Is the human race losing creative drive?

Is the human race losing creative drive? Are people less creative than they once were? Are humans becoming incapable of creative thought?

This is a difficult period for creative people. A.I. is not only appropriating our work and presenting it as its own, but the emerging technology is rapidly becoming omnipresent due to substantial investments made in the projects. Consequently, institutions, oligarchs, corporations, and autocrats are growing more resentful and disdainful towards creative people and divergent creative thinking and they're taking a more positive view about artificial intelligence and the prospective customers / consumers of A.I. Is the human race losing creative drive? Will human brains become incapable of creativity with the rise of artificial intelligence?

Is the human race losing creative drive? photo credit: Júnior Ferreira

Pattern formation and pattern recognition are key functions of the human brain, and we use these functions to make sense of our surroundings so we can satisfy our basic needs. Routines and repetition make up most of what humans do; therefore, routines and patterns are the activities that a standard human brain considers most important.

Creative divergent thinking is what we might describe as a 'higher function' in that creative divergent thinking is not necessary when looking for food, defending territory, finding a mate, or seeking shelter.

A variety of factors contribute to the lack of creativity in ‘most people’. and the factors set-out below might explain why some people and our wider modern society seems to devalue creative individuals and creative divergent thinking....

Here's my list:

• Creative skill education is not a priority for modern society. This means that people often look suspiciously on creatively 'gifted' people and wonder how they 'learned' to be so 'unorthodox'.
  

• The evaluation of people (at school, college, or in the workplace) tends to focus on a worker's skill performing repetitive tasks and adhering to set routines. Exams tend to assess a person’s ability to recall and execute learned routines. Most exams fail to assess any understanding of workarounds, innovative solutions, alternatives, or variations. In other words, creativity is not tested and assessed.
  

• People aren’t given the opportunity to explore their creativity due to a lack of time and space. (Also, lack-of-funds is offered as an excuse.)
  

• Creativity is sometimes perceived negatively by society, because creative thinking is seen as unproductive daydreaming that distracts a student from his or her 'proper' focus.
  

• Creativity is disfavoured by society because there are already established, and satisfactory ways of doing things: therefore, new ideas and new ways to think 'around' a problem are perceived as going against the norm. In some circumstances, original thought is seen as disobedience, a person being unnecessarily 'difficult', or even a person being disruptive.

  
  

Creativity is seen as unproductive daydreaming that distracts a student from his or her 'proper' focus...

• Society discourages original thinking and uniqueness by insisting on team games, team-based exercises, uniforms and dress codes, unrealistic expectations of punctuality, and expectations to 'pay attention', etc.
  

• The exploration of new ideas is suppressed by those in charge, because they consider it to be a poor use of valuable time. (This prevents out-of-the-box 'blue sky' thinking.)
  

• Creative individuals are often penalized by society, forced them into poverty and oppression, as exemplified by starving artists and struggling poets.
  

• Society views creative people as “freeloaders” who benefit from the efforts of the majority of 'hard working people.'
  

• Fear of rejection can lead gifted people to hide creative talents from their friends, family, employers, or teachers.
  

• Modern society seems to prioritize conformity over individualism, and it disapproves of differences by equating creativity with individuality.

  
  

Fear of rejection can lead gifted people to hide creative talents from their friends, family, employers, or teachers...

• Regimes believe artists act (and they even think) disrespectfully, so artists encourage rebellion (consider the numerous artists, writers, journalists, and 'free-thinkers' who have been imprisoned 'for their thoughts').
  

• In cultures with strictly enforced moral standards, creativity can be viewed negatively, leading to the suppression of art and artists, as exemplified by the Taliban’s prohibition of music.
  

• The connection between creativity and bohemianism (with terms like hippie or beatnik) creates stigma.
  

• Creativity is sometimes seen by certain individuals as exotic and strange, leading to associated racial and minority prejudice.

  
  

A notion exists that creative people are excessively romantic, characterized by impracticality, sentimentality, and sensuality...

• The term “luvvies,” when used negatively, implies a creative individual is pretentious or overly emotional. Such taunts reinforce stereotypes and might discourage participation in creative activities.
  

• A notion exists that creative people are excessively romantic, characterized by their (supposed) impracticality, sentimentality, and sensuality. Other homophobic innuendos are used to describe creative people. Although they aren’t exactly insults, such terms are intended as slights (the use of 'luvvies' was used to describe all creative people in a Daily Mail headline).
  

• Modern societies are designed to preserve the power of affluent elites and support corporations. Consequently, modern society tends to prioritize the customers of the mega-corporations. Customers are prized above creators (who are not bound by the goods these corporations trade to the masses).

Is the human race losing creative drive? photo credit: Vinicius Löw

Is the human race losing creative drive?

Allow me to offer one more point about the decline of human creativity...

In 1968 George Land and Dr. Beth Jarman created a test (to establish what they described as a creativity index) that they hoped would help identify creative personality and reveal divergent thinking potential. Land and Jarman reported that their experiments documented that 98% of three-to-five-year-olds exhibited exceptional creativity + divergent thinking potential, with nearly all those tested achieving “genius” status. Yet, for those aged fifteen, the figure fell to 12%. Why?

The same test was administered by Land and Jarman to 280,000 adults aged 31. Can you guess what occurred? Sadly the adults that were tested only scored 2% on the creativity index. Land and Jarman's assumption was that adults lost their creative impulses + divergent thinking potential by the age of thirty.

Their study concluded that most children are creative before formal they attend formal schooling, but societal demands for workers and consumers, rather than for creators, stifle their natural impulses. As a result, adults generally view creativity as childish, and immature. A widely held public opinion, amplified by formal education, is that artists should restrain their creative urges, and adopt more conventional conduct. In other words, by thirty, a person should 'grow up and stop being so babyish!' For Land and Jarman, it was undeniable that formal education has been systematically eradicating creativity and divergent thinking!

Do you think the human race is losing creative drive?

© Neil Mach February 2026

Neil Mach is a prolific English author known for his clean urban fantasy fiction (like his popular 'Moondog' series) and his historical fiction works. Neil is also a well-known public speaker, and a creativity advisor. Neil has a background as a rock journalist. He frequently shares his expertise on writing and the music business, particularly rock music history, and has written over 20 books, and he often addresses writing workshops. Since its launch in 2019, his extremely popular Myth & Magic podcast has provided enthusiasts of fantasy literature and fantasy art with over 125 hours of audio enjoyment.