Human capital and the Matthew effect: Description does not imply prescription

This article presents a philosophical perspective on creativity as described in the writings of George Sudarshan, a highly accomplished theoretical physicist and natural philosopher whose vision of creativity was influenced by “the direct experience of transcendence.” The article reviews his conceptualization of the various mental states modeling the mind as a superfluid and as a collection of harmonic oscillators, which include feelings, consciousness, and altered states. Based on Sudarshan's experiences of discovering knowledge and expressing creativity, this article examines several philosophical assertions about the sources of creative impulse and the nature of the creative process. In addition, the significance of philosophical issues, such as the role of experienced and transcendent time, “critical opalescence,” intuition, grace, ideal states of being and awareness, joy, and illumined perception are also reviewed. The significance of witnessing pure awareness (distinct from individuated ego awareness) in the emergence of the creative self is described and a philosophical framework relating to reconciliation of diverse conforming and creative modes of awareness is outlined. Borrowing from science and philosophy, the article discusses the role of wisdom, use of analogies, metaphors, and moral responsibility in creative functioning. A philosophical conceptualization underlying the rishi model of a creative scientist is presented. The article concludes that transcendence is the key to becoming a fulfilled, actualized, creative being.     

A Contemporary View of Some of Joseph Sandler's Key Concepts

Three of Sandler's seminal papers—“The Background of Safety” (1960a), “The Concept of the Representational World” (1962), and “Countertransference and Role Responsiveness” (1976)—are scrutinized and discussed to explore the evolution of his thinking over some 40 years. His early insistence on the importance of feeling states and intrapsychic mechanisms and processes, especially those relating to internal objects and internal object relationships, are emphasized as well as the interactions and complementary relationship between theoretical formulations and clinical findings, as exemplified in his research activities in the Index Department of the Anna Freud Centre in London and in his paper on countertransference and role responsiveness. Interrelationships with other concepts, both clinical and theoretical, show up in Sandler's work as well as that of other eminent authors up to the present time, and similarities in conceptualizations are highlighted. Sandler's continuous efforts to clarify psychoanalytic concepts and to integrate differing psychoanalytic conceptualizations and models are illustrated by references to and quotations from the salient papers.     

Transcendence as a Subset of Evolutionary Thinking: A Darwinian View of the Creative Experience

The states of transcendence and affective discontinuities as features of the creative act are posited as analogous to Darwin's theory of evolution. The intellectual essence of Darwin's argument is that randomness processed through a selection system yields purpose. Some recent studies suggest this process holds true for profound acts of creativity. Darwin's two criteria for change, randomness and a system of recognition, are examined in application to the creative act. The argument is made that extraordinary creative people use a specific selection process coupled with the ability to de-structure or randomize their mental environment. Finally, techniques are proposed to structure a creative recognition system and to de-structure the input that is processed to enhance creative results. Considerable research into creativity has been concerned with transcendent thinking, the sudden discontinuous pattern shifts that lead to wonderful new insights. Three schools of thought have attempted to explain and resolve this discontinuity. Overton and Newman (1982) describe two of these. There is the reductionist view taking the position that all creative thinking can be explained by continuous processing. Discontinuity is treated merely as a behavioral or affective phenomenon since by nature pre-conscious algorithms are unavailable for systematic inquiry. The organismic view, on the other hand, takes the lofty position that transcendence is a function of indeterminacy: ideas actually operate in earthly terms but are post-Newtonian in nature. That is, transcendent states are delocalized concepts operating beyond the tangible limitations of space and time. Attempts to measure these phenomena are doomed to the same outcome as the proverbial killing of the goose that laid the golden egg. McCarthy (1993) has recently attempted to reconcile the above positions by arguing that the answer may well be found in the field of quantum physics and elementary particle research. She proposes that nature is a duality. Creative insight and transcendence come about through the superposition of two realities, one which is “boundary-free”; the other a more conscious process which is hierarchal and “boundary-laden.” Presented here is a reductionist point of view asserting that what we consider to be transcendence — the mystical nature of creativity — is not only sequential but a subset of the evolutionary process as set forth by Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species (1859). Further, the principles of Darwin's theory may be applied to speed and improve the creative process both for individuals and groups. Other researchers in the field (Campbell, 1960, Finke, Ward, & Smith, 1992, Gruber& Davis, 1988, Kantorovich, 1993; Simonton, 1988), have invoked evolutionary thinking to explain the creative process. However, this argument looks at the two properties of evolution necessary for its function and shows how in highly creative people they may operate differently.     

