The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn

by Richard Hamming

Back to the topic of whether we can teach creativity or not. From the above you should get the idea that I believe it can be taught. It cannot be done with simple tricks and easy methods; what must be done is you must change yourself to be more creative. As I have thought about it in the past, I realize how often I have tried to change myself so I was more as I wished I were and less as I had been. (Often I did not succeed!) Changing oneself is not easy, as anyone who has gone on a diet to lose weight can testify; but that you can indeed change yourself is also evident from the few who do succeed in dieting, quitting smoking, and other changes in habits. We are, in a very real sense, the sum total of our habits, and nothing more; hence by changing our habits, once we understand which ones we should change and in what directions, and understand our limitations in changing ourselves, then we are on the path along which we want to go.