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Dilemma of Creativity, Optimistic and Pessimistic Reflections over the Innovations of Digital Era (Part I)

The British writer George Orwell was not optimistic about the future of human beings. In his well-known novel 1984, he imagined in the late 20th century people were under the control of totalitarianism, which was incessantly and comprehensively realized through high-tech. Unfortunately, to some extent his prophecy has become real. The fortunate thing is that the prediction inspired many writers and artists such as Philip K. Dick, Alan Moore and the Wachowski Brothers. Through their works, they kept reminding us to be aware of the totalitarianism and modern technologies.

Technological innovations always keep us in awe, and precautions are seriouly considered. John Ruskin asked us to abandon the clumsy machines; John Lennon wanted to bring us back to the country fields; William F. Gibson reminded us although the internet could make the communication unconstrained by space and time, it might make the relationships more and more diluted; in his movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick implied with the piece of bone thrown up in the air that the abuse of technology could even date back to the age of apes. Whenever a great technological innovation will change the lives of human beings, panic and agitation make us hesitate and not forge ahead. Nevertheless, once this new technology has indeed changed our daily lives, we will forget the anxiety and fear and enjoy the convenience that brings to us. Among the masses, there are always a group of creative individuals – inventors, designers and developers – begin to think about what’s coming up. They contemplate the deficiency of present, and prepare for the next creative solution which may shock the world, again.

Nowadays, we become more and more accustomed to the technological innovation. We are very familiar with the situations that our common senses are transcended and “impossible is nothing”. For the creative individuals, it has always been the typical three-stage logic in creative process: to find, analyze and solve a problem. However, while technologies are being developed at such a high speed, we finally realize what need to be discovered are not only “problems“, but also “needs“. Abraham Maslow’s said: “Human beings, with infinitive needs, always have another need after one is met. Throughout their lives, they seem to often have some kind of hope and desire, so many things were created and problems arose…“ For instance, when the cell phone were introduced to the market, no one had wished that it could also allow users to do following things: taking photos, listening to music, watching movies, playing games, reading books and surfing on the internet. Yet when the smart-phones had all those functions, we began to sketch another wish-list: writing diaries, shopping, navigating routes, reminding birthdays of family members, and even choosing the next holiday destination for us. Each of our needs, whether it is desire through many years, or a flash of genius, can be customized and met. Due to their precise perception of the Zeitgeist, the creative people are able to push us beyond imaginations. Their roles have already changed, no longer the “problem solvers”, but the “desire stimulators”.