Creativity Isn’t A Divine Gift, It’s Something We Can All Get

“Creativity is not a trait that we inherit in our genes or a blessing bestowed by the angels. It’s a skill. Anyone can learn to be creative and to get better at it. New research is shedding light on what allows people to develop world-changing products and to solve the toughest problems. A surprisingly concrete set of lessons has emerged about what creativity is and how to spark it in ourselves and our work.”

Should We Stop Calling It ‘Islamic Art’?

“The very concept of ‘Islamic art’ is alien to the cultures that adhered to Islam, but that apparently has never troubled the scholars who hold forth on the subject in their books as in their university lectures. … The denial of cultural identity in such a meaningless phrase is deeply resented in those Islamic lands, which have ancient cultures that are considerably longer than any West European nation.”

What Are The Consequences Of Human Culture?

“Humans have created cultures that bring out the best of our species in terms of innovation, self-sacrifice and co-operation but at the same time can produce horrors which include parental murders that are excused by neighbours and friends. If we want to explain our social behaviour in scientific terms, we must not only highlight the advantages of close co-operation with others, but also account for the perverse actions that can emerge simultaneously.”