Is it true that creative people aren’t good at maths?
Creative people like artists tend to find maths difficult for various reasons. But as all artists are different, their understanding, motivations and interests vary greatly so we can’t really tarnish all with the same brush (pun intended!).
Some artists excel in maths. Leonardo da Vinci would be one famous example!
But not all creators are Leonardo Da Vinci. An individual’s lack of progress in math could be genetic, or a general lack of interest due to their environment or a bit of both.
As we’ve covered here, creative activities like listening to music may help to improve maths abilities.
Let us have a look at some reasons why creatives may struggle with basic math.
It’s just not a thing of interest to them
Highly artistic people tend to think tangentially and can’t focus on things that they perceive as mechanical. They are attracted more to emotions rather than absolutes such as a math equation. Their thinking is fluid and flexible so they can’t deal with the rigid concepts of maths. They prefer to generate ideas and thoughts using a more abstract thinking approach.
With maths being linear, they get somewhat bored with maths easily and, therefore, distracted. Not doing well in maths has a natural knock-on effect as they get less motivated and, therefore, spend less time practising maths to ever get good at it.
They were unlucky to have a bad maths teacher
Having a teacher able to motivate the learner is crucial in instilling a love for maths in any student. Teachers need to be able to adapt their teaching approach to suit the type of learner. Not all learners learn alike. Most artists are perfectly capable of doing maths but if they have the wrong teacher, they are doomed form the start. Conversely, a good teacher can make the sane person excel at maths.
If your child is artistic, and has had a bad or even traumatic experience learning maths, finding the right teacher to teach on their terms is vital to instil a love of maths in your child.
An artist’s brain is structured differently
Scientific studies have compared artist’s brains to non-artist’s brains, and discovered that the artists in the study had an increased amount of neural matter that is related to visual imagery and fine motor movements. This suggests that an artist’s abilities are innate, but of course environment and nurture can improve their talents further. The study revealed that an artist’s brain is structurally different. This gives artists the ability to combine imagery and deconstruct imagery in their heads, which can lead them to be more creative individuals. It also suggests why they tend not to be good at analytical work like math, and why this subject may not interest them at all.
So, how good you are at maths primarily depends on how you were born, but talent can be nurtured. Artists are not less intelligent than non artists. their brains just don’t align with the linear way of thinking that maths requires.
It’s important for you as parents to nurture the innate artistic talents in your child and encourage them to develop them to their full potential. But at the same time, know that developing an interest in them for maths will help them to improve in the subject.
At the end of the day, if your child is good at art but not math – don’t worry! They are exactly who they were meant to be.
