Saturday 22 November 2014

Creativity vs. Intelligence

If Intelligence is defined as the ability to solve mathematical and logical problems, to understand similarities and differences between things, to predict results after observing patterns etc. and Creativity  as the ability to create and understand an idea, through writing, painting, poetry or any other means, then, in my opinion, Creativity is more important than intelligence and is also more unique in the sense that humans possess Intelligence only on a greater scale than that of other species, but Creativity is an ability possessed by them alone. Other species have the ability of problem solving, however far less than that of the humans, but they don't have the ability to create and understand an idea at all.


A basic assumption here is that Creativity and Intelligence are essentially two different things, that a highly creative person doesn't necessarily have to be good at logic or mathematics, and vice versa. This assumption is neither supported nor rejected by any conclusive study, but observation usually supports it.


If that is true, then an intelligent person is nothing more than an organism which is better at problem solving as compared to other organisms. Even computers have this ability in the form of Artificial Intelligence, and their abilities might someday surpass the humans. What they don't have is Creativity; the ability to form and comprehend ideas.


For example, a mathematically intelligent person could be replaced by a computer that can perform calculations even faster. In fact, this has happened during the last few decades. But no computer has ever been able to understand the ideas of a poet or to form a political ideology, and probably no computer will ever be.


That's why I've always believed that the students of art and literature are more important and superior than the students of sciences. The former's abilities surpass the latter's as Creativity is required to study arts, while the study of sciences generally requires Intelligence only.

In the future, computers might replace intelligent humans. So, Creative humans will eventually become more important than their intelligent counterparts. As far as I know, Creativity is something very different than Intelligence, and computers might never be able to gain it.  


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