Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 10:11:03 -0500
| From: | Jack Park |
|
jackpark@verticalnet.com Reply-To: unrev-II@egroups.com |
| To: | unrev-II@egroups.com |
| Subject: | The Essence of Creativity |
[Responding to
Eric's letter
on November 1, 2000, and
Rod Welch
on November 11, 2000...]
I don't recall if I mentioned it earlier, but just in case... David Gelernter wrote a book titled The Muse in the Machine a while back. In that book, he describes consciousness as a continuum: on the left (or right, if you wish), is the unconscious state, and on the opposite end (there really is no end on a continuum, but you get my drift), is extreme consciousness. Gelernter characterizes extreme consciousness as a region of consciousness states within which extreme application of logic occurs.
Gelernter then describes creativity as occuring in a region of consciousness states in which one is neither unconscious, nor logical. One is awake, but one is not paying attention to whatever *rules* would interfere with connecting dots. Thus, the creative process is one in which dots get connected that would otherwise be blocked by logical processes.
For me, this explains why I am able to realize new connections when I am driving along a country road, playing the piano, or even describing something to someone (during which event, that something acquires new embellishments I hadn't noticed before).
I suspect that Gelernter's explanation is but one view of the whole picture, but it is this: creativity involves breaking rules. I look at it this way: you can break rules and connect dots somebody told you not to connect, or you can break rules that would otherwise block stepping outside the box looking for new dots; Apples "Think Different." This view offers the suggestion, at least to me, for a reason why my children can figure things out much faster than I can; likely as not, they do not use nearly as rich a set of rules as I do.
Jack Park
jackpark@thinkalong.com