The Evil Side of Creativity

We're all creative people here, aren't we? And we're proud of our creativity and nurture it too, but do you ever think about the Dark Side of Creativity?

Because, of course, there is always a Dark side to everything. Confused? Well, what I'm talking about are the uses of creativity that don't bring light or goodness or understanding to the world.

Advertising. Politician's spin. Media advisers. Journalists.

All are creative users of words, but they toy with the dark side, and sometimes teeter over into pure black. When a politician puts their spin to an issue, or the spin their media advisers have advised them to use, that's when creativity can be used for bad purposes, if not actual Evil.

Should this worry us? It worries me. I want to be able to believe things when I am told them with seeming sincerity. I rarely believe pollies.

Advertising, well, the Romans had that one sussed our thousands of years ago - Caveat Emptor - let the buyer beware - it seems to have been coined just for today's advertisers, doesn't it?

Does anybody read the newspapers anymore and expect to read things that are true? By the time the journo and sub-editor are finished with facts, they often take the truth right out of it. And so many times journalists take the easy way out and rely on media releases, without bothering to do any checking. Who knows what the real truth is?

When I write, I'm not always writing strict truth, but I aim to have a inner core of truth in everything I write. The facts might be slippery, but the aim and inner meaning are true. That is my aim.