Thought for the day: "Creative Idleness": does that work?

Human beings were designed to transform the things they find in nature in order to survive and to make their lives better, given our unique characteristics, such as speech, highly developed brain and reason, and the fact that we do not produce our own food, which makes us depend on other living things and on industry to make us fed.

As a result of humans' highly developed brain, something unique comes up of the most evolved specimen of all animals: creativity. This is something that only humans could really develop and perform on a regular basis. It's the act of developing tricks and solution in order for people to solve the most different kinds of problem that may come across in our daily life, whether they are simple (like opening a can) or complex (as performing complex medical diagnosis). In every single trial we have in life, we can notice clear signs of creativity in everything that we see, consume, and do. And we can do all these things when we are busy with activities that could stimulate our minds and ideas. This is the thought that most people on this planet adopt in terms on how to stimulate and to foster creativity in our lives. Well, there is one challenging individual that defies this conception.

Italian sociologist and professor Domenico De Masi, in his book "The Creative Idleness" (free translation, since there is no version of this book published in English), claims that thinking is more important than working, and that everything that didn't involve any kind of human thought would be performed by machines. In a recent interview to the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, De Masi criticizes the American creativity model, called "productivism." This model is based on the value of hard work and productivity in order to improve lives and to bring solutions to challenges. In the interview, De Masi said that

"Americans spread to the world the 'manager' culture. Italy, for example, has really become Americanized. Even in its culture. In there, there are only American movies and rock n'roll nowadays. Brazil has Bossa Nova and the Soap Operas."

De Masi also praises Native Brazilian heritage, in which Brazilian indians did not have to make any efforts to obtain what they needed, since everything was within people's reach due to the country's abundance of natural resources, especially before the Portuguese arrived to the nation, in 1500. Another aspect quoted was the tolerance the country has with sexuality.

This theory simply does not find any credible evidence that it works in real life. None of the great inventions that make our daily processes easier to perform were not invented while their inventors were idle. And I repeat: none of them! Which means, the claims Domenico De Masi shows that humans are meant to foster and to develop creativity through being lazy are completely unrealistic and rare to see. We only can incentivize creativity by being active in many ways, so our brains can be nourished and ready to imagine, create, and put in practice. Even when we take a walk, to exercise our bodies! In a Stanford University study that was released early May said that a brief stroll could significantly increase creativity. And I can add: when you walk, you see things happening, you experience everyday life situations that could foster and increase your creative skills in order for you to strive and help on our lives.

There is no such thing as a "creative idleness." When you are lazy, you simply don't do anything for yourself and for others. Your lack of action will not lead to any plausible solution to any problem. Or, this same lack of action could turn to a problem itself! Countries like America were only built with creativity driven by hard work and solid ethics, that lead to solid growth and development for our society. This offensive theory is only good for the limousine liberals that I mentioned on a previous post, whereas they worship this idea enjoy the fanciest products that only hard-working capitalism can provide. Idleness doesn't work, only for the bums and the insignificant people that use left-wing theories to highlight their marginal purposes of life. Hard work led creativity is the one that will always matter the most. 

This is my thought for the day, for all those like me, who are here thinking out loud.