Dissecting the term “Creativity”

By Noman Mahmood

The problem with the word “creativity” is that it is often overused without being understood clearly. Especially in the modern times when creativity is seen as the new iconic academic term for everyone, it is very hard to make them understand and identify the exact connotation of it.

Before proceeding we need to understand the modern common concept of creativity. We can refer to Wikipedia for its definition:

| The use of imagination or original ideas to creating something new; inventiveness |

The definition above that is provided by Wikipedia is a general understanding of this term in modern times, which is to bring out something original through thinking. In simple words a person who produces a totally new thought. In hearing out this definition normally, one can assume it to be very glamorous, but there is a serious error when it comes to the implementation of the process of creativity. But before we understand the problem of it, we have to examine the roots of this particular definition. The idea of the original thought is a byproduct of the philosophy of rationality which actually links back to the starting of the universal thinking in the period of renaissance.

The Myth of Independence (Part 2)

Pakistan got independence from British Raj on 1947, it is claimed. The British did left the subcontinent however their legacy remained. The entire socioeconomic and political fabric of society had changed as per the desires of colonial masters by virtue of their rule of around 200 years.

The education system, the judiciary, parliament, bureaucracy, military, financial system, central bank, rail road network, the municipal corporation etc. were all installed by the British and were left behind.

The public, who lived in such a system for nearly 200 years (of which last 80 years were crucial), had no choice but to cling to the same system particularly after the early years of separation. The colonial masters knew perhaps that the locals had no capacity to reinvent a new alternative system particularly in midst of economic and political turmoil... also the British intentionally left behind a few bones of contentions (Kashmir) to keep the newly formed states further distracted.

In this context one can safely assume that British only invented a new more efficient and self regulated way to manage their colonies by proxy, though in a very subtle way, or under the disguise of so called independence.

This was perhaps the birth of a new phase of colonization, where the colonial subjects would voluntarily follow their colonial masters just like the rats follow the tune of Pied Piper with an illusion of exercising their own free will.

This realization is important to shed away the ideological shackles and truly liberate ourselves from the colonial past. Deceiving ourselves with slogans of fake freedom would only keep us dragging behind...

Following video would shed some more light on the subject...
 

History of Terms, and the Cost of Ignoring it

by Omar Javaid

Each term and the concept behind it are established by a unique historical and cultural experience. This means any term or idea coined in either Western, Chinese or Hindu Civilization would have a different history as compare to a term coined in Islamic history. The values, ideals, beliefs upheld by a particular civilization further provides a contexts to define that term. The problem is even more significant when mainstream and popular discourse define the term in a context of a unique historical experience. Therefore if a person uses a term out of its context or frame of reference, then it may create serious confusions and may have adverse consequences as well.

For example terms like Tauheed, Risalat, Wahi, Khilafat, Salah, Azaan, Hajj, Zakat, Nikah etc. have a very established meaning in context of Islam's history and epistemology, being a Muslim when someone associates himself with Islam's history and defines his identity in the same context then its not hard to image how would that person would feel when these terms would be used out of their established meanings! Same is the case with terms associated with historical experience of other civilizations like west, whose power to control the popular discourse, shouldn't also be underestimated!

Allow me to explain with a few examples.

جمہوریت اور انسانی تاریخ

-شاہنواز فاروقی

افلاطون نے کہا ہے کہ سیاست کے مسئلے کا حل یہ ہے کہ یا تو فلسفی کو حکمران بنادو یا حکمران کو فلسفی بنادو۔ مغربی فکر میں افلاطون کی اہمیت یہ ہے کہ وائٹ ہیڈ نے کہا ہے: سارا مغربی فلسفہ افلاطون کی فکر پر حاشیے یا Foot Note کی حیثیت رکھتا ہے۔ بعض لوگ اس رائے کو مبالغہ آمیز کہتے ہیں۔ بالفرض اگر یہ رائے مبالغہ آمیز بھی ہے تو بھی اس سے مغربی فکر میں افلاطون کی مرکزیت واضح ہے۔ مغربی فکر میں اتنی مرکزیت کی حامل شخصیت نے ریاست اور سیاست کو چلانے کا طریقہ یہ بتایا ہے کہ علم کی بالادستی کے بغیر ریاست و سیاست کو کامیابی سے نہیں چلایا جاسکتا۔ افلاطون سقراط کا شاگرد تھا اور سقراط کا صوفی ہونا تقریباً طے شدہ نظر آتا ہے۔ افلاطون نے بھی فلسفے کی تعریف یہ بیان کی ہے کہ فلسفہ دانش کی محبت ہے۔ یعنی فلسفہ خود تو دانش نہیں ہے مگر وہ دانش کی محبت سے پیدا ہوتا ہے۔ 