THE EFFECT OF TELEVISION AND RADIO ON CHILDREN'S CREATIVITY

The literature on creativity posits that creative abilities are stable and relatively impervious to short-term interventions. Several studies have, however, reported differential effects of media on children's imaginative play and thinking. The results of these studies are difficult to interpret owing to their reliance on nonstandardized measures of creativity. The present study examines the relative effects of television versus radio on children's creativity. Third and sixth graders were presented a story on television or radio and were then given an adapted version of the “Just Suppose” test of divergent thinking developed by Torrance (1974). Responses were scored in terms of ideational fluency, flexibility, and originality. The results indicated that the two media did not have a differential effect on children's creativity.     

Review Essay: Constructivism with a Human Face

Irwin Hoffman's book Ritual and Spontaneity includes, but goes well beyond, his series of seminal papers—written over the past several decades—developing a psychoanalytic, constructivist perspective. A new, existential framework depicts what Hoffman calls the “psychobiological bedrock” at the core of the human process of constructing meaning—the lifelong effort to create a livable, subjective world in face of our ever present sense of loss, suffering, and, ultimately, mortality.

This review describes Hoffman's encompassing, existential perspective and discusses how, within this framework, he uses his dialectical sensibility to frame our understanding of both parenting and analysis as “semisacred” activities. The “dialectic of ritual and spontaneity”—the vital clash between disciplined adherence to the analytic frame and personally expressive deviations from it—represents the creative tension between the “magical” dimension of analytic authority and the healing influence of a genuinely expressive human relationship. Hoffman's perspective on the self-interested, “dark side” of the analytic relationship is compared with Winnicott's views on the vital, therapeutic role of “hate” and the paradoxical process by which the patient comes to “use” the analyst.

Unlike most postmodernist “constructivists,” Hoffman openly reveals his underlying belief in certain “transcultural, transhistorical universals”—his “psychobiological bedrock.” In acknowledging these “essentials” (assumptions about human nature) that in some form are integral, yet often hidden, elements of any system of thought, Hoffman saves his own dialectical constructivism from falling into dichotomous (constructivist vs. essentialist) thinking.     

Maslow's Puzzle: A Reconfiguration

Abstract

A.H. Maslow (1963, 1993) characterized the “creative attitude” in ways such as giving up the past and future, loss of ego or self-forgetfulness, Taoistic receptivity, and innocence. He suggested that underlying these and related characteristics may be “certain prerequisites,” which he offered to us as a “puzzle.”

“Maslow's puzzle” may be considered in relation to what he regarded as a sine qua non of creativeness: “fusion of person and world.” The greater intimacy of such a relationship means that the individual has more fully extended self into that which lies beyond self, that is, into transpersonal realms or fields. A study of such fields, based on representations of fields in general, may provide a different insight into “Maslow's puzzle” and the enhanced creativity with which it is associated.     

The idea of will and organic evolution in Bergson’s philosophy of life

The idea of the élan vital is crucial for an understanding of Bergson’s metaphysical method, underpinning the way in which philosophy stands with other forms of creative activity as an endeavour of “self-overcoming,” the self or subject no longer being at the centre of thought, but understood rather as a product of the process of thinking. In placing a special emphasis on Bergson’s 1907 work, Creative Evolution, the present essay is both an acknowledgement and challenge to the shift from early interpretations of Bergson in which comparisons were made with thinkers such as Schelling and Schopenhauer, to more recent engagements centred on the theories of perception and memory. The aim of this essay is to formulate a response to the marginalized status of Creative Evolution in the “perception-based” strands of Bergson scholarship, by emphasising how Bergson’s theories of memory and consciousness are a means for understanding his definition of evolutionary “creativity.” Bergson suggests that the analysis of consciousness or “will” can provide us with a way of thinking about this creative movement of life, which is not a concept of a “cause” or “origin” in the sense of a “state of nature” (substance, essence, or “being”), but rather the operation of pure tendency.     

Creative surrender: A Milnerian view of works by Y. Z. Kami

Born in 1900, Marion Milner started psychoanalytic training in 1940, following a trajectory which took her into territory later developed by Winnicott. She was an independent thinker who drew on a variety of sources to explore her own and her patients' creativity. She linked the creative process to psychic health and to the ability to achieve a level of perception that leads not to the re‐creation of lost objects but to the creation of what did not exist before. By linking Milner's theory of perception to works by Y.Z. Kami, I draw parallels between a psychoanalyst's perception of the creative process and that process as described and executed by an artist. Milner's lens and Kami's brush both articulate thoughts and feelings about what it means to be human, the condition of mortality and, after Freud, the illusions that sustain mankind through the creation of the gods. This study looks at how the work of an artist and a psychoanalytic thinker can be mutually reinforcing and inter‐animating, thereby broadening and deepening the insights gained from both.     

