8/31/14 Creativity and Attention ADV 316

What is the Marxist Theory all about?

Necessary prereq. for Creativity: Attention

∙ Attention is a limited resource

o Hence struggle between specialization-generalization o “Leisure time” is important.

The Individual

∙ Some important contributions of the individual

o S/he mentally simulates the entire system to judge  whether their work is “creative”.

Main Idea of Article

∙ Our cultural metaphor for abundance has become  

“disembodied”, meaning that it has shifted from images of  fecund earth & female fertility to images of organizational and  scientific efficiency.

“Land of Cockaigne”

∙ Mythical land of plenty

Carnivale

∙ A temporary Land of Cockaigne

∙ Carnivalesque: Subversion and liberation of dominant culture  through humor and chaos.

o Erotic

o Superstition/animism

o Transvestism (Cross Dressing)

What is a orientalism?

o Celebration of nether regions, grotesque

o Participatory

o Role Reversal

o Community over society

o Subversion of authority

“New World” depicted as exotic land of plenty

9-2-15 Oppositional Forces ADV 316

“Protestant Work Ethic”

∙ Work diligently as a sign of grace.

∙ Linked to Calvinism

o If you are picked to go to heaven, then it will show in your  work ethic.

Scientific Management

∙ AKA Taylorism

∙ Application of “Science” to increase industrial efficiency o Logic and empiricism

o Abandon traditions, standardize best practices.

o Move from craftwork to mass production

Victorian Morality

∙ Sexual restraint

∙ Low tolerance for crime

∙ Strict codes for etiquette

BUT

∙ Carnivalesque elements of American culture were always present during this time.

What is iconography?

The other Protestant Ethic

∙ Sociologist Colin Cambell:

o 19th Century:

 evangelical revivalism

PT Barnum, the 1st great adman

∙ New York showman, played on Victorian fantasies If you want to learn more check out uw classics

o Fake mermaid; 160 y/o woman

o “Savage” peoples

o Circassian woman

∙ Used dramatically illustrated signs, PR stunts, etc. to attract  audience.

∙ Good example of carnivalesque.

9-4-15 More on Creativity Theory ADV 316

Creative Process

∙ Preparation 

∙ Incubation

∙ Insight

∙ Elaboration 

∙ Evaluation 

Johnson’s 7 Conditions (only discussed 6)

∙ Learn more in assigned TED talks

∙ Johnson’s Conditions that enable innovation and discovery: 1. Adjacent Possible

a. Must use components and ideas that exist in his/her  environment.

i. Cannot invent an app if apps do not exist.

ii. Idea for printing press came from existing wine  

press technology.

2. Liquid Networks If you want to learn more check out raving fans chapter summary

a. Loose, informal networks enable discovery.

i. Coral Reefs have high biological diversity, has the  

rigidity of the reef with the chaos of the ocean.  

Not too defined but not too chaotic.

3. Slow Hunch

a. It can take years for a hunch to blossom into a full

blown innovation

i. Most ideas are not complete, they are “hunches”  

rather than true insights.

ii. The idea of evolution is an old idea that existed  If you want to learn more check out ole miss math

before Darwin, he just formalized it. He had a  

“hunch” that evolution was a force of nature but it

wasn’t until he collected a lot of data that the  

“hunch” became a more developed idea.

4. Serendipity

a. Making innovations partially through accident/chance. i. Penicillin

ii. Discovery of microwave oven

5. Error

a. Creativity not guided by person, but was altogether an  error that led to discovery.

i. Making innovations that differ from the original  

intentions.

ii. Viagra was supposed to be a heart medicine

iii. Advent of Potato Chips?

iv. Advent of the Pacemaker

6. Exaptation

a. Repurposing (hacking) one innovation to make it do  something else.

9-9-15 Orientalism ADV316

Orientalism: A Western fantasy world consisting of a pastiche (re-mix) of made-up parts along with themes from north African, Middle  Eastern, East Asian & South Asian cultures.

