There are three general perspectives when it comes to the origin of ideas. These belong to Psychology, Philosophy, and Anthropology.
Perspective #1 – Psychology
For psychologists, ideas come from the brain, the mind. They’re the product of synapses firing and connecting creative dots between thoughts and images and physical responses. The unconscious mind, where great ideas are thought to reside, also houses the bulk of our creative insights. Additionally, through the perspective of psychology, our own individual creativity grows exponentially when we’re exposed to the creative ideas of others.
Perspective # 2 – Philosophy
Philosophers, especially the likes of Descartes and Locke, believed ideas came from the soul. Objects and words caused ideas to form from intangible thoughts and because of this, ideas were the mental representation of all things manifested in the brain. The philosophical perspective on ideas was that only human beings were capable of having them, that they were spontaneous and reflexive. All one had to do was simply breathe and an idea would form.
Perspective # 3 – Anthropology
Anthropologists, especially those of the social and cultural variety, focus on the way our surroundings shape and mold our thoughts and ideas. Innovation, prosperity, exchange – these are aspects of a communal society where members share their thoughts and bring ideas to life by working together instead of apart. The concept of diffusion is part of the anthropological perspective on ideas. How ideas spread from culture to culture is just as important as how they’re created.
Our Perspective
At ADG Creative, we work with our own various forms of creativity to produce ideas and foster imagination. We constantly employ these three perspectives to provide our customers with the best possible results. We also add our own perspective to the mix: there can be no ideas without creativity, nor creativity without ideas. We need them both to do our jobs well and to make our customers happy.
We may all be psychologists, philosophers, and anthropologists in some way or another, but the surest thing we can agree on is that we’re all creatives and that we’re all full of ideas.
