVY. My last post was listing how I'm creative and generate new material so easily. Mike sent this link to suggest that creative people aren't just envied, they can also be FEARED.
Good point, Mike. It has long bothered me that I have such a talent for disturbing people without any apparent reason for it, and here perhaps is one of those reasons. Creative people by nature constantly challenge the status quo. Most people like things to stay the same or change only very slowly and so someone who keeps bringing new ideas to the floor could be seen as a constant threat– under the surface or subconsciously. It makes sense to me that if this is a widespread bias that tends to be carried very much below the threshold of awareness, then of COURSE people will project their uneasy feelings, wholly due to THEIR issues and limitations, onto ME. (Or anyone else who dares to be a little different and takes steps to add to their world, rather than just exist in it passively like most people do…)
I think I have been quite blind to this social dynamic because my own attitude towards new, different, challenging ideas is mostly positive. I know its just as easy to reject as to accept any given new thing, so where is the problem? *shrugs mentally* I need quiet and peace to contemplate and recharge, but I love prolific stimulation in the way of ideas and expressions of humanity or I really don't see much of a point to this whole “life” thing. We're not just here to procreate, consume, and die– right?! I mean, if life means more than mere existence, why wouldn't you want to check things out?
Curiosity is high for me. Feeding that curiosity is even more satisfying. I can't function well without it. And so, trying to wrap my head around the notion that most people are NOT curious and NOT willing to be adventurous sometimes astonishes me. I mean, I get that some people are like that– but a part of me will always stare open-mouthed in wonder at such people (you know, in CURIOSITY!!) because, seriously, what the hell!?
Most kids feel traumatized by moving around a lot. The lack of stability creates deep insecurities that few children deal with well. I've always realized that for some reason that wasn't true for me. I actually liked moving! Checking out new locations, learning new activities, meeting new people. I found the change of moving (even 3 times a year) exciting. I missed some friends, but I quickly learned how to make more– and once I was older, how to keep touch with those few people I adored and wasn't ready to let go of yet. Those skills served me well later in life. My only real regret about not having more money is how lack of funds cuts into my desire to travel and have more new experiences. People of modest means don't get out much and don't have lots of travel opportunities.
My insecurities have only ever been about survival concerns and avoiding cruelty –and dealing with being forced to accept cruelty when dependent upon someone else– never about novel experiences per se. If I had never had PTSD I can only imagine what a neophile I may have become in life! I mean, this is who I've become as a person swamped with fear on a very regular basis for most of her life! Yet, still I crave novelty! There's something to be said for that I think!
Everyone has their limits, and of course I know that. I need to be more sensitive to people's fears and that would likely alleviate some of the recurring issues– and I'm continuously working on my own end in things. However, the “what's right with me” series isn't about what is MY fault– its about what about me that is great that can inspire negative feelings in others, and therefore motivations for “going after” me. And honestly, people who are afraid of innovators are not going to stop me from innovating. Not anymore!
Whether due to envy or fear, it really in some cases comes down to other people's limits which I need to openly acknowledge as LAME and not allow their reactions to hold me back. I am doing myself no favors, but more than that– I'm not doing the fearful or envious ones any favors either! They get to walk the world thinking they have the right to attack me for their own stupid issues!? How is that fair? Whereas if I go on and they come to see that a) in fact, no harm is done by exploring and b) they aren't the freakin' center of the universe– maybe I'll do them a favor by teaching them the lesson of humility and tolerance, whether they want to learn that lesson or not!
2013-02-20 13:21:47
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