∙ EX: Peddler: had fabrics, silks, perfumes and medicines often  presented as exotic and magical from far away lands.

∙ Orientalist stories were not often accurate representations of the  East, but they were internally related with certain themes: o Magic

o Sexuality

o Barbarism

o Hedonism

 Taking drugs, having sex, eating candy

∙ Often Carnivalesque elements are associated with Orientalism. ∙ “Orientalism” was used to entice people to buy things they didn’t need

o often used for cigarettes

∙ “Orientalism” used in the Laurence of Arabia story.

o Although it is a true story, much of the orientalist aspects  are played up.

∙ EX: Frank Frazetta; artist who created orientalist images we still  see today

∙ EX: Brittney Spears and Snake Don't forget about the age old question of unt mathematics

∙ EX: Katy Perry “Magic” Music Video

∙ EX: Brahman’s Chinese Theater in LA

What’s up with this Orientalism thing?

∙ Freudian explanation:

o “Projection” is the process of perceiving one’s  

undesirable qualities in others as a way to protect one’s  self image.

o We don’t see ourselves as having these qualities, so we  project these qualities on an out-group.

 Often to feel more moral.

∙ Social-identity theory (Tajfel & Turner)

o Basically agrees with Freud.

o Adds: Media/culture serves to reinforce these categories  through repeated exposure.

9-14-15 & Theories of Cult. Power & Integration ADV316 9-16-15

Mass Society Theory

∙ Corresponds to the “dominance” model of media power o Media controlled by centralized source

o Standardized content for all audiences

o Strong audience influence

∙ “Anomie”

Marxist Theory

∙ Middle/ruling class (bourgeoisie) controls mass culture ∙ Working class (proletariat) consumes the mass culture. ∙ Problems Marx Diagnosed

o Alienation of/in Work

 Not feeling pride in work; ex: someone working for a  TV show won’t see themselves in their work like a  

filmmaker with a lot of control would feel in their  

work.

o General Instability

 People are expendable

 Leads to unhappiness

 Capitalism lends itself to inequality

o Commodity Fetishism

 Bourgeoisie marriage between upper and middle  

class

 Idea that you can put a dollar value on a human  

relationship that you have.

 Business Class Morality We also discuss several other topics like critics of research surveys on the impact of daily hassles argue that some of the items listed as hassles are:

∙ By Robert Wright

∙ Because we have economic interests in  

cooperating with other ethnicities, we fight our  

natural tendencies to be racist.

∙ Puts a dollar value on that relationship, not  

meaningful or authentic.

o Media create a false consciousness among working-class o Middle/ruling classes monopolize media to prevent political opposition.

∙ Terms Central to Marxism:

o Commodification

 Turn something into a product that is not normally  

bought and sold.

 In regards to Marxism, decisions made in regards to  profit, without considering human or moral factors.

o Commercialization

 Something made into being profit driven.

o Co-option (“co-opt”)

 Similar to Cultural Appropriation

9-14-15 & Theories of Cult. Power & Integration ADV316 9-16-15

 Usually co-option means there is something  

appropriated into mass culture by bourgeoisie and  

taking out certain meanings to it, usually things that  

threaten the status quo, and selling it back to the  

proletariat.

∙ Interstella 5555

∙ EX: Punk Rock, Hot Topic

o Cultural Hegemony (Cultural Dominance)

 Way of using culture to secretly dominate

 Domination of a culturally diverse society by the  If you want to learn more check out hist 3633 class notes

ruling class, who manipulate the culture of that  

society—the beliefs, explanations, perceptions,  

values, and mores—so that their ruling-class  

worldview becomes the worldview that is imposed  

and accepted a “normal”.

Critical Political-Economic Theory

∙ Critical Theory: study of where there is power.

∙ Critical Political-Economic Theory: The study of where there  is power in the political and economic system.

