Someone told me today that they were "not a #maths person" because they are, *instead*, a "#creative person." This is a decidedly uncreative belief that I come across fairly regularly and I'm never sure how to respond.

Aside from the fact that there's no basis in the idea that "#mathematics" and "creativity" are mutually exclusive, I'd be tempted to say that if you're not being creative when doing maths you're not doing it properly.

From the other direction, if, as a creative person, you're discounting the entirety of mathematics - an enormous, sprawling discipline that's really difficult to define whilst keeping it separate from everything else - as a potential source of inspiration or creative outlet then how "creative" can such a closed mind really be?

I've been guilty of saying things like "I'm no good at art," "I don't like art," or "I just don't get art," and I'm working hard to catch myself when I do, and to train myself out of it because those phrases are just as ridiculous as the popular versions that substitute "art" with "maths".

In fact, opening my own mind to the idea that art can be accessed by anybody has allowed me to use mathematics as a lens through which I can start to interact with what are often referred to as the "creative" arts in a way that I can make sense of. I've met plenty of people who've stepped through the looking glass in the opposite direction, exploring aspects of mathematics through an artistic lens.

"I'm not a ____ person," and "I just can't do ____" are unhelpful, incorrect, uncreative statements regardless of what discipline you put in the gap.