Genius

Creativity is valued highly in our western society. In order to better understand how people can increase their personal mastery of creativity, I will discuss many of the myths about creativity and genius in our culture. The distinction between creativity and problem solving and genius will be made.

Much research supports the idea that some of the crucial components of creativity are essentially motivation, intuition, and faith in ones own abilities, so I will discuss how motivation derives out of the tension from an lucid imagination and a pragmatic form of perception. Based also an external reality, and of intuitively knowing of what is achievable

There are many myths in our western culture about creativity that are misinformed. The most pervasive, is the allegory of the creative genius. At the heart of this belief is that creative accomplishments are the result of immense leaps of imagination which occur, because creative individuals are capable of exceptional thought processes. Which they are, but this is only the top of the iceberg of years of hard work, perseverance and mastery in their predominate fields.

"The kind of intelligence a genius has is a different sort of intelligence. The thinking of a genius does not proceed logically. It leaps with great ellipses. It pulls knowledge from God knows where". Dorothy Tompson.

In addition to their intellectual capacity, creative individuals are assumed to possess eccentric and extraordinary personality characteristics which also play a role in bringing about creative leaps (Weisberg, 1986).

This means that a truly creative person is outside the normalcy of society and is naturally gifted with unusual talents and abilities. Geniuses are born, and not created. So in many instances if a person does not display some form of exceptional ability or prodigy for the arts and sciences early in life, the validation or recognition of genius may not occur.

Philosopher John Robertson pointed out in 1937 that a predominant number of creative individuals were in some way economically privileged (as cited by Montuori and Purser, 1995). If one assumes that genius emerges no matter what, little or no attention needs to be paid to creating a supportive environment (Montuori and Purser, 1995).

Are there personality characteristics that are the basis for creative genius in the arts sciences and literature, including journalism which can also be an art form. Western thinkers have been fascinated by this question. If we could isolate the personal characteristics of genius, we could assess children and adults for their creative potential and increase it through education (Weisberg, 1986).

A test for estimating artistic creativity is still yet to be devised and can not be measured by the IQ test. Howard Gardner. "Multiple theories of intelligence".

To be consistent with this view, creative thinking is considered more than a simple skill - a personality trait of an individual that can be expanded. Genius means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way. William James.

Cutting across the many individual studies is the emergence of a profile: the extremely creative personality emerges as hard-working, ambitious, observant, introspective, critical, flexible, independent, courageous and imaginative (Starker, 1985). More importantly these individuals are extremely intuitive with an insatiable child like curiosity about the world, books, knowledge.

Alexander Hamilton said. "Men give me credit for some genius. All the genius I have lies in this; when I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. My mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort that I have made is what people are pleased to call the fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought"

Getzels and Csikszentmihalyi (as cited in Weisberg, 1986) performed assessments of varying type on 205 art students in the late 1960's. Follow-ups were then performed on 31 students five or six years after graduation to see if their scores on the assessment tests correlated with any success in the art world. Of the 31 students, 15 had severed any connection with the art world. Seven were in careers only peripherally related to art. Only nine artists were showing their artwork, and only one had achieved unqualified success. The successful artists did not score significantly higher on intelligence or divergent thinking than the unsuccessful artists. Since so much of genius status has to do with the world's assessment of it, this appears to be a significant finding.

The success of an artist may or may not be linked to his or her creativity or originality. It may have more to do with their emotional IQ, social skills and connections in the right places.

Creative geniuses' scores on assessment tests such as IQ do not correlate at all with their later creative successes. Take Albert Einstein for example. A truly astonishing achievement for any human being, but in particular, he failed miserably in math as a child. Could not even speak until the age of four. one who was a slow learner as a child. He dropped out and then was expelled from his secondary school, and graduated from a mere technical college with a teaching diploma. From all his class mates, Einstein was passed over for a teaching position and rejected by academia. He went out of his way to find a job at the Swiss patenting office which taxed him very little and left him free in his spare time to work on his own theories that would change the face of physics forever.

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence. Albert Einstein.

There are some common characteristics that have surfaced in studies of creative individuals. Rothenberg (1990, p. 8) observes, "there are some common psychological factors operating in varying types of creative processes in art, science, literature, and other productive fields. These common factors consist particularly of special types of thinking patterns used by creative persons during the process of creation itself." It appears that there is no specific personality type associated with outstanding creativity.

However there is evidence through the studies of Meyers Briggs, a test based on Jungian types, which examines temperament, intelligence, character and personality. This may indicate that there is pattern in which many geniuses have a tendency to use their heightened sense of intuition and curiosity.

