你可能还没有达到你的创造力高峰

The fire of creativity don't necessarily burn out after your youth. A new study by economics professors at Ohio State University and the University of Chicago, reveals there are two types of creative peaks that occur at different ages, reports Ohio State News.

创造力的火焰不一定会在你年轻后熄灭。据《俄亥俄州立大学新闻》报道，俄亥俄州立大学和芝加哥大学的经济学教授进行的一项新研究表明，在不同的年龄有两种类型的创造力高峰。

Conceptual innovators and experimental innovators chip away at problems at a different speed. (Photo: Syda Productions/Shutterstock)

"Many people believe that creativity is exclusively associated with youth, but it really depends on what kind of creativity you're talking about," says lead study author, Bruce Weinberg of Ohio State University.

这项研究的主要作者、俄亥俄州立大学的布鲁斯·温伯格说:“许多人认为创造力只与年轻人有关，但实际上这取决于你谈论的是哪种创造力。”

According to the study, which was published in De Economist, there are two types of innovators: conceptual and experimental. Weinberg and fellow researcher David Galenson of the University of Chicago assert that those who tend to do their best work in their mid-20s are conceptual innovators, whereas those who peak in their 50s are experimental innovators.

根据这项发表在《经济学人》上的研究，创新者有两种:概念性的和实验性的。温伯格和他的同事、芝加哥大学的大卫·盖伦森认为，那些在25岁左右就能将工作做到最好的人是概念创新者，而那些在50岁左右达到顶峰的人是实验创新者。

The difference here as it relates to age is that younger, conceptual innovators are seen as creative thinkers whose ideas challenge the status quo — ideas that reinvent the way a particular art or science is practiced and perceived, shifting the paradigm. The experimental innovator is typically seen as older, one who builds on the bedrock of past great thinkers, established norms and their own methods. These experimental innovators tweak ideas over time based on experience, reinventing themselves and their craft along the way.

与年龄相关的不同之处在于，更年轻的概念创新者被视为创造性的思考者，他们的想法挑战了现状——这些想法彻底改变了特定的艺术或科学的实践和认知方式，改变了范式。实验型创新者通常被视为年长者，他们建立在过去伟大思想家的基础上，建立了规范和自己的方法。这些试验性的革新者根据经验，随着时间的推移不断调整想法，在这个过程中重塑自己和自己的手艺。

One could say the different forms of creativity are connected to how an innovator finds inspiration. The ideas of conceptual innovators appear to be ignited by a sudden spark that breaks new ground, while the experimental innovator slowly cultivates his own creative landscape seed by seed, a landscape which then looks unique unto itself.

可以说，不同形式的创造力与创新者如何找到灵感有关。概念革新者的思想似乎是由一颗突然迸发的破土而出的火花点燃的，而试验性革新者则是慢慢地一粒一粒地培育他自己的创意景观种子，这景观随后看起来是独一无二的。

A study of economics gives us insight into other creative fields

对经济学的研究使我们能够洞察其他创造性领域

Virginia Woolf wrote some of her greatest works near the end of her life. (Photo: [public domain]/Wikimedia Commons)

Weinberg and Galenson studied the works of 31 Nobel Prize laureates of economics, placing the economists on a spectrum of most conceptual to most experimental. The age at which an economist contributed the most well-regarded work to the field was taken into account, and the age at which the work entered the economic sphere helped to classify the laureate economist's creative peak. Economists with a conceptual approach peaked in their mid to late 20s, while those who took the experimental approach peaked in their late 50s.

温伯格和盖伦森研究了31位诺贝尔经济学奖得主的著作，把这些经济学家放在一个最具概念性和最具实验性的范围内。考虑了经济学家在该领域贡献最受推崇的著作的年龄，以及该著作进入经济领域的年龄，有助于对桂冠经济学家的创作高峰进行分类。采用概念性方法的经济学家在20多岁时达到顶峰，而采用实验性方法的经济学家在50多岁时达到顶峰。

The researchers correlated their findings in economic achievements with those of artistic and scientific achievements. For instance, the study contends that poets and painters such as T.S. Elliot and Picasso made their most important artistic contributions when they were younger, contributions that radically changed literature and painting. They also mention Albert Einstein as a conceptual innovator, whose early work turned the scientific world on its head.

研究人员将他们在经济成就方面的发现与艺术和科学成就联系起来。例如，研究认为像艾略特和毕加索这样的诗人和画家在年轻时做出了最重要的艺术贡献，这些贡献从根本上改变了文学和绘画。他们还提到阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦是一位概念上的革新者，他的早期工作彻底颠覆了科学界。

The researchers suggest that scientist Charles Darwin developed his most groundbreaking theories later on in life, which would make him an experimental innovator. This makes sense given that the theory of evolution was developed over many years through a meticulous process of trial and error. They also cite early modernist author, Virginia Woolf, as an experimental innovator. Her novel "Mrs. Dalloway" was conceived of and written in the final years of her life after many years' of stylistic reinvention. The novel is now considered a seminal piece of feminist literature and stream-of-consciousness storytelling.

研究人员认为，科学家查尔斯·达尔文在后来的生活中发展出了他最具开创性的理论，这将使他成为一个实验创新者。这是说得通的，因为进化论是在多年的反复试验中发展起来的。他们还引用了早期现代主义作家弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫作为实验创新者。她的小说《达洛维夫人》构思和写作于她生命的最后几年，经过多年的风格重塑。这部小说现在被认为是女权主义文学和意识流叙事的重要作品。

None of this is to say that either type of innovative approach is exclusive to different age groups. It isn't unheard of for an older person to be a conceptual innovator or for younger people to innovate more experimentally. The research simply shows trends.

这并不是说，这两种创新方法都只适用于不同的年龄组。老年人成为观念上的革新者，或者年轻人进行更多实验性的创新，这并非闻所未闻。这项研究只是显示了趋势。

So, is creativity strictly a young person's game? Thanks to Weinberg and Galenson's studies, it looks like there's always a little room for a creative breakthrough — no matter your age.

那么，创造力仅仅是年轻人的游戏吗?由于温伯格和盖伦森的研究，无论你的年龄如何，似乎总有一些创造性突破的空间。