A Religious Interpretation of Emergence: Creativity as God

Thinking of God today as creativity (instead of as The Creator) enables us to bring theological values and meanings into significant connection with modern cosmological and evolutionary thinking. This conception connects our understanding of God with today's ideas of the Big Bang; cosmic and biological evolution; the evolutionary emergence of novel complex realities from simpler realities, and the irreducibility of these complex realities to their simpler origins; and so on. It eliminates anthropomorphism and anthropocentrism from the conception of God, thus overcoming one of the major reasons for the implausibility of God-talk in today's world—here viewed as a highly dynamic reality (not an essentially stable structure), with God regarded as the ongoing creativity in this world. This mystery of creativity—God—manifest throughout the universe is quite awe-inspiring, calling forth emotions of gratitude, love, peace, fear, and hope, and a sense of the profound meaningfulness of human existence in the world—issues with which faith in God usually has been associated. It is appropriate, therefore, to think of God today as precisely this magnificent panorama of creativity with which our universe and our lives confront us.     

Advanced Understanding of Imagination as the Mediator between Five-Factor Model and Creativity

This study examined the mediating role of capability-oriented imagination between personality traits and creativity, by combining two sub-studies. A total of 612 student participants were recruited from universities in Taiwan. Study 1 calibrated the factors of the three variables and validated three instruments of the variables, and the results were consistent with previous studies. The results also indicated that the relationships among the variables of the full five-factor personality traits, capability-oriented imagination, and two-feature creativity were valuable, which prompted further examination. Study 2 adopted structural equation modeling, which not only validated the mediating role of imagination between five-factor personality traits and two-feature creativity but also revealed that various personality traits can improve original or useful creativity through imagination as a mediator. The originality aspect of creativity can be jointly predicted by the variables of initiating and conceiving imagination, with influence (in order, high to low) from openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. The creativity aspects of usefulness can be jointly predicted by the variables of transforming and conceiving imagination, with influence (in order, high to low) from conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness. The study also proposes directions for future research.     

Imagination and Memory

A growing body of literature shows that imagining contrary-to-truth experiences can change memory. Recent experiments are reviewed to show that when people think about or imagine a false event, entire false memories can be implanted. Imagination inflation can occur even when there is no overt social pressure, and when hypothetical events are imagined only briefly. Overall, studies of imagination inflation show that imagining a counter-factual event can make subjects more confident that it actually occurred. We discuss possible mechanisms for imagination inflation and find that, with evidence supporting the involvement of both source confusion and familiarity in creating inflation, the primary mechanism is still to be determined. We briefly review evidence on individual differences in susceptibility to inflation. Finally, the widespread use of imagination-based techniques in self-help and clinical contexts suggests that there may be practical implications when imagination is used as a therapeutic tool.     

Against the Additive View of Imagination

According to the additive view of sensory imagination, mental imagery often involves two elements. There is an image-like element, which gives the experiences qualitative phenomenal character akin to that of perception. There is also a non-image element, consisting of something like suppositions about the image's object. This accounts for extra-sensory features of imagined objects and situations: for example, it determines whether an image of a grey horse is an image of Desert Orchid, or of some other grey horse. The view promises to give a simple and intuitive explanation of some puzzling features of imagination, and, further, to illuminate imagination's relation to modal knowledge. I contend that the additive view does not fulfil these two promises. The explanation of how images come to be determinate is redundant: the content constituting the indeterminate mental images on which the view relies is sufficient to deliver determinate images too, so the extra resources offered by the view are not required. When applied to modal epistemology, the view either delivers implausible results or offers no distinctive insight. Since the view is sold on its explanatory merits, and since these are dubious, the additive view should be rejected.     

Science,Religious Naturalism,and Biblical Theology: Ground for the Emergence of Sustainable Living

During this century, humans must learn to live in ways that are sustainable, both ecologically and morally. The global community already consumes more ecological resources than Earth can generate; population growth and increasing development are widening that gap. We suggest that paths to sustainability can be found by mindful reflection on meanings discerned in the convergence of a scientific understanding of nature, religious naturalism, and biblical understandings of creation. The patterns of ecological sustainability observed in natural systems and the wise ways of relating to the land discerned in the Hebrew Bible suggest that sustainability must be grounded in social and ecological justice and that just ways of living can emerge from a deep sense of the ways in which nature and all of humanity are interdependent. We conclude that the twentieth-century emphasis on individual control of our future must make room for the emergence of a new understanding of mutuality. There can be no flourishing apart from mutual flourishing.     

Group Size and the Trajectory of Religious Identification

The relative size of religious groups or denominations within societies or nations influences variation in the extent to which group members psychologically identify with their religion. National‐level census data measuring the proportional size of religious groups in New Zealand are merged with nationally representative data on self‐reported psychological identification drawn from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study. A multilevel random coefficient model shows a logarithmic function for the relationship between religious group size and average group‐level religious identification. Members of smaller religious groups (less than 1.5 percent of the population) tend to strongly identify with their religion, whereas members of groups that are larger in size (over 6 percent of the population) tend to be less identified, on average. Religious group cohesion may be a dynamic process. Larger religious groups are less cohesive and experience more contested identities and ideological positions (average group identification is lower).     

