I have some sympathy for the idea of political correctness. At its heart lies a message of kindness to your fellow man (or woman). Be nice to each other or else people will frown and you'll find it slightly embarrassing. It has, of course, become de rigueur to take the piss out of political correctness as it is usually uttered with its standard suffix: 'gone mad'. Even this in itself might be considered not politically correct, after all it could be offensive to those who really have gone mad (I mean, those who are suffering some from a mental illness).
These faintly amusing jokes can go on for ever, and they frequently do. Still, many people's daily lives are blighted by a little too much political correctness, and many of us automatically correct for it as a matter of course. Still there's good news, there's one last bastion of our mental lives still holding up against the onslaught of PCness: our dreams.
Research from the University of Mannheim reports we are still resolutely non-PC in the things that we tend to dream about. Men like to dream about other men, violence, sex, cars and weapons while women dream about food, clothing and personal appearance.
Enjoy it while you can though because it's probably only a matter of time before some sort of smart drug is introduced to ensure an equal opportunities policy while you sleep.
How to Be Creative
If we can all be creative, why is it so hard to come up with truly original ideas?
It's because creativity is mysterious. Just ask any scientist, artist, writer or other highly creative person to explain how they come up with brilliant ideas and, if they're honest, they don't really know.
But over the decades psychologists have given ordinary participants countless tests, forms and tasks and conducted hundreds of hours of interviews. From these emerge the psychological conditions of creativity.
Not what you should do, but how you should be...
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