Hello everyone and welcome back to my inquiry project. Today we will be starting the first round of research for my question. If our imaginations are formed by what we’ve seen and experienced, can anyone truly create something original, and if so who or what defines originality?
The definition of imagination is the ability to create ideas, images, or concepts in your mind without directly seeing or experiencing them, often by using past experiences in new ways. (1)
The definition of originality is the quality of creating something completely new from what already exists. (2)
These definitions show that imagination and originality are connected because your imagination takes inspiration from original ideas. People’s imaginations are shaped by their memories, experiences, culture, and the media they consume. Because of this, most creative ideas are inspired by things that already exist. However, can originality still come from changing, combining, or presenting ideas in a different way.
Creativity vs Originality
Creativity and originality are often two words you hear together but are they really that similar. Well first of all not everything that is creative is original and vice versa . Creativity is the quality of being new, creative, or different from what already exists. It can also mean thinking independently and coming up with unique ideas that take inspiration from older ideas whereas to be original you have to create a completely new idea and we will talk about why that’s problematic in a bit, but to summarize no originality cannot come from changing, combining, or presenting ideas in a different way that is creativity and to be original your idea has to be completely new from start to finish.(6)
Connection To Media
Media like movies, books, music, social media, and art have a big influence on the way people think and imagine. Experts explain that imagination is important for creativity because it helps people connect emotions, memories, and experiences in new ways. (3) For example you would consider harry potter a completely original story unlike prince charming who is in so many princess stories we’ve never heard of Hogwarts other than in the wizarding world of harry potter but the thing is the author of the series J.K Rowling has said that she was inspired by the chronicles of Narnia.
Just like J.K Rowling many creators throughout history have been inspired by earlier works. For example, filmmakers are influenced by older movies, musicians take inspiration from past songs, and authors often use similar themes in their stories. Since these works are inspired by older ideas, they are considered to be creative but not necessarily original because they present older ideas in new ways even if they only take a little inspiration. (4)
So Can True Originality Ever Exist
The short answer is no, but it goes deeper than that. If we take the definition of original at face value and don’t try to change it a bit which we will be doing for this inquiry project then the only real original ideas were from the first people to live like when they thought of cooking food for example no one had eaten or thought of cooking food before that. So what i’m saying isn’t that we can’t ever create original ideas but what i’m saying is that this definition of originality makes it difficult to create something original. With each year that passes by it becomes harder and harder with more art, books and shows being created and consumed by us the viewers/readers the harder it is to not subconsciously take those ideas and mesh them with your own.
That’s all for this blog post join me in the next stage of my inquiry project where I will investigate which ideas succeed, which fail, and why, and how this ultimately shapes the ideas that are produced and influences our imaginations.
Bibliography
- Imagination Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary
- ORIGINALITY Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster
- Imagination Is the Seed of Creativity (Chapter 34) – The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity
- Creativity | Definition, Types, Skills, & Facts | Britannica
- IMAGINATION Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster
- Are Creativity and Originality the Same – brilliantio