9/6/2010

Today was the 1st class of Creative Studies. Our lecturer, Mr Ahmad Radzi bin Mohd Bedu explained to us what the subject was all about and the things we are going to learn etc etc. He told us that in this class we will be train to think creative, because most of the time we don't think at all. We didn't believe him at first, and kept insisting we were all thinking, so he gave us a test. He ask a fellow classmate what was his name, and after he told him his name he asked if he was thinking, the classmate replied yes. But Mr Ahmad said he wasn't because he was just recalling back his previous memories, and not actually thinking. He continued asking questions to different students, giving them a more difficult question each time. When a difficult question was asked, the student would pause a few seconds before answering, that according to Mr Ahmad, was thinking. Finally we understood what he meant. When the student told Mr Ahmad his name, it was quick, like a reflex, whereas the student had to think before answering the difficult question.

From sharynheili.wordpress.com

After that, he told us that we would not be in this class if we think 24/7. He gave us an example. First he asked another student what was the first thing he did when he woke up that morning, and he told us that he brushed his teeth. Mr Ahmad then asked if he was thinking, and he replied yes. Mr Ahmad told him he wasn't thinking, just recalling back his memories. He said that if we think 24/7, then when we woke up, we will question whether it was night or day, and that will take about 30 minutes, after that we will brush our teeth, but we will question whether there was any cockroach that was in there, and whether we will want to brush our teeth, that will take about 1 hour. And then while we are crossing the street, even though the road is empty, we will stand there thinking what if a Ferrari suddenly flew past us at 300 m/h and hit us. By the time we reach the classroom it will be 5.30 already. Mr Ahmad said that thinking takes up a lot of energy, so our brain is to think to not to think.

From www.cartoonstock.com

Then, he showed us a black and white picture with blobs and strips and asked us what it was. The 1st thing I saw was a giant scorpion or worm, but that wasn't the answer. He gave us to see a slideshow of all the creative people in the world, and how creative thinking can be used for good or bad purposes. For example, Thomas Edison used his creative thinking to make the world a better place by inventing new things, while Hitler used his creative thinking to take over countries. That is why we must always think of value. The person who created the atom bomb was creative, but as a result killed millions of people, he regretted making the atom bomb. That is why when we think, we must put a lot of things into consideration. If our design is good, but will kill thousands of people, there is no point to it because no one will buy it. That is one of the values, we must make sure our design will be accepted by the public and will be able to sell so that our clients will buy it.

From www.thethinkingblog.com

Then he showed us a picture of a lamp post and an elephant, and asked us to tell him what are the common things shared by the 2 things. Some said it was color, others said it was the size. One of my friends said both of them are hard, but none of the answers we gave were correct. Finally we gave in. Mr Ahmad then told us the answer that made us think why didn't I think of that! The answer was-Both of them are not your friends, both of them are not in this classroom etc etc. He told us we are not thinking outside the box, which is why this class will make you think. Mr Ahmad said he will give us so much to think, that we will feel like dying and will hate their guts. Just hearing him telling us that makes me kinda scared. For the last picture he showed us the same picture as the 1st one, black and white with blobs and stripes, This time all of us was able to answer correctly, it was a cat. He asked us why we can figure it out now, we told him it was because the 1st time he showed us this picture it was upside down. The picture that we see now is the traditional thinking while the upside down one was the creative thinking.

From www.cartoonstock.com

Lecture was over so he told us what our 1st assignment would be, to create a blog and wrote down what we learnt that week, which is what I'm doing now. The second assignment will be group work which we all hate, and he told us that in this class we have to do A LOT of research and thinking in order to pass. I'm now really dreading to go to the next class, because after the class I realized I wasn't as creative as I thought I was. Sigh...I hope I can improve...