Why “I’m not the creative type” is bullsh*t

Ah, the artiste.

The way we consider art, and those who create it, ceased to be rational a long time ago. We take famed creators, their lives, and turn them into painful, creative caricatures; the tragic Vincent van Gogh, the tortured Frida Kahlo. Perhaps that’s why we collectively assume that creativity is a limited resource, an elusive quality grasped by only a select few.

It’s not.

While the online world is clogged up with articles both denouncing our ability to learn creativity and claiming to have found its recipe, the truth lies somewhere in the hazy in between.

Really, this all goes back to the age-old nature/nurture debate.

Reasonably, most people now accept that human beings are a product of both nature and nurture. We’re shaped by our genes, but also our environment. In many ways, this debate has reached a higher plane with increased societal awareness surrounding privilege and how it impacts opportunity.

But let’s put all that aside for a second, because the nurture stuff is where it gets complicated.

So, on the nature side, can you be genetically destined to be a creative; do all those famous writers, artists, musicians and so on simply have it in their bones?

Science says: well, maybe.

While no one’s DNA can guarantee they will be creative, there are certain genetic components which may make a person more predisposed to original thought.

A genome-wide study found that an increased presence of particular gene clusters (linked to brain plasticity) can enhance creativity. This is because these clusters are associated with the brain’s ability to break and form connections between cells. In other words, people with these genes tend to be fast learners who adapt well to change.

While this may be an asset to creativity, it does not guarantee it.

Other scientific research has tied duplicate DNA strands, with serotonin-producing genes, to a propensity for creativity. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter. I know what you’re thinking — what’s a neurotransmitter when it’s at home? — well, basically it’s a chemical substance which impacts bodily function and behaviour. In this case, higher serotonin levels increase connectivity in the brain, thus improving awareness, perceptiveness and internal thought.

Now we’ve got through my crudely simplistic description of the science (please read the official studies if you’d like head-spinning details), it’s time to breakdown the myth and why there’s no such thing as a“creative type”.

This isn’t a genetic black and white — unlike whether or not you’re able to roll your tongue (which I still occasionally try to do) — having genes which might make you more creative, don’t mean you will be. In the same vein, not having them doesn’t mean creativity is impossible for you — far from it.

On the nurture side, science has shown that everything from the company you keep to the challenges you accept, have the ability to impact your creativity levels.

There is an extent to which how you were raised, the education you received and the kinds of ideas and values you were exposed to can impact your creativity. For example, a person who becomes a writer later in life would likely benefit from a childhood filled with reading. The keyword being ‘benefit’ — it doesn’t mean every writer will definitely have had this experience, just that those who did likely found it nurtured their flair for writing.

No one lives a cookie cutter life; we’re all different. Trying to suss the optimal elements in biology and experience that make for enhanced creativity is simply not realistic.

Still, the beauty of environment is that it’s always changing. Perhaps you think you ‘lack imagination’ or ‘don’t have a creative bone in your body’ — but that’s more about mindset than the reality of your capabilities.

Statistically speaking, all over the world and throughout human history, there have been creatives — the likelihood of every single one of them having the aforementioned genetic particulars is undeniably impossible.

And of course, lest we forget, creativity is not limited to the artistic realm. You can be a creative problem solver, scientist, teacher…the list goes on.

Basically, we’re all big jumbled up human cocktails. Who we are and what we’re capable of is a confusing mix of our genetics, our upbringing, our experience and our present situation.

So, “I’m just not the creative type” — it’s time to call bullsh*t.