Thoughts on Creativity; T. Giovanetti

But no matter how advanced technology becomes, it is doubtful that machines willever pos sess creativity.The idea of a computer performing a task with creativity or inspiration seems best left to the imagination of science fiction writers. With out doubt, computers are superior to human Tom Giovanettiis a free-lancewriterin Dallas. beings at certain tasks. Anyone who has watched a computerized drill press or robotic welder can not but marvel at the ability of machines to outper form human workers at repetitive tasks. Comput ers can process data and reach conclusions based on that data much faster than human beings. Com puters reach more reliable conclusions in some areas because they base their conclusions on data alone and are not confused by emotion. But com puters probably will never be creative. The increasing complexity of computer hardware and software is a testament to human creativity,not to some talent or dignity resident in silicon.

Creativity is one of those inherent human traits that distinguish us from machines and animals. The Bible tells us that man is made in the "image of God." Though theologians have puzzled for centuries over the meaning of the phrase, "image of God," certainly one of the characteristics God has shared with us is his creativity. The first thing God chose to tell us about himselfis his creation of the universe in its almost infinite diversity. And part of God's plan for man (the pinnacle of his cre ation) is that man be creative. God's job for Adam was to name the animals, to tend the Garden of Eden, and to otherwise maintain the new cre ation-tasks that certainly demanded creativity. But even apart from theology, it is evident that human beings are happiest when their lives involve creativity. 332 Because creativity is an essential characteristic of man's nature, the quality of a person's life may well be determined by the degree of creativity pre sent. A stereotypical "life of misery" that we might conjure up-say working 12 hours a day in a coal mine or working in a Dickensian sweatshop would be characterized by drudgery and monotony, and by a distinct lack of creativity. On the other hand, what we might imagine as a life of pleasure-such as being a writer or artist, or run ning our own business-would be characterized by a demand for creativity and imagination. We crave creativity, even if we do not think of ourselves as "creative." Our need for variety in life is an expres sion of our desire for creativity, both in ourselves and in others.

The MarketRewardsCreativity Part of the dignity, legitimacy, and superiority of the free market is that it encourages creativity in its participants. The amount of creativity in an economy depends on the degree of freedom allowed by that economy. Where there is no reward for creativity, or where creativity is pun ished, the creative spark dies. A free market pro duces better, cheaper, and more diverse products and services than a command economy at least partly because the free market both permits and rewards creativity. Indeed, while a command economy punishes creativity, a free market demandscreativity. In today's free market, it is scarcelypossible for a com pany to remain in business without investing in research and development for new products and services. Creativity also finds ways to produce products and services more profitably. Any attempt by a command economy to compel creativThe Power of Invention 333 ity of its subjects is about as fruitful as trying to force an artist to paint beautifully.

Free markets have proven to be wellsprings of technology because free markets, by design, reward creativity. After the collapse of the Com munist regimes, is there any remaining doubt about the technological superiority of free market economies? Odd, isn't it, that one of the supposed advantages of command economies was that they would allocate resources more efficiently,and thus excel in technological production? It didn't hap pen, in part because command economies do not take into account the nature of man. Rather than allowingthe strengths in human nature to be freely expressed, command economies imagine that somehow human nature can be forcibly changed through bureaucracy. The evilin a command economy is that it attacks the image of God in man, in part by denying man an outlet for his creativity. A command economy is the logicaloutgrowth of a philosophy that denies the divine and attacks the image of God within man. It was entirely consistent for Communism, which forbade (note past tense!) free religious and artistic expression, also to mandate a strictly planned economy.

Technology is not a measure of man's indepen dence from the divine, nor is it a menacing "out side" force that threatens the essential dignity of man. Technology is a product of man's creativity. True, technology can be used as a force for evil,but in free economies the overwhelming impact of technology has been to improve the lot of mankind through increased food production, better medical techniques, and safer, more rewarding work. Tech nology is an example of what can be accomplished when free men express the image of God within them without the restraint of government. D IDEAS ON LIBERTY A TOOL is but the extension of a man's hand, and a machine is but a complex tool. And he that invents,a machine augments the power of a man and the wellbeing of mankind. -HENRY WARD BEECHER Lessons From An Entrepreneur by David N. Laband T he praise recently showered upon the late Sam Walton suggests that now is an oppor tune time to question the consistency with which Americans treat successful businessmen and to reaffirm the universalapplicability of capi talism's Invisible Hand as a "mechanism" to pro mote consumer welfare.