In his book „Creativity“ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi investigates the psychology of discovery and invention. To do so he studied the lives of highly creative individuals. All these men and women made groundbreaking contributions to their respective fields be it in science or in the arts.
In one of the chapters, the author describes antithetical characteristics of creative individuals. His descriptions illustrate the contrariness of the characters of creative people.
Several opposing traits are often present in successful scientists and artists. These people often encompass both contradictory sides of the same coin. Csikszentmihalyi elaborates on ten antithetical traits in total. These are often present in creative individuals. The following pairs of opposing attitudes impressed me the most:
Playfulness and Discipline
Creative people are playful and disciplined at the same time. We associate a certain degree of playfulness or even irresponsibility with creative minds. Even so, discipline is needed to see the ideas generated during playful phases trough and make them happen.
Wisdom and Naivety
A similar pair of conflicting character traits are being smart or having wisdom and being naïve or childish at the same time. Being smart is important to contribute anything meaningful to a domain. But being naïve is necessary to try out new stuff or discover something others have not thought of, yet.
Fantasy and Reality
Most of us would connect the term fantasy to creative individuals. Yet, a strong sense of reality actually is the basis of many of their accomplishments.
All this changed my point of view and made me see myself in a different light. Like all human beings, I am full of contradictions and conflicting traits. Some of them are diametrically opposed to each other.
Before, I saw this as a flaw. I viewed it as an inconsistency one should better get straight. By reading the book „Creativity“, I learned that this is nothing to be ashamed about. Quite the opposite is true. Opposing character traits should be embraced. These contradictions are even necessary for exceptional scientists or excellent artists.