I believe these are all interlocked (obviously because we are looking at them all) but thought I'd state the obvious before sounded too repetative. They are all slightly different, of coarse, but work together to stimulate learning and growth!
Curiousity- for me this is natures way of getting us to explore our world around us. At an early age it is crucial for young ones to be curious in order to learn about their environment. Sometimes this can hurt like falling down stairs or turning on hot water, but there is always learning swirling around curiousity. At a higher level, if students, educators or researchers weren't curious we would never have some of the gifts of modern society like medicine, magnets, computers, genome project, plans for better education, etc. etc. The America's would have never been explored without curiousity (and a financial motive) which isn't evil but an added bonus.
Imagination- I love watching and listening to my girl who literally knows she CAN be a princess and marry mommy and daddy. There are no bounds on her imagination and where it takes her. The sad fact is that with bounderies of the natural world we slowly have this beat right out of us. Some of us cling to the remains of our imagination for dear life, I know I do. Where would we be if some of us didn't strive to keep this part of our brains somewhat functioning. No cars, no computers, no train, no planes, no art? Some stuff we could do without in this rat race we live in but who would have imagined we could go into space? Or did we? LOL
Creativity- I think this coincides with imagination. Just a complementary aspect of our brain. These two work in harmony to think of possibilities or problems and think inside and outside of the box to solve them. That's the learning and applying aspect, but creativity is most associated with art or design. And all that's good too, how boring would the world be if we all thought alike, dressed alike and came to the same dry conclusion?
Play- simply letting go and having fun, using the prior three terms to construct adventures, practice using or not using or brains; Enjoying life! This helps us put those things like creativity, imagination, and curiousity into action outside a "must do" or boring "real life" situations. Although, we can use it in an education or work environment; there is no crime in designing education around having a good time! Don't worry people, the fun police don't exist quite yet, maybe after the sugar and salt police in NY though, so hurry!
What do I want to know? Well I would just like to hear some other peoples perspectives on these topics as far as their effects on adolescents, brain development, high-order thinking and maybe how they lead to some of the most successful inventions or people and see how they still love life and using this things in adulthood.
Sir Ken Robinson was uproariously funny while hitting the nail on the head. Having mentioned earlier that creativity was driven out of us; I would have to agree with almost everything he said. His example of the little girl who was drawing a picture of God and the teacher who stated that nobody knows what God looks like followed by the little girls response "well they will soon"! says it all. We as adults and educators dampen creativity, we all know it. But his take on how schools degrees are increasing along with population and we should take a hard look at what our societies deem as successful lives couldn't be more true. We are already seeing high school diploma's almost mean nothing, Bachelors degree's alone are almost down to very little worth. Increasing the diversity of educational paths is completely necessary at this day in age and I feel will have cross over effects (like maybe a classically trained dancer who thinks better while she dancing and also happens to love genetics and boom a huge breakthrough from thoughts outside the box) This could benefit fields like math and science and give perspectives from seeing things from new angles and creativity. Not to mention the mental health and quality of life issues given to folks who may not be math and science inclined or want to be professors. Unleash creativity and there are no limits....
I thought JK Rowling had an elegant take on benefiting from failure and a unique perspective on the imagination. We all know you must fail in order to succeed but none of us wants to fail! Thats the catch 22 of it all. In all aspects of life, as parents or spouses or in our careers we all fail to some degree or another. We can get back up and "try, try again" or stay where we are and be content with our mediocraty. I believe God doesn't create mediocraty, if we allow societal views and the trappings of life keep us from our best (being totally content and happy whatever our station) then shame on us. Her take on imagination surprisingly wasn't about her and Harry Potter, which would have been the obvious. Instead it was about her time at Amnesty Intl. and how through many, many stories she could with her open imagination be close to being in those folks shoes even to the point of nightmares as if she was there with them during the torture, abuse and loss. Shows how powerful of a force our imagination can be.
Stuart Brown really put "play" into an area I was hoping to see. Science based facts that play is almost as necessary as any other biological function we have. Not only for brain development but for interactions with each other as well. The polar bear playing with the husky was awesome. A wild polar bear not eating but playing with a husky seeming in another place or altered state was amazing. I would think it was a fluke but Brown quoted many animal studies where play actually was imperative. Play is important all through life and learning, no doubt. One last thought, I liked how he stated that play is not just a warm up or rehearsal for adulthood. Dispelling that notion is going to be, i think, the biggest hurdle before we integrate some of these new findings into our "societal concsiousness', if you will.
Finally, I chose Rory Sutherland. This guy must have been a marketing genius. He turned everything upside and shed light on the reality. To use a quote that I have known most of my life and don't know who said it "Perception is everything". I have always believed in this because two people looking at the same thing or with identical lives will have totally different outlooks, its just a fact. However, If we can use or put value on things of importance other than material wealth we could go towards everyone being happy and content with life (for the most part) no matter what their so-called social class is. I loved examples he used like the potato and the Italian drivers losing points from 12 instead of gaining them. He was hilarious but ingengious. This all tapes into peoples imagination and curiousity when you speak of perceptions. HOWEVER, one danger for me is that most of these ideas must be apolitical or you could end up being munipulated into doing what only one side wants you to perceive (like for or against global warming) or propagandized into committing unspeakable Evil and not even think of it as a society???
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