And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3)  A warning from Jesus dealing with neoteny.  Neoteny…it derives from the Greek word neos, which means “new, fresh, or youthful. It’s the retention of youthful qualities by adults.”  According to Warren Bennis and Robert Tomas, neoteny is more than retaining a youthful appearance.  It’s the retention of those wonderful qualities that we associate with youth: curiosity, playfulness, eagerness, fearlessness, warmth, and energy.

Creativity in the Young or the Old (Neoteny)

Gordon MacKenzie, a worker at Hallmark did a number of creative workshops for elementary schools.   He would start by asking the kids upfront: “How many artists are there in the room?”  In the first grade, the entire class waved their arms like maniacs.  Every child was an artist.  In the second grade, about half the kids raised their hands.  In the third grade, he’s get about ten out of thirty kids.  And by the time he got to the sixth grade, only one or two kids would tentatively and self-consciously raise their hands.

By the time the students had reached the sixth grade, the world around them had ground down the potential for greatness  by its pressure to be normal.  Harry Chapin wrote “Flowers are Red” back in 1978 (when I was still a teenager) that seemed to me to be one of the saddest songs I had ever heard:

The little boy went first day of school
He got some crayons and he started to draw
He put colors all over the paper
For colors was what he saw

And the teacher said, “What you doin’ young man?”
“I’m paintin’ flowers” he said
She said, “It’s not the time for art young man
And anyway flowers are green and red”

“There’s a time for everything young saw
And a way it should be done
You’ve got to show concern for everyone else
For you’re not the only one”

And she said, “Flowers are red young man
And green leaves are green
There’s no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen”

But the little boy said
“There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one”

Well the teacher said, “You’re sassy
There’s ways that things should be
And you’ll paint flowers the way they are
So repeat after me”

And she said, “Flowers are red, young man
And green leaves are green
There’s no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen”

But the little boy said
“There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one”

The teacher put him in a corner
She said, “It’s for your own good
And you won’t come out ’til you get it right
And are responding like you should”

Well finally he got lonely
Frightened thoughts filled his head
And he went up to the teacher
And this is what he said

And he said
“Flowers are red, and green leaves are green
There’s no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen”

Time went by like it always does
And they moved to another town
And the little boy went to another school
And this is what he found

The teacher there was smilin’
She said, “Painting should be fun
And there are so many colors in a flower
So let’s use every one”

But that little boy painted flowers
In neat rows of green and red
And when the teacher asked him why
This is what he said

And he said
“Flowers are red, and green leaves are green
There’s no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen”

Somebody cut off the possibility of future neoteny and prevented that child from being original and thinking outside the box.  This eliminates intellectual counter- intuitive and divergent thought.

Genius vs. Normal

There was another study done that measured this idea of divergent thinking.  The study showed that 98% of children between the ages of three and five score in the genius category for divergent thinking.  Between the ages of eight and ten, that number drops to 32%.  By the time the kids become teenagers, it drops down to 10%.  And only 2% of those over 25 scored in the genius category.

Is it any wonder that Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” ? (Matthew 19:14)  As we strive to become more like Christ, remember that He possessed the fullness of all our lives–including our own inner child’s weirdness and zaniness.  Don’t give that up to fit in with the world’s idea of an “adult.”  Put away those things of childhood that hold you back from becoming more Christ-like.  But hang on to the ones that give you the desire and ability to become more like Him–in whatever way He has for you.