Book Review: Destiny Disrupted by Tamim Ansary

Cover of Latest Edition

Tamim Ansary’s latest book ‘Destiny Disrupted’ outlines the 1400 years of history of Islamic world and the world surrounding Islamic civilization, as seen from the eyes of a Muslim. It is written like a story in a layman's, highly readable language.

This book is a great reminder of the fact that to understand our present condition we need to understand our past, and unless we don't do that we cannot plan for the future. It is quite unfortunate that those of us who have been studying in conventional schools, hardly knows anything about their own past.

In fact there are campaigns going on to even remove the trivial details of history or historical figures present in the curriculum. When the public institutions looks away from the natural duties, which as per the constitution of Pakistan are also their legal responsibilities,  then eventually the public at large needs books which can made us aware of our past. In urdu we have authors like Naseem Hijazi, and Mirza Altamash... the English readers, now have Tamim Ansari.

Macaulay's Children of Pakistan

What can you really expect from this class, other then westernization of Pakistani culture, society, values, if God forbids they manage to assume some influential positions in corporate world or government institutions?
This is definitely Lord Macaulay's dream come true, as such examples conform to the description of 'Macaulay's children' about whom Macaulay himself said:

"We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature, and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population." (Click here for complete document)

It is ironic that our educational institutions even after 65 years of independence (read in dependence) are still following the path laid by the very colonial masters, who freed us physically though kept ruling our minds with the help of institutions they left behind. If the trend continued, would we embrace freedom ever in its truest sense?

Was Hitler pro-Zionist?

Can't resist sharing this, this clip suggest that Hitler was pro-Zionist and anti Jew as per the following documentary. Watch and get amazed by the parts of history not told to the public in general ... in his article 'Zionism and the Third Reich' Mark Weber notes:

"Early in 1935, a passenger ship bound for Haifa in Palestine left the German port of Bremerhaven. Its stern bore the Hebrew letters for its name, "Tel Aviv," while a swastika banner fluttered from the mast. And although the ship was Zionist-owned, its captain was a National Socialist Party member. Many years later a traveler aboard the ship recalled this symbolic combination as a "metaphysical absurdity."1 Absurd or not, this is but one vignette from a little-known chapter of history: The wide-ranging collaboration between Zionism and Hitler's Third Reich ... [author concluds in the end] In spite of the basic hostility between the Hitler regime and international Jewry, for several years Jewish Zionist and German National Socialist interests coincided. In collaborating with the Zionists for a mutually desirable and humane solution to a complex problem, ... Indeed, during the 1930s no nation did more to substantively further Jewish-Zionist goals than Hitler's Germany" ... 

watch and get bewildered:

How Pakistan was sold to America

By Dr. Muzaffar Iqbal

The standard narrative of Pak-US relationship always goes back to Liaqat Ali Khan’s so-called historic visit to the United States in May 1950, but there are gaps in that narrative which have never been filled. While it is true that Liaqat Ali Khan received a very warm welcome, it is seldom mentioned that this was due to the foresight of President Harry S. Truman, who saw opportunities in Pakistan against the Soviet Union with which the United States was locked in a cold war. Truman eagerly cultivated his relationship with the emerging country. Liaqat Ali Khan was invited to address the House of Representatives, he was taken to Lockheed Martin’s factory, he inspected aircraft, he was given high honors and his wife, Begum Liaqat Ali, was likewise treated as a royal guest. All of this was reflected in Liaqat Khan’s speech to the nation upon his return.