The truth is in the details

There is a very obvious fact that should make us reflect.

The most creative individuals in their fields (whether technology, sports, mathematics…) have emerged from outside the standard system.

Before continuing, one must differentiate being very intelligent, having a lot of talent, from being creative. There are many gifted children with high abilities, but most will not produce any theory, discovery or contribution to society from a point of view of creating something new.

Therefore, being creative is different from being very intelligent. Although it can be linked, it is not in a direct way.

What worries me most is what I mentioned before: is it necessary for people to go through the system to be creative? Or do creative people not adapt well to the system and find their own way?

To explain a very clear case: football players.

Where do the most creative players come from? Those who make plays never seen before? Those who make you jump out of your seat…

Most highly creative players come from Brazil. (Romario, Pelé, Neymar, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo…)

Most of these players are the ones who make the sport take on another dimension…

Why?

Basically because these players train and learn to play in an unrestrained environment, where no one forces them into a mold, where no one tries to impose a set pattern, where no one shouts at them or raises their voice when something unexpected happens. They learn to play on the streets; they learn to play freely.

A highly creative player who does very different things is almost impossible to become professional in Europe. First of all, he will not have a space where he can imagine, invent, or dream up new plays, new movements… moments to let his mind be free.

And second, if he tries to achieve these moments within a team training session, the coach will quickly tell him not to mess around and to do what he was told to do. To stick to the plan.

And remember, a player can be highly technical and very good in Europe… but here I am referring to being creative, which, as I said, is different…

When I was a child, when I used to go watch basketball games in my town, it was very fun to see the games where the good players were, because they were players who had learned to play on the streets; every good player was different, doing different things, playing differently from one another…

Now, if you watch a game of youth teams, you will see highly athletic, highly technical players with great fundamentals but most are very similar, playing very much the same… except for a few extraordinary cases. In the past, every team at a certain level had peculiar players who were worth watching.

The same happens with teams where innovation comes from below (innovation from above is another topic since it involves big companies with lots of money).

Why is there so much innovation in the United States? Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter… basically because they have mechanisms to develop creativity outside the standard school system.

A great idea can find funding, support and social status outside the standard system that might be the university or the company, where everything is also standardized, and it can flourish outside the system.

Therefore, in summary, the system kills the creativity of individuals, it tries to make them all the same… and even worse, if someone tries to be creative and deviates from the plan, the system itself penalizes them until they return to the "correct" path.

Is it possible to confine creativity within the system? Is it normal that creativity only appears in environments that are not very "regulated"?

Perhaps it is so, perhaps it always has been so… but I think it should be different…