These studies reveal that there are basically four types, the Artisan, the Rational, the Idealist and the Guardian. Each and every type have sub types, which can all show signs and indications of exceptional creativity, problem solving and in some instances genius. In other words, "genius is not what one is, but what one does". Most children possess these sparks of genius naturally in their curiosity about nature and everything else.

David Keirsy wrote in "Please Understand Me" healers such as Carl Jung, Ghandi, all have a profound sense of idealism, derived from strong personal morality, and they conceive the world as an ethical place. They are the shaman, medicine man or witch doctor of the tribe, their idealism leaves them feeling even more isolated from the rest of humanity. It maybe that healers seek unity within themselves and between themselves and others because a feeling of alienation. In evaluating things, healers prefer to use their intuition rather than their logic. they respond to the beautiful, rather than then ugly.

The rational, on the other hand such as Einstein. Prometheus is the symbol of the rational who stole fire from the heavens and giving his precious knowledge to mankind. Zeus condemned him to suffer by chaining him to a barren rock which he suffered with agony dignity and serenity. Prometheus, the god of pre learning. Pro=pre + metheus = learning (David Keirsy)

Einstein stories of his absent mindedness have became legendary. He once telephoned his wife and asked ""where am I and where am I meant to be?"

While some individuals clearly have more potential for creativity than others, example Mozart, or a Nijinsky, and some have more opportunity for creative expression than others, there is no "proof" that there are traits inherent in a person that preclude creative genius. We need not be models of the "creative personality" to reap a share of the rewards of creativity (Starker, 1985).

Only one or two characteristics of personality and orientation to life and work is absolutely, across the board, present in all creative people: motivation and intuition. Creative people are extraordinarily highly motivated, both to work and to produce, but more than that, they are motivated to produce entities that are both original and valuable - creations. They want specifically to create and be creative, not merely successful or effective or competent. (Rothenberg, 1990). It is the process that matters more in most case's than the product. They create for the sheer joy of it, in and of itself.

Howard Gardner writes in "Multiple Theories of Intelligence", that the act of creativity can trigger endorphin like substances in the brain, which may explain, how genius can work for extended periods of time without rest or recognition, or validation. Creative people don't retire. It is a powerful thing to understand that one can create. It is not something that only a lucky few are born with the ability to do. It is an orientation to life that can be learned. We cannot all become Nicola Tesla's but we can all be highly creative in many other ways.

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Thomas Edison.

The Myth of Homosexuality Enhancing Creativity "

Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught." Oscar Wilde.

The next common myth to be addressed is the stereotype of the creative homosexual. Particularly the performing arts such as film, theater, and dance. Anyone with any meaningful contact with the gay population can attest that there are both creative and non-creative homosexuals. Is there something about the experience of being homosexual in our society that causes creativity?

"A true friend stabs you in the front.", Oscar Wilde

Domino (as cited by Rothenberg, 1995) conducted a controlled empirical study in 1977 that demonstrated that homosexual individuals did not score higher on creativity tests than did heterosexuals, but in fact scored significantly lower. There are to date no known statistical bases for assuming that homosexuals are more successfully creative than are heterosexuals.

Rothenberg (1990) finds parallels that support that homosexuality has something to do with the creativity of certain individuals, but no basic relationship to creative capacity in general. He states that "with the possible exception of ancient Greek society in which bisexuality and homosexuality were widely accepted, homosexual persons often find themselves discriminated against or excluded and on the outside fringe of their society, a condition social scientists call being 'marginal'. This marginality seems to have something to do with a person's learning to tolerate ambiguity, project varying points of view, and strike out in new directions - factors that seem to play an important role in creative orientation and ability.

Colin Wilson refers to this type as "The Outsider" someone who has to be forced into a position of alienation and marginalization, and as a result is also able to look at society, life, culture from a detached and uncontaminated and powerful perspective. It is as if one is then able to take the blinders off and see things for how they truly are. In all their ugliness and beauty.

"Society often forgives the criminal; it never forgives the dreamer.", Oscar Wilde

Additionally, it appears that the performing arts provide a place in society that male homosexuals can gain social acceptance. In a complex way, the society supports and is, in turn, led to some extent by these artists (Rothenberg, 1990). Any individual that truly appreciates the arts cannot help but appreciate the contributions of homosexual artists to the field. It appears that the link between homosexuality and creativity is less a function of genetic selection, and more a product of societal pressures and approvals.

