May
19
Posted under
Culture,
Evangelism,
Presidential Canidates,
conventional church,
creative,
creativite,
future church,
influence,
mission,
writing Subscribe to the controversial Abductive Columns email, an adjunct to this blog.
Edward Fudge said:
Fred writes from the edge where faith meets the future and his writing often leaves me a bit uncomfortable — which, I usually conclude, is exactly what I need.
Wade Hodges compared Fred’s writings
“as alcohol, they must be taken in moderation. Otherwise, Fred will mess you up!”
The Abductive Columns newsletter is sent on an occasional basis with no definite time table.
You can Subscribe by clicking this link
Mar
22
Posted under
Culture,
Richard Florida,
creative,
creative class,
creativite,
global In his new book, Who’s Your City? Richard Florida examines how “mega-regions” are driving the global economy and how each one is informed by its own distinct personality. Where we choose to live, argues Florida, is crucial not only to how we live and who we share our lives with, but also to what kind of career we end up having.
The maps above (called geographical clustering) are dictated by five basic personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. What I find interesting is his conclusions. Florida asks an intriguing question.
“What if skill is more than education and more than work? The type of skill economists are interested in, he writes, “implies something that can be acquired with proper training, talent, motivation, and resources.” But, he adds, “It’s more consistent with personality theory to argue that personality traits predispose people to acquire certain skills.
Agreeableness is associated with jobs in management and health care. And, while it is positively associated with innovation, high-tech industry, wages, and income in our more advanced models, the effects are quite small. This could mean that the ability to work well with others contributes, albeit slightly, to innovation.
Neuroticism is negatively associated with top talent in the form of human capital or the super-creative class. In more advanced models, it also turns out to be negatively associated with the creative class, high-tech industry, and wages. In other words, regions with high concentrations of highly educated and ultra-creative individuals tend to be more emotionally stable, less volatile, and more resilient. This suggests, among other things, that these are places where people may be more likely to take risks because they’re less concerned about failure.
Extroversion is significantly correlated with management and sales jobs, but it too has no effect on human capital overall, high-tech jobs, or regional income.
Richard Florida and the Creative Class Exchange
Feb
07
Posted under
Church,
conventional church,
creative,
creativite,
orbiting the church Have you ever wondered what those little squiggly lines are that float across your line of sight? I call them eye floaters. Some view them as tiny flecks or “wormy” substances floating about their field of vision. If you try to stare at them for a better look, they float off to the side. Look the other way and they reappear.
Creativity is like that. It will not be looked at. As soon as you become conscious of it—it vanishes. Forget about it…stop focusing on it…and it returns. Simply put—you cannot measure the creative process.
In the eye of most church leaders, anything that cannot be measured is of doubtful value. For some, the immeasurable likens doubtful existence.
No surprise that conventional church leaders are loath to commit resources or moral support to the amorphous concept of creativity. It’s all about the bottom line. Yet I find it both curious and peculiar that church leaders lust for the fruits of creativity, but mistrust the act of creativity.
Renegades who orbit the conventional church, removed from the compulsive preoccupation with results and bottom lines, are the ones free to reap the unpredictable amplitude of the creative process.
