The Creative Life

Recording in front of a live audience of creatives at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, Ken and Josh discuss whether creativity is innate or whether it can be cultivated through practice and study. Ken argues for Stanford Professor of Psychology Carol Dweck’s view of a “growth mindset”: the idea that anyone can become more creative with effort and training. Josh is skeptical, suggesting that some people are born with creative genius that others can never hope to achieve.

Scott Forstall, creator of the iPhone and Tony award-winning Broadway producer, joins Ken and Josh to discuss what he has learned about living a creative life. Scott explains that whether it is technological innovation or theatre, the creative life inevitably requires significant risk — namely, the possibility of failure. Scott also weighs in on the debate over creative potential, taking the middle ground that while anyone can become more creative, different people are suited to certain creative outlets.

In the last segment, Ken, Josh, and Scott take questions from students in the audience. One student asks whether true creativity must be original or whether it is a process of rethinking prior ideas. The hosts point out that today nearly all creative acts are somehow derivative of past ideas, but successfully adapting old ideas into new creative media is genius in itself. Another student wonders why creativity as a skill is not more emphasized in American education. Scott responds that the most successful people are not only educated with cookie-cutter tools but also have broad interests and a propensity to question everything. Finally, Scott shares some habits to foster creativity in everyday life, including thinking in the shower and pursuing a multidisciplinary education and career.

Roving Philosophical Report (seek to 6:00): Liza Veale talks to Stanford University alumni about how they foster creativity in their daily lives. It turns out that web designers, graphic novelists, and even the famed astronomer Johannes Kepler agree that creativity is a mechanism to overcome obstacles and synthesize disparate ways of being in the world.
Sixty-Second Philosopher (seek to 46:50): Ian Shoales discusses the job of a “creative.” While artists used to be adored and supported by society, pure artists today are hard-pressed to make a living. Instead, artists become corporate creatives, adding value to start-ups and conglomerates with their creative ideas.