The Lindy Guide to Creativity

TikTok is preparing to shut down its operations in the United States this Sunday, January 19, 2025.

The reason the U.S. government is shutting TikTok down is because it is concerned that TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, shares user data with the Chinese government and manipulates content to influence public opinion. TikTok has consistently denied these allegations. Although, it isn’t clear whether it will stay shut down for long. Trump is trying to stop it from being discontinued though executive order. Congress is working on delaying the ban.

I think this is a big deal.

Tik-Tok has a lot of users in the United States. You commonly run into people who spend their entire time on Tik-Tok. It’s basically replaced television for the masses. Except, it’s everywhere. People watching TikTok in cafes, at work, on break, etc. TikTok is the most vital, real and relevant social media platform on the internet.

I have mixed feelings about the app, though. Like many, I've felt my brain melt after too much scrolling. It feels very addicting, like a synthetic drug and you lose track of how much time you are scrolling through videos. Moreover, you won't find much 'timeless art' in its endless feed. Many people got angry with me when I tweeted this.

But TikTok did good things too. Unlike Instagram or Twitter, TikTok isn't dominated by famous influencers from LA or NYC. It's built for regular people, the teacher in Iowa who shares classroom hacks, the mechanic in Texas explaining car repairs, the grandmother in Ohio showing off family recipes. For the first time, we have a platform that turned millions of passive consumers into active creators. Someone showing you their regular work day goes viral.

@hubs.life

The days are long, the years are short.. #dayinthelife #ninetofivelife #dailyvlog

The other good thing it did was democratize creativity. As an app built for regular people, it encouraged users to shoot videos, learn basic editing, and think about storytelling or creating something unique. It elevated the creative potential of the average person by providing an accessible outlet for self-expression. That’s no small feat, it turned passive consumers into active creators, reshaping how people engage with digital content.

Even though it melts your brain, it’s probably a good thing Tik-Tok exists because creativity will become an even more important skill in the future for the regular person.

Why Is Creativity Important Now?

There’s a lot of trends happening that are going to increase the value of creativity in the future.

For Work. As AI automates routine tasks, the ability to think creatively, solve problems, and generate new ideas is becoming critical. Take a look at how it is changing finance:

At Work AI excels at logic and repetition but struggles with originality. Humans add value by thinking outside the box, creating what hasn’t been done before. In a world increasingly run by algorithms, creativity keeps people central to progress.

For Dating. Dating is undergoing a massive transition. It’s harder than ever to get into a relationship. We’re seeing this trend play out all over the world.

Traditional dating scripts are gone. Standing out now requires creative effort, whether crafting a memorable profile or planning unique dates. Clichés no longer work, women are drawn to fresh ideas and authentic approaches that feel personal and real.

In Starting a Business. You’re going to have access to powerful AI tools soon that will let you start your own company and ship a product without the need of employees. You will be able to make your own full length feature films with using AI. Knowing what idea to execute is going to be more valuable than having the technical tools, because those will be easy to get.

Creativity is a Skill You Can Learn

The good news is that creativity isn't a mysterious gift bestowed upon a chosen few. It's a skill that can be developed through deliberate practice, systematic approaches, and the right mindset. Creativity is a learnable skill. Despite what society tells us about creativity being an innate gift, history's greatest innovators prove otherwise. They've left behind detailed records of how they developed their creative abilities.

Think about your own education. While you memorized multiplication tables and historical dates, no one taught you Leonardo da Vinci's systematic observation techniques that led to his flying machine designs. No one mentioned how Hildegard of Bingen combined music, theology, and natural science to pioneer a new form of expression. The trial-and-error approach of Gutenberg that gave us the printing press

In This Newsletter

I’m going to introduce a large number of concepts that will help you become more creative. These are proven techniques used by creatives, inventors and people in the past. These can get you started to think in a more creative way.

1) Combinatorial Creativity

  • Bisociation

  • Innovative Synthesis through Popular Absurdities

2) Environmental Catalysts

  • Change of Scene

  • Movement

3) Historical Methods

  • The Renaissance Commonplace Book

  • Leonardo's Sfumato

  • Shoshin

Bisociation

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