CLINICAL WINNICOTT: TRAVELING A REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

The author contends that, contrary to the usual perception that Winnicott followed a linear progression “through pediatrics to psychoanalysis,” Winnicott's vision was always a psychoanalytic one, even during his early pediatric work. His place in the development of psychoanalytic theory is highlighted, and the author discusses such key Winnicottian concepts as transitional space, the false self, and the use of the object. Winnicott's unique approach to the form and value of analytic interpretation is particularly emphasized, and his thoughts on the treatment of depression are also addressed, as well as his distinction between regression and withdrawal. Included is a summary of convergences and divergences between Winnicott's thinking and that of Bion.     

Creativity and Tolerance of Ambiguity: An Empirical Study

This study examines the relationship between creativity and tolerance of ambiguity. Participants were parents and their adolescent children. Three measures of creativity were used: a divergent thinking task, a story‐writing task and self‐evaluation of creative attitudes and behavior. Participants completed two self‐report measures of tolerance of ambiguity: the short version of the “Measurement of Ambiguity Tolerance” (Norton, 1975; Zenasni & Lubart, 2001) and the “Behaviour Scale of Tolerance/Intolerance for Ambiguity” (Stoycheva, 1998, 2003). Tolerance of ambiguity was significantly and positively related to creativity. Creativity of parents was related to their adolescents' creativity. However, parents' tolerance of ambiguity was not related to adolescents' tolerance of ambiguity or creativity.     

Searching for the enriching sense of otherness: The psychoanalytic psychotherapist as a meaning-bearing other

Abstract

This paper is a theoretical and clinical examination of the patient's search for the otherness of the therapist as a prerequisite for change and development in relational psychoanalytic psychotherapy. A basic assumption is that being in a relationship as well as being a personal self, is to be understood, as being with a “meaning-bearing other”; that is, someone who allows for the possibility of meaningful thoughts and feelings, either through an actual communicative presence or as a consciously, prereflective, or unconsciously imagined communication partner. The term “meaning-bearing other” is used to differentiate distinct, although often synchronic, modes of relatedness. The need for intersubjective “depth”—that is, to discover the otherness of the other, and for oneself to be recognized as an experiencing subject—is regarded as a main motivational force. Winnicott's, as well as Sullivan's developmental approaches, Mitchell and Aron's views on psychoanalytic interaction, and Heidegger and Gadamer's phenomenology and hermeneutics are used as theoretical points of reference for the present discourse. The theoretical points of view are examined and discussed through excerpts from twice-a-week psychotherapy with a six-year old girl.     

The present and absent object—on thinking and the capacity to symbolize

In this paper, Bion's different theories on the development of thinking will be introduced: on the one hand, his theory of thoughts as resulting from tolerance for the absence of the object, and on the other hand, dream thoughts and thoughts as resulting from the presence of the object, originally through the mother's containing function. The effects of failures in this development will be discussed; among other things, a hypertrophy of the apparatus of projective identification at the expense of thinking capacities. Briefly, a comparison will be made between a facilitating relation between container and contained and the oscillation between the paranoid-schizoid and depressive position, which Bion describes as a prerequisite for open symbolizing processes. Bion's theories and concepts will be supplemented by Winnicott's theories on the “creative illusion” and the breast/the mother as a “subjective object” as a precondition for the symbolizing capacity that later develops in the “potential space”. Very briefly, a comparison is made between Winnicott's term “the subjective object” and Segal's term “symbolic equation”. Clinical vignettes are interpolated.     

Free-associating with the bodymind

Abstract

The history of attitudes toward Freud's adoption of free-associative discourse, as well as toward the significance of the clinical significance of the free-associative method, is critically reviewed. It is argued that, if one takes the re-inviting of repressed contents back into self-consciousness to be the defining process of psychoanalysis as a discipline (distinguishing it even from those psychotherapies that are based on psychoanalytic models of the mind), then free-associating is indeed the sine qua non of the psychoanalysis process. It is further suggested that whereas Freud's notion of libidinality radically subverts Cartesian dualism, our thinking about the significance of free-associative discourse has too frequently lapsed into the mistaken assumption that free-associating should only be about what “comes to mind.” In this context, a way of free-associating with the “bodymind” is described as an addendum to customary psychoanalytic practices. This augmented method remains faithful to Freud's practice of allowing the voice of sensuality to “join the conversation,” at the same time that its clinical implementation incorporates some of the wisdom concerning “breathwork” that comes from the yogic procedures for cultivating awareness.     

Metaphors and creativity: Direct,moderating, and mediating effects

Through five experiments, this research advances knowledge about the influence of metaphors on creative cognition by showing that perceiving images that carry metaphoric meaning can alter consumers' creativity. While the results of Experiment 1 reveal that positive metaphors representing ideas like “Thinking outside the box” increase creative output, Experiment 2 uncovers that a negative metaphor conveying “I am burnt out” decreases it. Experiment 3 shows that the metaphor–creativity link is moderated by analogical reasoning skills, and Experiments 4a and 4b reveal the mediating role of creative intent. In addition to implying that marketers can use metaphors to enhance consumers' creative feedback in areas like new product development, this research also makes important theoretical contributions by showing (1) that metaphors that are visually conveyed (in addition to tangible objects or physical exercises) can not only raise but also lower creative output, (2) that a unique cognitive skill alters the metaphor–creativity link, and (3) that consumers' creative intent contributes to that relationship.     

