Discussion Forum > What does your unconscious think to your AF list?
...which led me to some interesting points by John Cleese on Creativity ( http://bit.ly/1qw6vIi )
Creativity and Productivity
- creativity is not a talent, but requires getting into a particular mood, (a mood inhibited by lots to be done, impatience, purposefulness, drivenness )
- have a quiet space for a defined time period (about an hour and a half)
- avoid those people who decide everything very quickly and with a great show of confidence. If there's one person around you who makes you feel defensive, you lose the confidence to play, and it's goodbye creativity.
- there are no mistakes while you are being creative
- use humour to keep the difference between 'serious' and 'solemn'.
Cleese says just keep your mind resting against the subject in a friendly but persistent way, sooner or later you will get a reward from your unconscious, probably in the shower later. Or at breakfast the next morning, but suddenly you are rewarded, out of the blue a new thought mysteriously appears.
Creativity and Productivity
- creativity is not a talent, but requires getting into a particular mood, (a mood inhibited by lots to be done, impatience, purposefulness, drivenness )
- have a quiet space for a defined time period (about an hour and a half)
- avoid those people who decide everything very quickly and with a great show of confidence. If there's one person around you who makes you feel defensive, you lose the confidence to play, and it's goodbye creativity.
- there are no mistakes while you are being creative
- use humour to keep the difference between 'serious' and 'solemn'.
Cleese says just keep your mind resting against the subject in a friendly but persistent way, sooner or later you will get a reward from your unconscious, probably in the shower later. Or at breakfast the next morning, but suddenly you are rewarded, out of the blue a new thought mysteriously appears.
July 5, 2014 at 10:46 |
michael
michael
This would be the same John Cleese who ceased being creative about 30 years ago, and has been living off his reputation ever since? I would be interested in what he had to say about his creative processes around the time of "Fawlty Towers", but since then....?
July 5, 2014 at 18:27 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
<<What does your unconscious think to your AF list?>>
If it is my "unconscious," then by definition, I don't know.
If it is my "unconscious," then by definition, I don't know.
July 5, 2014 at 22:31 |
Austin
Austin
mARK:
Perhaps you had the good fortune to miss his latest burst of creativity http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jul/08/baywatch-movie-john-cleese-as-villain
Perhaps you had the good fortune to miss his latest burst of creativity http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jul/08/baywatch-movie-john-cleese-as-villain
July 9, 2014 at 18:52 |
michael
michael
@ Mark
Bit sour, Mark. I found the points made by Cleese worth noting. Apparently the clips ref'd by michael date from "the late 1980s" - around the time of "Wanda", so presumably some crative juices were still flowing.
I think you're confusing creativity with global impact. What Cleese has done lately may have a lower profile, but you'd have to be thoroughly acquainted with it to judge whether he's been creative in doing it.
Chris
Bit sour, Mark. I found the points made by Cleese worth noting. Apparently the clips ref'd by michael date from "the late 1980s" - around the time of "Wanda", so presumably some crative juices were still flowing.
I think you're confusing creativity with global impact. What Cleese has done lately may have a lower profile, but you'd have to be thoroughly acquainted with it to judge whether he's been creative in doing it.
Chris
July 10, 2014 at 18:47 |
Chris Cooper
Chris Cooper
After all, if the recent Cleese isn't creative, what does that make the rest of us?
July 11, 2014 at 10:17 |
Chris Cooper
Chris Cooper
Chris:
Actually I hadn't realised the date of the talk was the late-80s. I'd assumed it was more recent than that. So I might listen to a bit more, if only to identify why he stopped producing the really good stuff immediately after giving the talk.
Actually I hadn't realised the date of the talk was the late-80s. I'd assumed it was more recent than that. So I might listen to a bit more, if only to identify why he stopped producing the really good stuff immediately after giving the talk.
July 12, 2014 at 14:09 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Mark: This seems closer to your own approach to me http://www.directedcreativity.com/pages/ToolsHeuristics.html
July 19, 2014 at 18:33 |
michael
michael
michael:
<< This seems closer to your own approach >>
If you say so! I actually find the article quite difficult to understand.
<< This seems closer to your own approach >>
If you say so! I actually find the article quite difficult to understand.
July 20, 2014 at 0:03 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
August 13, 2014 at 20:50 |
michael
michael
michael:
Thanks for the oblique strategies link. I liked it enought to make set it as my browser home page. It's difficult to exactly identify where some of these thoughts lead or if they really do enhance creativity, but still definitely cool to have that random input into the "thinking loop".
Thanks for the oblique strategies link. I liked it enought to make set it as my browser home page. It's difficult to exactly identify where some of these thoughts lead or if they really do enhance creativity, but still definitely cool to have that random input into the "thinking loop".
August 17, 2014 at 13:01 |
Lachlan Black
Lachlan Black
"Your best gambit is to regard the unconscious mind as a separate presence, a personified entity with which you work in collaboration."
If you think of yourself as working in harmony with your unconscious self how does your AF list change? This is a sort of combination of Mark's decsription of how the brain works together with his dialoguing technique.