The Myth of Alcohol Enhancing Creativity

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.",

Ernest Hemingway

The basic tenet of this myth is the "proof" that any great writer will attest to the benefits of alcohol in the creative writing process. Look at writers like Hemingway and Faulkner, who have made themselves famous due to their writings and infamous due to their public drinking. Heavy use of alcohol among highly creative persons, especially writers, is surprisingly frequent. In the United States, five of the eight writers who have won the Nobel Prize for literature have all suffered at some time from severe alcohol abuse and/or dependence (Rothenberg, 1990). Does alcohol facilitate the creative process or - now that genetic factors have been touted as operating in alcoholism -- is there some biological propensity connecting creativity with a need to drink? (Rothenberg, 1990)

"I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?",

Ernest Hemingway

In fact, there have been several studies on the effects of alcohol on creativity. Further, Lang, Verrat and Watt (1984, as cited by Gustafson & Norlander, 1994) used a balanced placebo design and tested subjects on four different creativity tests. Alcohol did not affect the creative process, but later when subjects evaluated their work, subjects who thought they had consumed alcohol evaluated their performances more positively than subjects who thought they had not received alcohol. In a separate study, Gustafson reported that alcohol in fact reduces the number of creative solutions produced in response to a stimulus object on a traditional creativity test. Results indicated that a moderate dose of alcohol impairs the ability to reason deductively and reduces the self-imposed time spent on an intellectual task. The creative process, then is inhibited by negatively affecting abilities related to the initial phase of the process. Any impairment during the initial phase sets limits for what can be achieved during later phases.

Lowe (1994), in a balanced placebo experimental study, found that moderate doses of alcohol did not produce any significant change in performance on a creativity test. However, there were significant individual differences. In subjects with creativity scores above the mean under the Placebo condition, alcohol produced significant decrements, whereas in subjects with below-average creativity scores under the Placebo condition, significant increments were observed with alcohol. This would lead to the conclusion that any natural tendency toward creativity is stifled under alcohol.

Gustafson and Norlander (1994) found that people drink more alcohol after hard creative work than after hard non-creative work. Rothenberg (1990) collected data on the alcohol consumption patterns of writers journalists and art critics found evidence that supports this finding. Very few did their actual writing, or even thinking about writing, while under the influence of alcohol. Or to put it more exactly, their writing was seldom successful when done under the influence of alcohol, and at various points in their lives, drinking absolutely interfered with their ability to do any creative work. By and large, they did not use alcohol when they were actually engaged in writing, but tended to drink when they were finished for the day. The self-imposed loneliness and freedom of the writer's lifestyle may enhance the proclivity to drink.

Rothenberg (1990) also suggests that what appears to be a cardinal issue is the need to use alcohol to cope with the anxiety that is generated by the creative process itself. Because the creative process, when it is successful, inevitably involves the creative person's unearthing of unconscious material to some degree, there is always a measure of anxiety. Later, we will see that Fritz (1989) describes this anxiety as creative tension. There is much at stake in creativity. Unlike most nine to five jobs where one retires for the day, the creative writer can not always stop the juices from flowing. An alcoholic beverage can do the trick, reducing anxiety and by doing so effecting certain areas of the frontal lobe.

Research does not support the popular notion that drinking alcohol enhances creativity by reducing inhibitions. Contrary to popular belief, drinking alcohol does not stimulate creative thinking by creating endorphins in the brain. It merely makes the individual experience a short term release from anxiety and stress.

The Myth of Creativity as Madness or Mental Illness

"I believe that I am in hell, therefore I am there.", Arthur Rimbaud

Aristotle reportedly said that "no great genius was without a mixture of insanity" (Rothenberg, 1990). The stereotype of the mad scientist involves him/her too busy creating to pay attention to the rest of the world, and becoming obsessed with the creative process until he/she loses touch with reality. Which can be true in various form of "asbergers syndrome". A form of high functioning autism. Also bi polar and schizophrenia. Plato claimed that the poet in the throes of creation is mad. Plato's original formulation was the madness of the poet was the result of "divine madness" - a possession by the Muses (Weisberg, 1994). One reason for the traditional linking of mental illness and creativity is that creative thought processes are unusual in structure. Creative experiences and descriptions of creative breakthroughs sometimes appear, on the surface, to be similar to abnormal ones (Rothenberg, 1990).

"The first study for the man who wants to be a poet is knowledge of himself, complete: he searches for his soul, he inspects it, he puts it to the test, he learns it. As soon as he has learned it, he must cultivate it! I say that one must be a seer, make oneself a seer. The poet becomes a seer through a long, immense, and reasoned derangement of all the senses. All shapes of love suffering, madness. He searches himself, he exhausts all poisons in himself, to keep only the quintessence's. Ineffable torture where he needs all his faith, all his superhuman strength, where he becomes among all men the great patient, the great criminal, the great accursed one--and the supreme Scholar! For he reaches the unknown!...So the poet is actually a thief of Fire!" Arthur Rimbaud.