Being Young and Strictly Religious: A Review of the Literature on the Religious Identity Development of Strictly Religious Adolescents

Strictly religious adolescents grow up in highly religious contexts with orthodox beliefs and practices that usually contrast with those of pluralist and secularized societies that can be perceived as promoting unhealthy religious identity development. For these adolescents, religious identity development may be a challenge; however, there seems to be a lack of theoretical and empirical understanding of how these adolescents develop their religious identities. To address this, a literature review was conducted, and 15 studies were selected after the application of selection criteria. This review focuses on the characteristics of these studies to understand the religious identity development of strictly religious adolescents. Implications for theory development and further empirical research are discussed.     

Assessing the Impact of Religious Registration

Religious groups often rely on a registration process to receive the legal status needed to operate openly. Yet, the registration process has become a recent source of controversy. This research uses case studies, trend data from three global collections, and fixed effects models using 19 waves of data to test for the consequences of introducing registration requirements within a nation. The case studies help us to understand the controversies and to identify how registration requirements have been used to increase restrictions on religions in the past, while the trend data document the increasing use of these requirements for discriminating against religions. Finally, the fixed effects models find that introducing registration requirements within a nation was followed by increased religious restrictions, especially for minority religions.     

Religious Leaders and the Environmental Crisis

Despite the presence of forward‐looking religious leaders at higher levels, there is little recognition and understanding among local‐level leaders about climate change and the irreversible impacts of global warming. This article illustrates this lack of insight among religious leaders and provides suggestions to increase their awareness of the environmental crisis and its solutions. It uses as examples Islamic teachings that Muslim muftis can use to protect the environment, and emphasizes religious leaders’ influence, roles, and responsibility in establishing justice for the earth, for the next generations, and for all creation. Although most of the facts and examples in this article are from a Middle East and North Africa Region and Islamic perspective, its arguments can be applied generally.     

Making Meaning Using Creativity and Spirituality

Abstract

This article describes two creative techniques utilized when working with clients. With the increased attention on issues of spirituality, multiculturalism, and creativity, the “Give Away Ceremony” and “Spiritual Symbolism” is demonstrated via a case study approach. Additionally, a brief history of the immersion of spirituality in the counseling profession is addressed.     

Religious Service Attendance and Religious and Secular Organizational Engagement in the United Kingdom

The study uses nationally representative data to examine whether the moral freighting Putnam and Campbell (2010) propose, based on American experiences, may apply to overall British society. Specifically, it tests whether religious service attendance increases religious or secular organizational activities, possibly due to moral freighting that encourages religious congregants to practice their faith, transcending ego boundaries and self-interest. It is also necessary to determine if engagement in religious or secular organizational activities elevates the degree of religious service attendance, thus forming a bidirectional association. The study employs the maximum likelihood-structural equation modeling (ML-SEM) method to verify the proposed reciprocity. The empirical tests confirm that a synergistic reciprocal relationship is established between religious service attendance and religious organizational engagement, and that religious service attendance increases secular organizational engagement. However, secular organizational engagement does not make a bidirectional contribution to religious service attendance.     

想象的真理--论想象与真理的关系

无论再现论还是表现论的文艺观念,都肯定文艺活动的想象性质,并试图在此基础上理解文艺活动的区别特征。而这也同时产生了论证想象活动的真理性的要求,只不过在西方形而上学思想传统和符合论真理观念的限制下,对想象理解还包含着许多内在的困难。本文试图说明这些困难,并指出由西方现当代人文主义哲学所提供的解决问题的可能方向。     

The Emergence of Creativity

Creativity is one of the central dimensions of human achievement and social development and has always fascinated scientists and non-scientists alike. But what is the essential nature of creativity? And what is the role of consciousness in the emergence of creativity? If it is true that it has been explored in many aspects in the cognitive and neurobiological field, it is also true that the lore chest—from which the conscious mind through unconscious mechanisms extracts the rough material that is then brought to the surface—has been less investigated. The purpose of this article is to give an account of how the multiplicity of levels of awareness is made possible by a spontaneous order that has nothing to do with a monolithic view of creativity.     

Social Support and the Religious Dimensions of Close Ties

Despite the influence of social support on physical and mental health, few studies have examined why some close ties are more supportive than others. Though religion provides a rich context for social interaction and a meaningful social identity, it has received little attention in the social support literature. A growing literature on religion and health offers insight into how religion affects social support processes. Using dyadic network data derived from the nationally representative 2006 Portraits of American Life Study, I examine how the religious dimensions of close, nonhousehold ties relate to provision of social support. Results from logistic regression analyses indicate that (controlling for a range of other social tie characteristics) same‐faith ties are significantly more likely to be sources of help “in times of need,” while religious discussion is a strong predictor of receiving both help and advice. The effect of religious homophily is strongest for evangelical Protestants and African‐American Protestants. My findings underscore the need for social support researchers to consider the role of religion in shaping support processes in close relationships.     

