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I agree constraints can generate creativity, but is there evidence that constraints generate more of it? It seems like no. This is all difficult to quantify, but if I were to attempt to paraphrase history and try to quantify anyway, at least from a Western perspective, it seems like the cultural output of free "Westernized" countries vastly exceeds those from restricted places (Russia, China, etc), or it could simply be because we free countries mainly import and exchange with other free countries and just don't know what Russia or China or Iran are up to culturally. Without going out of my way to dive into Wiki or to find foreign shows/films, I can't say I come across Russian culture very frequently beyond rough stereotypes (or dash cam videos /s), and Chinese culture seems vastly misunderstood or is a complete unknown in the US. Neither really come up in the day to day, or even month to month of daily life. I probably encounter Japanese and European things daily. As for the parent comment, I think he's alluding that pre-modern Japanese art and culture had a lot more overlap with pre-modern China's, which makes it somewhat less notable from a Chinese perspective (e.g. something like England vs Australia; different, but there's overlap). But post WWII we see a massive divergence in cultural export and exchange (e.g. England or Australia vs the US). South Korea is another example (I've actually seen Japanese entertainment consortiums lamenting at the perception that the S. Korean entertainment industry seemed to be better funded and more able to export their culture). Just looking at Chinese history, the golden age of creativity and inventions seemed to occur when there were more freedoms (which I would argue is pretty much any era prior to the PRC since their control is unprecedented in conjunction with modern technology). Granted it was the olden times, so there were more things to be discovered, but it seemed like China back in the day was on a roll (off the top of my head, movable type, paper, matcha, bonsai, porcelain, celadon, silk, gunpowder) |
I think the strong general consensus is that the right kind of constraints can indeed foster innovation - think of the constraints imposed by, say, early video game consoles. Or forms of music that grew from various constraints - the energetic DIY ethos of punk, or how hiphop thrived within the constraints of working with turntables and early electronic tool vs. live instruments.
Of course, the kinds of constraints matter. I think you're talking about societal constraints. I would guess that they generally have a much more negative effect on creativity.