Definitions HQ

Creativity (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠open to anyone: grasping the Pythagorean theorem in tenth grade is discovery, even if someone proved it two thousand years ago.

Creativity (n.) needs ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠constraint: without a system of formal limits built into the mind there could be only the shaping of behavior, never a creative act.

Creativity (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a fundamental human need — to inquire and create free of outside compulsion — and therefore a fundamental right; institutions are legitimate only insofar as they serve it.

Creativity (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠what every ordinary speaker shows all day: most of what we say is new, resembles nothing we have heard, and still fits the moment.

Creativity (n.) carries ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠no honor in Chomsky's sense: not Newton's achievement but what any child does when it meets a new situation, describes it and thinks about it afresh.