∙ Media economics and technology concentrate ownership ∙ Results in commodification of content and audiences o Diversity of available information decreases

o Oppositional positions become marginalized

∙ Public interest is subordinated to private interests

∙ Study of Critical Theory usually yields qualitative info, not  quantitative

∙ Hotelling Centrism Theory

9-18-15 Idioms of Control ADV316

Idioms of control

∙ Idioms: A way of looking at the world and life.

∙ Ways for Western Europeans as the dominant culture to prevent  their social identities from being threatened

Romanticism

∙ Art movement and philosophy of life looking back on the past  with nostalgia.

∙ Reaction against industrialization.

∙ Nature is a big thing that cannot be tamed.

∙ Childhood is a pure and innocent time; we should strive to have  the innocence and purity of children.

∙ Civilization corrupts us.

∙ EX: Amy Winehouse as a “doomed artist”, she wasn’t built for  this world/society.

Rewind to industrialization, pre-1900

∙ How do WASPs create a solid sense of selfhood among many  changes?

Idioms of control

∙ Sentimentality/sincerity

∙ Rationalism

∙ Mimesis

Realism Has Multiple Meanings

∙ In science/philosophy: an objective world exists despite what  we think about it

∙ In literature: a particular kind of subject matter, esp. the  representation of middle/lower-class life

∙ Realism in visual arts:

o Depicts subjects without embellishment or interpretation  (often emphasizes grittiness of reality)  

o Embodying the belief that objects exist outside our  conceptions of them

∙ Naturalism in visual arts

o Similar, but depicts subjects in a “natural” setting (e.g.,  landscapes).  

o Stems from “realism” movement of 19th Century.

∙ Realism is reflecting a BROADER cultural tendencies toward  mimesis, sentimentalism and rationality (not just referring to art  movement/forms).

Mass Media Iconography

∙ Chromolithography

∙ Tended toward

o Agrarianism, rural life, earth based abundance imagery. Naturalism

9-18-15 Idioms of Control ADV316

∙ Both an art movement and a social movement

∙ Often agrarian or wilderness

∙ Containing impact of commerce by promoting rootedness of  agrarianism .

9-21-15 Idioms of Control (cont.) ADV316

Terms to know:

∙ Romanticism

o Represents reaction against industrialization

∙ Sentimentalism

o Excessive expression of feelings

∙ Realism

o Copying your environment

o Mimesis

∙ Rationalism

Early Advertising Symbols

∙ Earth-based abundance

∙ Exoticism associated with Native Americans  

o EX: A S Wheat Girl

o Walter Wood 1889 Catalog Cover

o Use of familiar images as many Americans couldn’t read. ∙ Cultural significance highly speculative

o A few observations:

 Pastiche form contained emotional (sexual appeals,  exoticism, nature) – i.e. carnivalesque

 But also could be used for rational appeals since it  was vague imagery.

∙ E.g., rational appeals like health benefits.

 The “safe” claim is that earth-based imagery  

embodied:

∙ Audience values

∙ Advertiser Strategies

 Images seen of the merge of spiritual and  

technological

∙ Manifest Destiny Painting

 And Images of the factory as the Icon of Abundance Patten

∙ Economist

∙ Argument Summarized:

o We seek enticing commodities.

o So, we work to buy them, thereby producing more enticing  commodities.

o Process then repeats.

∙ Concepts embodied in Patten’s work

o Shift from enjoyment to pursuit.

o Also, leisure in the service of productivity.

Fashion

∙ An interesting way to beat the demand-production dilemma

9-21-15 Idioms of Control (cont.) ADV316

∙ Fashion is always changing, things are always going out of style  and people need to buy new clothes

Planned Obsolescence

∙ Def in ppt.

Iconography

∙ Effects of sanitization and “disembodiment”:

o Protuberant bellies and buttocks gave way to firmer, more  youthful female figures in mainstream ads.

o Devaluation of female authority.

 Early ad images of women were as if they were gods.  Newer ads contained “electricity girls”… they used  recycled imagery, less powerful images.

o By the 1920s, images in ads for farmers drastically  changes from images of natural abundance to images of  machines making your farm more efficient.

