...I think I'd attribute Western creativity more to the growth of individual liberty that started, albeit in a cramped way, with the Magna Carta...
Against a background of the dark ages and law by fiefdom, Magna Carta laid the ground work for what much later became common law or constitutional law. The key distinction here is the change that did not put the ruler above the law. At lest on paper. This was at a time when England was centuries into empire building with centuries to go.
I encourage all to check out the Morril Act of 1862 and later the Hatch act of 1867. These 2 acts served to establish and expand what were called Land Grant Colleges (later Universities) and served to greatly expand the numbers of and roles of the public higher education institutions in the US and lead the way for the rest of the western world.
Remember that through most of history before this time, education was only in the hands of the elite. The history of education was that most institutions of education were secret schools or highly restricted accessed only by few. This was a tradition of the past where only the chosen clerics (wealthy families) were given the opportunity to pursue a formal, albeit highly politicized education.
The primary goals of the Morril Act of 1862 were to expand education aimed at farming and engineering technology. These were vital to the growth of the USA. Over time, as the colleges drew more students and were better funded, a wide number of other studies or schools were added, cumulating in what we have today.
> Certainly Western liberal arts and sciences have contributed to the ability of creative people to capitalize on their creativity, but do you really think that education is what brings about (fosters) creativity?
The creative instinct is part of the human condition. Due to generations of people who had the opportunity to get an advanced education, the tools and skills that are served by the creative mind continues to advance. Consider for example your keyboard, computer, and everything that you can access due to that. How many millions of man hours have gone into that? How much of that would not exist were it not for the public university and armies of highly creative people? So as a generational role, absolutely the advance of liberal arts and science have laid the ground work for creative people to go much further and get there faster than would have been possible otherwise.
That said, what passes for most pre-college “education” in the public schools too often amounts to little more than formalized day care. Someone commented on this above. But bad as it is, were it not for the Morril Act, it would be much worse.
India got the idea about 2 decades ago and took it where the US ought to have. They mandate 16 years of education for all and require
study of multiple languages for all.
I think the expression is: “If you know 3 languages you are trilingual. If you know 2 languages you are bilingual. If kind of know one language you are American.”
> In my own experience the most creative people I've known have sought
education...Their creativity existed first.
For some this is true. but for all that are willing, education opens doors and creates opportunities.