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The critical and creative functions of the mind are so interwoven that neither can be separated from the other without an essential loss to both.
- Anonymous
To the untutored, creative and critical thinking often seem to be opposite forms of thought: the first based on irrational or unconscious forces, the second on rational and conscious processes; the first undirectable and unteachable, the second directable and teachable. Although there is no known way to generate creative geniuses, or to get students to produce novel, ground-breaking ideas, there are manifestations of creativity that we do not fully understand. The same is true of forms of criticality. To teach simultaneously for both creative and critical thinking requires focusing on these terms in practical, everyday contexts; keeping their central meanings in mind; and seeking insight into how they overlap and interact with one another. In understanding critical and creative thought truly and deeply, they are recognized as inseparable, integrated, and unitary. Creative thinking, especially, must be demystified and brought down to earth.
In learning new concepts, in making sense of our experience, in apprehending a new subject field or language, in reading, in writing, in speaking, and in listening, our minds engage in full-fledged (though commonplace) creative acts. To live productively, one needs to internalize and use intellectual standards to assess thinking (criticality). Individuals also need to generate-through creative acts of the mind-the products to be assessed.
That minds create meanings is not in doubt; whether they create meanings that are useful, insightful, or profound is. Imagination and reason are an inseparable team. They function best in tandem, like the right and left legs in walking or running. Studying either one separately only ensures that both remain mysterious and puzzling, or, just as unfortunate, are reduced to stereotype and caricature.
The Inseparability of Critical and Creative Thought
For several reasons the relationship between criticality and creativity is commonly misunderstood. One reason is cultural, resulting largely from the mass media's portrayal of creative and critical persons. The media frequently represent the creative person as a cousin to the nutty professor, highly imaginative, spontaneous, emotional, and off-beat but often out of touch with everyday reality. The critical person, in turn, is often represented as given to faultfinding, skeptical, negative, captious,...