science

Resistance (creativity)

Resistance (creativity) is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Resistance (creativity) rather than just read about it. In short: Resistance is a concept created by American novelist Steven Pressfield that illustrates the universal force that he claims acts against human creativity. It was first described in his non-fiction book The War of Art and elaborated in the follow-up books Do The Work and Turning Pro, and in other essays.

Key takeaways

Resistance (creativity) belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Resistance (creativity) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Resistance (creativity) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Resistance is a concept created by American novelist Steven Pressfield that illustrates the universal force that he claims acts against human creativity. It was first described in his non-fiction book The War of Art and elaborated in the follow-up books Do The Work and Turning Pro, and in other essays. It is also a recurring theme in some of his fiction novels such as The Legend of Bagger Vance and The Virtues of War. Resistance is described in a mythical fashion as a universal force that has one sole mission: to keep things as they are. Pressfield claims that Resistance does not have a personal vendetta against anyone, rather it is simply trying to accomplish its only mission. It is the force that will stop an individual's creative activity through any means necessary, whether it be rationalizing, inspiring fear and anxiety, emphasizing other distractions that require attention, raising the voice of an inner critic, and much more. It will use any tool to stop creation flowing from an individual, no matter what field the creation is in. Pressfield goes on to claim that Resistance is the most dangerous element to one's life and dreams since its sole mission is to sabotage aspirations. He explains steps that human beings can take to overcome this force and keep it subdued so that they can create to their fullest potential, although Resistance is never fully gone. Pressfield's concept of Resistance has been cited by authors such as Seth Godin, David M. Kelley and Tom Kelley, Eric Liu and the Lincoln Center Institute, Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter, and Gina Trapani.

Criticism Psychologist Frederick Heide has cited Pressfield's book The War of Art and questioned whether "fighting" Resistance is always a helpful metaphor; Heide suggested that such agonistic metaphors could end up "ironically perpetuating the resistance it predicts." Nevertheless, Heide noted, such an agonistic approach to resistance remains widespread in psychotherapeutic thinking. Heide cites a scholarly article that points to some alternative nonagonistic strategies for working with resistance in relational psychoanalytic psychotherapy, personal construct therapy, narrative therapy, motivational interviewing, process-experiential therapy, and coherence therapy.

See also Decisional balance sheet The Establishment Immunity to change Procrastination Psychological resistance Sin

Notes

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Resistance (creativity)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Resistance (creativity) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Resistance (creativity) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Resistance (creativity) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Resistance (creativity)

In research: Resistance (creativity) appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Resistance (creativity) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Resistance (creativity) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Creativity, Literary concepts, Mythological archetypes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Resistance (creativity) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Resistance (creativity) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Resistance (creativity) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Resistance (creativity) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Resistance (creativity) in simple terms?

Why does Resistance (creativity) matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Resistance (creativity)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Resistance (creativity).