Where and When Did Creativity Begin?
There are many endearing questions humanity faces on a daily basis, but few can match the intensity of 'where and when did creativity begin?' The origin of ingenuity is a boggling puzzle, to which many think they have the correct pieces needed to develop a comprehensive picture. In her article, Pringle argues that creativity predates civilization and even 77,000 years ago, human beings still showed an ability to think outside the box and develop creative responses to everyday problems. For instance, an analysis of the Sibudu Cave in South Africa revealed that our ancestors knew how to make snares to catch antelopes and could even make complex glues up to 100,000 years ago (Pringle 31). Such discoveries make it clear that human creativity is not a recent development but rather, is the part of our nature that makes us adept at adapting to the various challenges in our respective environments.
The Evolution of Creativity
By studying our genetic ancestors through the sciences of anthropology and archaeology, we observe that the drive to adapt to an environment without the lag of biological evolution edged our ancestors to create rudimentary tools. These included the use of the edges of fractured rocks as cutting tools or utility of natural resources such as plants with insecticidal compounds as bedding material. Creativity, being such a highly adaptable mental tool, also provided a means of expression, bridging minds to understand hunting strategies, remember events, and share objectives, often through symbols (Aubert, Brumm and Taçon S558). Over the passage of time, both our species and the capacity for wonder, and thus, our creativity, exponentially developed growing considerably with each passing age. Consequently, it also becomes clear how our use of creativity today mirrors these foundational contexts and continue to provide evidence of humanity's creativity as our evolutionary advantage.
Works Cited
Aubert, Maxime, Adam Brumm, and Paul SC Taçon. "The Timing and Nature of Human Colonization of Southeast Asia in the Late Pleistocene: A Rock Art Perspective." Current Anthropology 58.S17 (2017): S553-S566.
Pringle, Heather. "The Origins of Creativity." Scientific American 23 (2013): 37-43.