Recently, research has investigated the connection between bipolar disorder, known as manic depression, and the creative process. Jamison (1989, as cited by Weisberg, 1994) found that creative individuals, especially poets, reported that their psychological and physiological states during periods of great creative productivity were very similar to those during a manic period. Poetic creativity especially has usually been linked with schizophrenia. This is in part because primary process cognition has often been thought to operate prominently in both schizophrenia and the composing of poetry (Rothenberg, 1990). In 1987, Andreasen (as cited by Weisberg, 1994) found there was a higher incidence of affective disorder in writers than control subjects, with almost half the writers experiencing a bipolar disorder. Other correlational studies by Jamison and her colleagues have shown a high degree of bipolar affective disorder in creative people, especially poets, and a very high frequency of suicide in creative individuals (as cited in Weisberg, 1994).

"I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.", Vincent van Gogh

However, correlations do not indicate causal relationships. Weisberg (1994) investigated several hypotheses about the relationship of creativity to manic depression using a historical case study of the composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856), who is generally acknowledged to have suffered from bipolar disorder. He compared Schumann's mood (self reported through letters, medical records, and other biographical information) and his production of musical compositions over the span of his lifetime. Weisberg (1994)

"Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well." Vincent van Gogh

Therefore, Weisberg (1994) concludes that manic depression is not linked in any way to creativity, but that mood is linked to motivation. To the degree that mental illnesses affect mood, the individual's motivation for creative production will be affected. In a state of depression the individual is more likely to be able to judge their writing in a different light than in a manic phase.

Rothenberg (1990) believes that creative processes may turn into psychotic ones, but seldom does the reverse occur without some prior resolution of illness and reduction of anxiety. All types of mental illness engender anxiety that tends to disrupt creative functioning. Because the creative process involves both cognitive strain and anxiety produced by the unearthing of unconscious material, any preexisting sources of anxiety dampen and interrupt creative accomplishment.

"I can't change the fact that my paintings don't sell. But the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture.", Vincent van Gogh

The Myth of Sudden Inspiration ("Eureka")

One important aspect of the traditional view of creativity is that creation occurs in flashes of insight, sometimes called "eureka !" reactions. This view of creativity maintains one's mind must be freed of traditional problem solving techniques and that if one can break away from the hold of past experiences, one may experience spontaneous solutions to problems (Weisberg, 1986). Additionally, there are many anecdotes of creative artists who have their creations simply occur to them, without prior thought, appearing to them in dreams, or other unconscious states (Weisberg, 1986).

"I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.", Nikola Tesla

In order to examine this myth, we must look at the most commonly accepted explanation of the creative process. Starker (1985)

Using Starker's explanation of the creative process, it is clear that the insight phase occurs, precisely because there has been so much happening before that point. Maybe years of intensive study and hibernation, and introspection and hard work. However, the experience of insight is powerful and can be emotional, and is often the only part of the creative process that may be in our awareness and therefore warrants explanation. It is certainly the most mystical part of the process, and therefore the subject of much fascination. However, it does not occur in a vacuum.

The Myth of Divergent Thinking

"Before I put a sketch on paper, the whole idea is worked out mentally. In my mind I change the construction, make improvements, and even operate the device. Without ever having drawn a sketch I can give the measurements of all parts to workmen, and when completed all these parts will fit, just as certainly as though I had made the actual drawings. It is immaterial to me whether I run my machine in my mind or test it in my shop. The inventions I have conceived in this way have always worked. In thirty years there has not been a single exception. My first electric motor, the vacuum wireless light, my turbine engine and many other devices have all been developed in exactly this way."
"Like a flash of lightning and in an instant the truth was revealed. I drew with a stick on the sand the diagrams of my motor. A thousand secrets of nature which I might have stumbled upon accidentally I would have given for that one which I had wrestled from her against all odds and at the peril of my existence.", Nikola Tesla

Divergent thinking produces a volume of ideas, but effective creativity produces novel ideas that produce a desired result. Fritz's (1989, p. 38) comments on brainstorming make an important distinction: "This approach leaves out the vital question of the creative process: What do I want to create? The inventiveness of the creative process does not come from generating alternatives, but from generating a path from the original concept of what you want to create to the final creation of it in reality." It is a question of editing and of convergence. Like sifting through your junk mail until you stumble on a letter from a friend. Also geniuses allow no accidents to get by them. In fact this maybe one of the most important factors of all. The same applies to synchronicity and serendipity. Geniuses seem to have an extrasensory awareness of what matters and what does not.

"The greatest and most important problems of life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved but only outgrown.",

Carl Gustav Jung