it's not a case of just your 2 choices. It is very valuable to know as many "positions" as possible, ie; how to play with a protected passed pawn, bad bishop versus good bishop, etc. and trying to steer the game, if possible, into well known channels.
Creativity is needed too, as we encounter many unique positions. However it's a waste of energy to become "creative" on every single move.........
I think I read in a book(quoting de Groot's work 'Thought and Choice in Chess') that when masters look at a position they activate the part of the brain responsible for long term memory. It is also a well known fact that GMs have excellent memory and that they remember thousands of games move by move. So is it a lot to do with pattern recognition or is there an element of creativity in that when we look at a posiiton we come up with fresh ideas on our own independent of what we knew before.