Every man is born original, most men die a copy

It really got me thinking through some things more deeply than is usual for me.

Divergent thinking is essentially thinking outside the box. Dictionaries offer additional thoughts such as: coming up with creative ideas, problem solving that is spontaneous and free flowing, and offering multiple diverse solutions for a problem.

Well, in a divergent thinking study, 98% of children between the ages of three and five years old scored in the genius category! I must admit that truly surprised me. If someone had put that to me as a question, I never would have guessed it that high. But there’s more.

Between eight and ten, that number had dropped down to 32%. And by the time they reached their teen years… well it had really fallen off the cliff, down now to just 10%!

I got to wondering, whatever happened to all those little geniuses? I mean, surely an 88% drop-off by their teen years should be alarming!

I was in Auckland a few weeks back visiting some folks and got talking with a very bright 17-year-old international student doing his schooling here. As I really wanted to hear from a younger voice, someone still in their teens, I gave him the research figures. I then asked him what his take was on the 88% collapse.

It really took him by surprise at first, but after some thought he replied: ‘I think it would be their schooling’.

So, I then decided to check-in with a family member who has been in education all his life. Now retired, he has a rather impressive CV. With a Masters degree in Gifted Education, plus a PhD in Education also, I figured he was worth a call! His PhD thesis was on education and secondary school age boys.

He said there are some excellent teachers in the system, but aside from that he pretty much agreed with the 17-year-old.

Before I had spoken to these two, I have mentioned above, I came up with my own conclusions. As a father of four children, and now a Poppa to six, I figured most kids between three and five have little or no box thinking. They have yet to learn about the culture of boxes! They don’t know what a “cool” box is. When I took mine shopping, they were clueless about “cool” brands, or labels.

Thinking “outside the box” was all rather normal. But all that changed as peer pressure started to kick in.

Some of you reading this today will have one, or maybe two little geniuses living at your place. If not, maybe as a Poppa or Nana, they come to stay with you from time to time. I think being aware of what I have been sharing about gives you a great head start. And creative thinking or thinking outside the box should always be encouraged.

As I sit at my keyboard, I am seriously reminded of this great quote I heard years ago: ‘All mankind are born originals… most die a copy’. How true, and yet how sad!

It truly was a huge time in my life when I realised my destiny was not to die a copy. When I truly grasped I was born an original and came to this world with a purpose. Yes, there was a reason I was born and something for me to do here. My creator, my designer had a commission for me. I remember it like it just happened this morning!

Keep well and God bless.

To contact Colin: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.