Was Hitler Creative?

Hitler is one of those names associated with evil, horror, extremism, disgust, and so much more. But could it also be associated with the word creative? When we dig a little deeper into the life of Hitler and how he rose to power he is actually a very creative person. Hitler was an extremely influential speaker who would gain the love and hearts of many Germans through his silver tongue. 

After the Treaty of Versailles basically cut Germany to shreds Hitler used his creative speech to gain the admiration of the public and eventually become their Chancellor. He promised to get rid of the Treaty, to get more land for Germany, and to bring back the German pride.

He knew that the people of Germany were still very mad at von Papan for signing the Treaty of Versailles and for the rut the Treaty put Germany in. Hitler didn’t want the people to take that anger out on him so he geared it toward the Jews and made it so that all the people hated the Jews and wanted them all dead. This was obviously not a kind or exemplar way to deal with this problem but it was in fact a creative way. 

Creativity is not always used for the better; in some cases, as we can see from Hitler’s rise to power, it’s used in a way that is later seen as not beneficial, but that doesn't mean it wasn't creative at the time.

Does anyone else know of some examples of how creativity can be used for both good and bad?

Quotes to Inspire #3

“I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others… I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent” – Thomas Edison

Create with a purpose. Oftentimes if we don't have an idea of what it is we are looking for we won't find it. If we have an end result we know we want to accomplish the journey is that made that much easier. Thomas Edison says it best as he tells us all to think about what is needed and then proceed to create it.

Best Inventions

What was the most innovative or important invention ever made? Tough question isn’t it…

A few suggestions could be found from the 1700 and 1800s. Eli Whitney created rifles with interchangeable parts, prior to this invention if a gun broke the part had to be specifically made to fit that particular weapon. 

This seems nuts to us these days as it’s only common sense to make interchangeable parts for items that have a large chance of being broken. But for the time period this was a marvelous and innovative invention that saved lots of time and money.

In 1807 Robert Fulton made a steamboat which allowed ships to be free from unknown weather patterns.

And in 1869 the transcontinental railroad was completed which literally connected the entire united states from coast to coast. 

Communication was forever changed when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone (and this was once again forever changed when the internet was created in the 1990s). 

courtesy of Flickr by macinate

Then there is Thomas Edison…he invented the vote recorder, a stock ticker tape machine, the phonograph, the electric light, motion pictures, a storage batter, a cement mixer, the Dictaphone, and a duplicating machine to name a few. Thomas Edison, to this day, had more patents than any other American!

And that’s just a few from the 1700 and 1800s! There were countless inventions then and countless have been created since then.

So what do you think was the best invention ever made?

Quotes to Inspire #2

“The secret of life…is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” - Paulo Coelho, from The Alchemist

This is a great quote to learn from, the people that succeed in life are not the ones that only thought of one brilliant idea...they thought of 600 hundred bad ideas and then discovered a good one. We have to keep trying and trying if we ever want to be successful with our creativity. What kinds of bad ideas have you come up with when trying to solve a problem or be creative?