Motivation and creativity: Toward a synthesis of structural and energistic approaches to cognition

Cognitive scientists who model creative thinking on computers claim that the ability of their programs to replicate the discovery of scientific laws (e.g., Kepler's third law from Brahe's data) means that creative thinking in humans is nothing but problem solving of the kind computer heuristics use. This claim is shown to be a mystification based on a misunderstanding of creativity, on unrealistic replications of the initial conditions present at the inception of creative processes, and on a misleading identification of rationality with complex human thought processes. Some of the implications of such mystification for understanding thought processes in general are reviewed.     

Creativity,Loss, and Character. Balakirev: The Man Who Had at One Time All of Music in His Hands,But…

For many centuries, the professional literature has discussed the complicated relationship between creativity and psychopathology. Creative people reproduce their feelings using their creative skills, and it is only natural that one's mental state may influence art. This article describes a special type of creativity that is associated with early loss and bereavement. In this form, creative work plays an important role in coping with loss, especially traumatic loss, in early development. Those who are bereaved, especially when young, may use creative work as a transitional object linking them to a deceased loved one, usually a parent or sibling. This article also describes the life, creativity, character, and illness of one of the most famous Russian musicians of the late 19th century: Miliy Balakirev. Balakirev's use of musical creativity as a method of coping with the loss and the consequent effects on his psychological state during his lifetime is apparent in his letters, friend's memories, and biographies.     

The influence of articulation,self‐monitoring ability,and sensitivity to others on creativity

Although it is often recommended to think aloud to solve problems and to become more creative, cognitive and social psychological research suggests thinking aloud may actually produce less creative ideas than thinking in silence. The results of two experiments indeed showed that thinking aloud hinders creativity—although people produced the same amount of new uses for an object, these were judged to be less original in the thinking aloud condition. Experiment 2 further showed that this effect was particularly pronounced for individuals with high sensitivity to what other's think of them and low ability to adapt to these expectations. From this, we conclude that the felt presence of an actual or implied audience when thinking aloud, reduces creative idea generation especially among those having difficulty adapting to others. Implications for creativity research, and for promoting creativity in applied settings such as organizational teams are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

让智慧插上创造的翅膀：创造动力系统的激活及其条件

创造力是一个集个人、团体、社会、文化相互交织的系统, 因此创造力的培养也需要综合考虑。本文在融合以往创造力研究的基础上, 建构了一套系统创造力培养的“蝴蝶理论”, 创造力培养需要抓住核心来统领全局, 同时兼顾创造力培养所需要统筹兼顾的各个部分。动力系统的激活是创造力培养的核心。新颖、适用的创造性成果的产出, 需要社会文化中的个体或团体在创造性心理动力的基础上来完成。创造性心理动力有效的激活则需要一些基本条件, 如在认知层面, 需要具备一定的能力, 如一般认知能力、思维方法的掌握、元认知以及高效的资源整合能力等; 在非智力因素方面, 基本心理需要的满足, 个性心理的健康发展等是创造力得以发挥的必要条件, 推而广之还包括：合理的社会支持、互动以及文化的包容等等。除了理论方面的整合, 本文还从实践的角度分析如何激活学生的动力系统, 重点分析了什么是兴趣以及如何激发个体的兴趣, 因为以兴趣爱好为核心的内部动机是自主性最高的动力来源。本文从理论(创造力培养的蝴蝶理论)与实践(创造力培养的兴趣激发)两个角度为创造力培养提供了支持。     

Creativity,Spontaneity, Impasse,and Leaps of Faith: Reply to Commentaries

In my reply to the commentaries, I address several points of convergence with and divergence from Drs. Danielle Knafo and Philip A. Ringstrom. I clarify my view that while shame can drive the creative process, the thrust of my paper is about ways in which shame can close down access to one's creative potential, as well as creating obstacles to vitality and intimacy in relationships. I expand on how it was indeed a visceral, embodied sense of my own shame which served as an “informant,” as Ringstrom suggests, of Julia's chronic experience of shame, opening a door to our exploration of the repetitive enactments between us. Grounding my understanding of therapeutic action and enactments in a relational perspective, I describe how I view enactments as inevitable and co-created, and reflecting on them collaboratively as a potentially useful opportunity in analytic work. I resonate with Ringstrom and Knafo's belief in the creativity inherent in the psychoanalytic process, and the importance of spontaneity and risk taking, particularly in negotiating impasses in treatment. Finally, I describe Julia's poetic reflections upon reading the paper.