Creativity and crime: who, how and where?

Creativity is often only associated with good things, such as music, art and literature, and good outcomes, like solving problems. But creativity can also be used by criminals and terrorists to their advantage. 9/11 was an excellent, albeit unfortunate, example of terrorist creativity. The hijackers on 9/11 devised a highly original and effective solution to their problem of spreading terror—and in doing so demonstrated that creativity is not limited to good people doing good things. In this talk I will explore the core concepts of creativity of any type. I will explain how creativity results from the interaction of who we are, how we think, and where we work. Is it possible to identify someone who is a candidate for malevolent creativity? Can we use our knowledge of the psychology of creativity to stop criminals and terrorists from misusing creativity for their illegal purposes? 

Bio

Dr David Cropley is the Professor of Engineering Innovation at the University of South Australia. His research interests lie in the measurement of product creativity, measuring innovation capacity in organisations, creativity in schools and education, creativity and innovation in terrorism and crime, and the nexus of creative problem-solving and engineering. Dr Cropley is the author of four books and was a scientific consultant and on-screen expert for several Australian ABC TV documentaries.

8:30pm @Little Bang Brewing, 25 Henry Street, Stepney 5069

Also speaking at this location at 6:30pm is Matthew Stubbs.