Social Creativity: Zuckerburg Style

I've been wanting to see "The Social Network" ever since I first saw previews for it. I finally made it on Monday. I'm certainly glad I saw it - though the issues that have stuck with me were not what I would have predicted. Mark Zuckerburg's character is portrayed as something of a monster, which the reviews had all indicated. I'm going to dare to disagree. Zuckerburg, as has been proved in many ways, possesses above average intelligence. Finding a "normalized" niche for himself has clearly been an ongoing challenge. This was evident even in the brilliant opening scene with his girlfriend. What I find even more striking about Zuckerburg, is how blatantly his knack for creativity is rejected. Granted, I am certainly not condoning "Facemash" or any sort of medium which diminishes, females, or anyone else for that matter. Being called before the ethical council at Harvard was certainly an appropriate action. Yet, he clearly has a brilliant mind and was interested in creating something new.

As his idea for social networking evolved and expanded into Facebook during the course of the movie, I struggled to understand the law suits and arguments of his former best friend and the twins. Was it pure jealousy? Was it greed for personal success? Intellectual capital and creativity is not something that can be quantified. Granted, we do that all the time with the seeming products that come from such creativity and intellectual labor. Have we lost sight of the actual value of creativity for creation's sake?

This narrative from this movie has been running through my mind for the past four days. I have the privilege of working with young people in many different capacities. One of my most joyful tasks is to stimulate their imaginations and spark their creativity. Without railing on our educational systems, suffice it to say it's something I think we all need to work to restore to the daily lives of our young people. Revolutionary ideas are certainly not confined to Ivory towers. I don't have a solution for the casualties of Zuckerburg's particular situation, which has since resolved itself. It does make me wonder what our society might look like if we valued collaboration and creativity more than the bottom line.