Pekka Himanen is giving a series of lectures on the creative economy and the philosophy of creativity. Since I decided to attend them, and because the subject may be of general interest, I’m going to summarize them.
Himanen began by saying that there are three “scripts” for globalization: the American, the Chinese, and the European one. The American script is that of neoliberalism, which in turn is the ideology according to which all constraints of freedom should be eliminated, and liberalization of trade on all levels ultimately benefits everyone on earth. The Chinese vision is that after a short period of laying low China will take back its place as a major force. The difference between the two is not that of two economic systems, capitalism and communism: according to Himanen, China is no longer a communist country. Rather the Chinese script differs from the American one in that the Chinese put the community before the individual (collectivism), whereas Americans do the opposite (individualism).
With these challengers, Himanen sees the prospects for the European welfare state model as troubling. To keep up with the competition, to cling to jobs and to keep funding the welfare state in the future, Europe needs to boost its productivity. This is where creativity comes in. The “creative economy” is not a clearly defined sphere, but its major areas include information technology, arts and culture, and the “bio-industry”. The challenge is to nurture these areas and foster centers for innovation.
Borrowing ideas from people like Linus Torvalds and Ville Valo, Himanen has set out to find out what it takes to succeed in the creative economy. He described his theories in the style of an inspirational speaker. I present here a quick summary. First, creativity is rarely a one-man show. A community gives you a sense of belonging and in a group ideas are refined in constant interaction. The group is more than the sum of its parts. Second, creativity stems from passion: you have to be excited about what you are doing. Apparently this comes partly from the person himself and partly from the community. Mutual encouragement tends to bring out the best in everyone. Finally, the creative person needs to be able to take a lot of punches. New ideas never get accepted immediately, and the key is to be persistent and to believe in your idea even if nobody else does.
Himanen says that the Finnish culture in general is not the most fertile soil for creative endeavours. The society does not tend to encourage experimentation and enterprise, and people tend to be envious rather than supportive. The country is hesitant to let foreigners in too easily, preventing a potential influx of new ideas.
While I agree with Himanen on many points, so far I think his overall project is somewhat traditional and unimaginative. While he stresses creativity and innovation, his political beliefs are old-fashioned, and I am not sure if they are consistent with his message. Anyway, since he promised to talk more about these issues in the remaining lectures, I shall elaborate on this later.
I wrote some notes on a topic I’ve been thinking about recently.
Lately I have been doing quite a bit of changes to the site: images, colors, and other things. Originally there was no design at all, and what I have now is mostly what I have come up with after some time of experimenting. It seems to be working though, although it needs more consistency.
It would seem like a good time to post something more substantial instead of just making technical changes. I shall post my Bachelor’s thesis sometime soon, and maybe something else as well.