Which Is Better For Success; Logic and Analysis, or Art and Creativity?

By Kris Deichler, Associate Partner, Lighthouse International

“When we go to study art, or we listen to music, or we study nature and go to the forrest, or try to understand the ocean, it’s all sort of enabling us to learn about ourselves and understand others.” – Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton

Did you ever feel as though you were more analytical as a child, or perhaps more creative? Maybe you were both. How much does society put an emphasis on the need for us to be either one or the other?! You could argue that the way our education system is set up, there’s a greater focus on academia and knowledge building, than on developing our creativity and artistic expression-and if it is, is that what’s best?…

On the 4th July 2016 NASA’s Juno satellite mission reached it’s destination; the planet Jupiter, in order to start it’s mission of studying our origins; (btw did you know that Jupiter was the first planet to be formed in our solar system after the Sun itself!?).

At the beginning of this exploration Apple Music partnered with NASA to produce a short film to celebrate this, and to explore the link between space exploration and making music! Accompanying the film is also a hypnotic and electrifying soundtrack from award winning duo, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. With such a collaboration it raises some interesting questions, such as, what is the difference between studying art and studying nature? Is there a difference?

Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton says that:

“In a larger sense, it’s really only trying to understand nature and we’re part of nature. What is really going on, how do we understand nature? We have to look at it from an artistic perspective, we have to look at it from an analytical perspective.”

“Innovation comes from the combination of analytical and creative thought. Neither one can really make progress unless you’ve got both. Everybody’s got to mix these worlds… Gallileo was this great scientist, he certainly changed our culture forever, he came from a music background. There’s people like Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci… You couldn’t do Juno, you couldn’t even think of the idea and doing a mission unless you have both halves of that.” 

Musician Corinne Bailey Rae explains her experience from the other side of the spectrum:

“I’d say so many of the better musicians I know have both of those things, absolutely. They can trip out and be whimsical and romantic and lost, but they are also really technical, and really nerdy, and really clever and organised. Music is repetition. Music is maths. There’s so many patterns in music. If you explore the theory of music you end up at pure maths!”

So often when we look at the achievements of legends and study them, we notice that these are people who were able to bring out both a strong analytical side, as well as their artistic expression. The less we limit ourselves with myths that other people may have given us, the more open we can be to exploring what our true possibilities are, and the extra talents we have yet to fully develop and master. Also, don’t feel that if you’re a strong artist, or a sharp technical mind, that unless you suddenly develop the other side of yourself, you are not going to succeed. As Scott Bolton concludes:

“Juno represents what we can create when you mix a lot of different people together. Some more scientific, some more artistic, some more creative, some more analytical and we can use that as an example of how humanity can do even more!”

You can watch the whole short film, ‘NASA: Visions of Harmony’ here below. Enjoy!

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