Famous Thinkers

There are many notable creative thinkers known around the world. Creative thinkers have been solving issues and problems for as long as people have existed. Where would we be without the invention of the wheel? Creative thinkers try come up with ways of improving the quality of life by solving issues or redefining concepts (Ruggiero, 2009). Dr. Martin Luther King and Bill Gates are two such men that sought to make the world a better place; Dr. King in his fight for equal rights and Bill Gates in improving technology and reaching out to those less fortunate than himself.

Dr. Martin Luther King brought issues of equality into a new light and gained civil rights for African Americans. He had a vision, a dream, as he put it, where people of all walks of life could live together peacefully; a place where people were not judged merely by the color of their skin. He challenged Americans to open their hearts and minds into accepting diversity.

Dr. King's social and political environment was made up of inequality and racial tension, of which he experienced at a young age. Through these experiences, came his creative thinking in overcoming inequality and obtaining equal rights among all Americans. According to the King Institute (2011), Dr. King encouraged a nonviolent and civil noncompliance approach that was unheard of in that time period.

The issue that Dr. King sought to overcome through the creative process was that of racism. He searched to find a way to hold the government accountable by living up to the words of the Declaration of Independence, which according to King, was "a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" (2003, para. 4).

Dr. King's solution to his issues included promoting civil noncompliance. This meant that rather than resorting to violence, King wanted his followers to disobey laws that were unfair. He felt that violence in the streets would not solve any problems, rather, the war needed to be fought in a court of law by fighting for integration and equality in America.

Dr. King's ideas of nonviolence and civil noncompliance were not accepted by all African Americans. However, King said,

"We must ever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force" (King, 2003, para. 8).

Dr. King stayed true to what he believed in and his followers accepted and lived by what he promoted.

Bill Gates also has stayed true to what he believes in. Of course, many people know Bill Gates to be the founder of Microsoft. But, not many know that he is also the co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. At a young age, Bill watched his mother devote her time to working with charities and other organizations, like the United Way. After conquering the computer world, he turned to helping those less fortunate than himself.

The primary goal of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is to help provide support of education and health to low income communities, not only in the United States, but around the world as well. In a letter written for his foundation, Bill expresses his passion in finding solutions to problems.

"Throughout my careers in software and philanthropy--and