Local Religious Subcultures and Generalized Social Trust in the United States

Using multilevel analyses of 21,193 General Social Survey respondents nested within 256 metropolitan areas and counties, we find that individuals’ willingness to trust others is strongly related to the denominational make‐up of geographic areas. The percent of evangelical Protestants in the population negatively predicts individual‐level generalized trust, while percent mainline Protestant and percent Catholic positively predict trust. The effect sizes of these results are large and robust to statistical controls, and they hold even among nonmembers of the religious groups; for instance, “percent evangelical” predicts lower trust even among nonevangelicals. Black Protestant population share initially appears to predict lower trust, but the association disappears after adjusting for racial residential segregation. Following a longstanding theoretical tradition in the sociology of religion, we argue that the religious characteristics of places—not just individuals—shape local subcultures in ways that affect a broad range of behaviors, attitudes, and values such as generalized trust.     

Creativity and Wonder

The experience of wonder is often said to be at the origin of acts of creativity, both historical and mundane, from big breakthroughs in science to the everyday discoveries of children at play. And yet, wonder and wondering have rarely been theorized until now, at least in the psychology of creativity. Understood as one of the main ways in which we engage with the possible, wonder presents us, upon closer inspection, with a paradox typical for creativity—experiencing what is present (the here and now) through the lenses of what is absent (the not‐yet‐here). Wondering is grounded in the possibility of adopting multiple perspectives on a certain reality; many of which are yet unknown to the creator while anticipated and actively looked for. In this paper, the creative process fuelled by the experience of wonder is described as a cyclical interplay between awareness, excitement, and exploration of the possible. Thus, one of the main consequences of reflecting on wonder and wondering is not only a renewed focus on process in creativity research but, most of all, a new emphasis on the less “visible” and yet essential aspects of creative action as it bridges the actual and the possible.     

A Religious Profile of American Entrepreneurs

The entrepreneur is a celebrated figure in American society. These innovative risk‐takers hold an influential place in the economy and in popular culture. Substantial research has gone into identifying characteristics associated with these individuals, but research on entrepreneurs and religion is surprisingly sparse and inconsistent. Using national survey data, we examine religious affiliation, belief, and behavior for Americans who have started or are trying to start a business. American entrepreneurs appear no different than nonentrepreneurs in religious affiliation, belief in God, or religious service attendance. They do tend to see God as more personal, pray more frequently, and are more likely to attend a place of worship that encourages business activity. A discussion of implications concludes the research note.     

Creativity,perversion and the violations of expectations

Abstract

Violations of expectations provide a motive for both creativity and perversion. The term “violations of expectations,” derived from empirical studies of early development, includes surprise, shock, betrayals of trust, as well as the possession of extraordinary talents. In the creative area, violations of expectations are illustrated through aspects of the life and work of Marc Chagall and Richard Wagner, and in perversion through the lives and actions of serial killers.

Lachmann FM. Kreativität, Perversion und die Verletzungen von Erwartungen

Verletzungen von Erwartungen liefern ein Motiv für beides: Kreativität und Perversion.Diese Benennung, aus empirischen Untersuchungen früher Entwicklung abgeleitet, schließt sowohl Überraschung, Schock, Verrat von Vertrauen ein wie auch die Verfügung über außergewöhnliche Talente. Im kreativen Bereich werden Verletzungen von Erwartungen durch Aspekte von Leben und Werk von Chagall und Richard Wagner illustriert und im Bereich der Perversionen durch Leben und Aktionen von Serien-Mördern.

Lachmann FM. Creatividad, perversión y violación de las expectativas.

La violación de las expectativas provee un motivo para ambas, la creatividad y la perversión. Este término, derivado de estudios empíricos sobre el desarrollo temprano, incluye sorpresa, shock, revelación de la verdad, así como la posesión de talentos extraordinarios. En la creativa violación de expectativas se ilustran aspectos de la vida y del trabajo de Marc Chagall y Richard Wagner y en la perversión a través de sus vidas y acciones de asesinos en serie.     

Creativity and the Dark Triad: A meta-analysis

This paper presents a meta-analysis of the relationships between creativity (creative potential, activities, and achievement) and the Dark Triad of personality: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Multilevel meta-analytic models demonstrated a small but significant positive association between creativity and narcissism (r = 0.15 [0.10, 0.29]) and Machiavellianism (r = 0.06 [0.02, 0.09]), but not with psychopathy (r = 0.03 [-0.02, 0.07]). Creativity measures (self-report-vs.-performance), aspects (self-perception, creative activity, creative abilities, creative achievements), and domains (general, art, science, and everyday creativity) moderated the links with the Dark Triad. We discuss the possible mechanism of associations between Dark Triad traits and creativity and highlight future research directions.