Running Head: IS TECHNONLOGY LIMITING CREATIVITY
Is technology limiting creativity?
Mohammad Onaisse
Sharjah American International School
10B
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IS TECHNONLOGY LIMITING CREATIVITY
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Abstract
A strong argument for technology killing creativity is that kids (and adults) who always have
their heads in their phones, tablets or laptops lack imaginative activities that help to promote
creativity. Has the device in your hand become the technological distraction Aldous Huxley
described, keeping thought at bay? Scientific study tells us that we need time to daydream as
daydreaming boosts our creativity. If we’re filling any possible down time with scrolling through
devices, are we inhibiting that daydream time? Creativity is often referred to as a “use it or lose
it” discipline. You might work in a creative job role, but even you could be strangling your
creativity by being fastened to a device constantly. It’s Saturday afternoon, you text your friends
you’re going to hang out with them in the evening. As soon as after you text them, you decide to
open up Instagram just to scroll through your newsfeed, you get tired of looking at Instagram, so
you switch to twitter, realizing it’s time to go hangout with your friends. As you go to your
friend’s house, you decide to text them that your there instead of ringing the doorbell. At your
friend’s house, you guys decide to play video games instead of talking among each other.
Internet and electronic devices in general is becoming a compulsion. The ubiquity of the internet
increases the chance that someone will get stuck into a continuous cycle.
IS TECHNONLOGY LIMITING CREATIVITY
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Introduction
When was the last time you talked to someone on the bus, in a waiting room or any other
“waiting” kind of place in public? The chances are that it has been a while. If you’re waiting
somewhere, your phone is in your hand and the entire waiting area looks something like this. The
predominance of technology and smartphones in particular has led to many suggestions that
creativity is being killed by our reliance on these tools. This isn’t a new thought – people were
suggesting that technology was extinguishing creative impulses long ago. When I was a kid, it
was TV and computer games that were to bring the downfall of imaginations everywhere. Yet
here we still are, creating stuff. So, what’s the deal really?
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Body
Instead of just imposing flat limits on the amount of screen time for tweens and teens, Heitner
says we should look at what they’re doing online, and “at creativity versus consumption because
‘screen time’ is kind of a meaningless term these days.” Kids can be creative in front of a screen
— it’s not just passive entertainment. That’s part of the effects of technology. Those creative
pursuits may include making videos, composing music, building their own games, and even
writing fan fiction. “Sometimes we are snobs if our kid isn’t writing a play in iambic pentameter
or composing classical music,” says Heitner, “but that doesn’t mean they’re not being creative.”
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Body
Creative online work can also build an online social community for like-minded tweens and
teens. Instead of kids just consuming content from their favorite sites or YouTubers, encourage
your child to be an active contributor, suggests Heitner. “The more your kid is a fan of a certain
genre, the more you hope they’re contributing back. Maybe your kid is a fan of Minecraft videos.
Perhaps they should be making some Minecraft videos and teaching other people what they’ve
learned.” That might not be what we had in mind, just like an hour of water-bottle-flipping might
not be what we have in mind for our kids’ offline time. But here’s the thing about creativity —
it’s not supposed to be what we expect. It’s supposed to be innovative, startling, stretching.
Sometimes it’s us parents that need to stretch a little, too.
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Body
Technology has expanded the boundaries of what’s possible with creative pursuits such as
movie-making, music and graphic design. This has provided more scope for creativity, possibly
even invited more participants to join in. Look at YouTube videos or even content on Instagram
– these are accessible platforms that allow anyone to participate and create. For professionals,
look at examples such as CGI in movies or tools created to make graphic design more accessible,
the online platforms to promote that content. That accessibility runs across the gamut of creative
pursuits. Prior to the internet, the public may have only been exposed to those deemed by
“experts” to have creative prowess. With the internet, the curtain is lifted and more people are
discovered online every day. Artists like Bach and Van Gogh were not famous in their own
lifetimes, whereas if they were alive today, the chances are they would be well-known.
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Counter claim
Lack of originality is one thing with content, but technology is also accused of promoting lazy
communication and diminishing our creativity in that area. Newsweek reported on the findings
of a recent study that indicated that while intelligence scores have steadily risen, creativity scores
have been declining since 1990. The implications of this are sweeping as they say: “The
necessity of human ingenuity is undisputed. A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified
creativity as the No. 1 “leadership competency” of the future. Yet it’s not just about sustaining
our nation’s economic growth. All around us are matters of national and international importance
that are crying out for creative solutions…” While they haven’t yet conclusively determined
what is behind the score drop, they did have this to say with regard to technology: “One likely
culprit is the number of hours kids now spend in front of the TV and playing video games rather
than engaging in creative activities.
IS TECHNONLOGY LIMITING CREATIVITY
Conclusion
There are good arguments to be made for both sides of this debate. Yes, we’re seeing evidence,
such as lower creativity scores, which may point the finger at technology. We know people are
spending more time distracting themselves on electronic devices and possibly inhibiting the
creativity, which can come from boredom and letting thoughts wander. On the other hand,
technology has allowed developments in all kinds of creative pursuits that have pushed
boundaries from where they were before. It has also made many forms of creativity and the
knowledge needed to pursue them more accessible than it was for previous generations. It’s
currently a debate that is in need of further studies, but one thing most can agree on is the need
for balance. If you want to nurture your creativity, you need to look at how you balance the
impacts of technology and information with the mental space needed to create.
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References
https://yourteenmag.com/technology/technology-killing-creativity
https://hello.rindle.com/is-technology-killing-creativity/
https://wvanzylacademic.atavist.com/essay-the-creativity-debate-talent-or-practice-what-matters-more
https://www.youthvoices.live/2018/02/09/is-technology-limiting-creativity-pt-1/
https://www.scribd.com/document/255723559/Essay-Technology-Killing-Creativity