Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'creativity'

Is American Innovation Fading?

In a fascinating essay in Mosaic, Charles Murray examines the spirit of innovation in America. He asks, As against pivotal moments in the story of human accomplishment, does today’s America, for instance, look more like Britain blooming at the end of the 18th century or like France fading at the end of the 19th century? Continue Reading...

Book Review: ‘The New School’ by Glenn Harlan Reynolds

Book information: The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education from Itself by Glenn Harlan Reynolds. Jackson, TN: Perseaus Books, 2013. Pp. viii + 106. Paperback. $21.50. Instapundit’s Glenn Harlan Reynolds’ The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education from Itself is a clear and succinct, yet thorough, essay on creative destruction and American education. Continue Reading...

Q&A: Brett McCracken on Consuming Culture Well

In his 2010 book, Hipster Christianity, Brett McCracken explored the dynamics of a particular cultural movement in (and against) modern evangelicalism. In his new book, Gray Matters: Navigating the Space Between Legalism and Liberty, he pulls the lens back, focusing on how the church more broadly ought to approach culture, particularly when it comes to consuming it. Continue Reading...

Deneen and Creative Destruction

Among many other bizarre claims in his most recent article at The American Conservative, Patrick Deneen writes, Today’s conservatives are liberals — they favor an economy that wreaks “creative destruction,” especially on the mass of “non-winners,” increasingly controlled by a few powerful actors who secure special benefits for themselves and their heirs…. Continue Reading...

Creativity Vs. Productivity

We need both of course. But do we Americans put too much emphasis on productivity? And is it hurting us? Jeff DeGraff, professor at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, thinks this might just be the case. Continue Reading...

Art and the Common Good

Reformed theologian Abraham Kuyper, in his work Wisdom & Wonder, explores humanity’s relationship to creativity: Whereas idol worship leads away from the spiritual, obscures the spiritual, and drives it into the background, symbolic worship by contrast possesses the capacity, by repeatedly connecting the visible symbol with the spiritual, to direct a people still dependent on the sensuous toward the spiritual and to nurture that people unto the spiritual. Continue Reading...

Divine Creativity in Business, Art, and Everything Else

The High Calling recently posted a helpful video about creativity in the workplace, drawing insights from innovation consultant Barry Saunders. Saunders notes that, despite our tendency to think of creativity only in terms of artistic expression, creativity is simply about “building ideas.” Continue Reading...