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A reader just sent me the following question:
Why is it that, except for Thomas Edison, it's mostly the young who invent new things?
Interestingly enough, Thomas Edison was far more of an innovator than an inventor and this was especially true in his later years. Those who have visited his laboratory museums in NJ and FL know that he was surrounded by teams of creative thinkers. His very special talent lay in bringing new products to market. And this is no small talent. The historical record is littered with the names of those who had lots of original ideas but no concept of just how to turn them into cash; Nikola Tesla, who was a contemporary of Edison, is a perfect example.
But it is true that people, including Edison, are usually far more creative when they're young. In fact, it's been said (and there's plenty of evidence to support this) that unless someone shows notable brilliance in the sciences during their 20's, they aren't apt to truly excel later in life. While young students know all the necessary basics, they've not yet had time to become set in established paradigms...established patterns of thinking. As a result, someone like Albert Einstein will forge ahead not because he knows more but because he doesn't yet know enough. Specifically, he didn't know what his older peers assumed was either impossible or, at the very least, an unproductive line of reasoning. Einstein excelled in 1905 when he was just 26...but that was pretty much it.
But what's true of science is not necessarily true in other areas. For example, musicians seem to get better as they get older. Like fine wine, maturity brings magnificence to such artistic endeavors as writing, acting and painting. The difference here involves novelty versus refinement. In science, invention comes with the development of new thought while in art it comes with the mastery of old knowledge.
The bottom line here is one of Creativity as it relates to Wisdom. When you're very young, you don't know how anything works. This is the time to experiment and to think up new concoctions. Give a youngster a gift-wrapped teddy bear and he's likely to have as much fun playing with the box as with the stuffed toy. This is the essence of creativity, seeing everything as though it was for the first time. Wisdom is just the opposite. It involves years of experience with the world and, as a result, knowing how everything works. You can see how both are important...but important in different ways. The boundless energy of youngsters can be spent and can be frittered away in experimentation while the more limited resources of seniors is far better deployed along proven paths.
However, just because you're no longer a child doesn't mean you have to give up your creativity. Here are two exercises designed to get you thinking in new ways at any age.
1) Pick up any item that comes to hand - a book, a pencil, a cup...whatever. Now pretend you've just arrived from Mars and have no idea what it is. Try thinking up three possible uses.
2) Make two lists of five common objects - a telephone, a light bulb, a chair...whatever. Now put one list next to the other forming two object combinations. Try to think of ways in which the new combination might work.
For example, the pencil might be used to spear that first olive in a tightly packed jar while the telephone/light bulb might be combined into a phone that lights when it rings so that you can find it in the dark. Keep going and you may just hit on a million- dollar idea.