9-25-15 WEIRD People (cont) ADV316

Analytic/Holistic Reasoning

Morality

∙ Cognitive-developmental approach

o (e.g., stage approaches of Kohlberg/Piaget) are WEIRD centric.

∙ Domain-based motivational approach

o (Moral foundations theory; Haidt & Joseph, 2007, most  popular theory in moral psychology right now)

o Why we have the moral compasses we do (evolutionary  basis)

 Care: What is cared about in one culture is different  than what is cared about in another culture, gut  

reaction to things that are good/bad

 Fairness: Proportionality, equality, social justice, gut reaction to cheating or abuse of fairness

 Ingroup Loyalty: Idea of group mentality, ingroup  loyalty

∙ All humans have a tribal history

∙ Might only apply aspects of care and fairness  

to ingroup and not outgroup

∙ Do Triangle Test with coke and pepsi (not on  

exam)

 Authority: Intuitive sense of respect for high status  people

∙ All primate groups have a hierarchy, and  

humans are no different.

 Purity: based on the psychology of disgust, striving to live in a less carnal, more noble lifestyle

∙ Study by Roberts: People with a Strong sense  

of purity seem to be against abortion.

Aspects of morality in culture

∙ In WEIRD cultures, on avg., care and fairness tend to be  emphasized, and loyalty authority and purity tend to be  de-emphasized.

∙ Democrats tend to reject loyalty, Authority and purity as parts of  Morality altogether, while Republicans tend to emphasize all 5.

∙ Food taboos, homosexuality and abortion can all be forms of  purity violations.

8/28/15 What is Creativity? ADV 316

People with creative personalities may have more divergent thinking 

The Creative Process

The Classic List:

1. Preparation – knowledge and gaining expertise

2. Incubation – begin creating

3. Insight

4. Evaluation

The “Flow” of Creativity

∙ Highly Creative people usually enjoy what they do.

∙ The Flow is the mental state one must get into to begin the  creative process

∙ “Flow” Characteristics:

o Immediate Feedback

o Action and Awareness merge

o Loss of self consciousness

o Sense of Control

o Time Distortion

o Intrinsically rewarding

∙ ∙ When skill level and Challenge level are both high and  comparable, that is when one experiences “flow”

Creativity: A process by which a symbolic domain of culture is  changed.

8/28/15 What is Creativity? ADV 316

Csikszentmihalyi says:

∙ Brilliance is NOT creativity

∙ Talent is NOT creativity

∙ Unusual, original perception is NOT creativity

∙ Creativity with a big ‘C’, is changing culture in some important  respect.

Creativity is not in individual mind, but in the interaction between  individual minds

∙ More explicitly it is between 3 distinct factors:

o domain – a set of symbolic rules and procedures

 Taylor Swift has been recognized as being really good at selling her music in a Creative way. The domain in

which she is working under is the music industry (or  

music sales).

o field – Individuals who act as gatekeepers within a domain  From Week 1 Article:

∙ “In physics, the opinion of a very small number

of leading university professors was enough to  

certify that Einstein’s ideas were creative.  

Hundreds of millions of people accepted the  

judgement of this tiny field and marvelled at  

Einstein’s creativity without understanding

8/28/15 What is Creativity? ADV 316

what it was all about.” Here, the professors are  

the field.

o person – Sees novelty within a domain and submits the  novel idea to the field.  

Consequences of this Systems Model

∙ Individual is less important

∙ Exposure to domain

∙ Manifest in existing domains

∙ Model allows for mysterious fluctuations of creativity over time

Domains:

∙ Some interrelated concepts

o Clarity

 Clarity of the structure

 More mature domains tend to be clearer in their  

structure.  

 The rules are clearly defined in more mature  

domains

 Chemistry and Physics example from reading.

o Centrality

 Centrality within a culture

 The more resources a culture invests in a creative domain, the more innovation.

o Accessibility

 -It’s the speed with which an individual can  

internalize a domain.

 Barriers

∙ Field may create a protective shield around a  

domain of knowledge.