Eccentric Artists and Mad Scientists Essay -- Biology Essays Research

Creativity and Irrational Forces: Eccentric Artists and Mad Scientists "Men have called me mad, but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence--whether much that is glorious--whether all that is profound--does not spring from disease of thought--from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect. Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night" - Edgar Allen Poe "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Albert Einstein Is creative genius somehow woven together with "madness"? According to the dictionary, "to create" is "to bring into being or form out of nothing." Such a powerful, mysterious, and seemingly impossible act must surely be beyond the scope of scientific inquiry. No wonder creativity has for so long been "explained" as the expression of an irrational, intuitive psychic "underground" teaming with forces (perhaps divine) that are unknown and unknowable (at least to the "sane," rational mind). The ancient Greeks believed creative inspiration was achieved through altered states of mind such as "divine madness." Socrates said: "If a man comes to the door of poetry untouched by the madness of the muses, believing that technique alone will make him a good poet, he and his sane compositions never reach perfection, but are utterly eclipsed by the inspired madman" (8). Creative inspiration - particularly artistic inspiration -- has often been thought to require the sampling of dark "depths" of ir rationality while maintaining at least some connection to everyday reality. This dive into underground forces "reminds one of a skin-diver with a breathing tube" wrote Arthur Koestler in his influential book... ...ay.html 15) Divergent thinking - J.P. Guilford , Guilford 's divergent production operation identifies a number of different types of creative abilities. http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen/CRTVYW99/Guilford.htm 16) The Gift of Saturn: Creativity and Psychopathology -- Antonio Preti , Antonio Preti, MD; Paola Miotto, MD CMG, Psychiatry branch via Costantinopoli 42, 09129 Cagliari, Italy http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/serendipia/Serendipia-Preti.html 17) Circadian Rhythms Factor in Rapid- Cycling Bipolar Disorder by Ellen Leibenluft , M.D. Psychiatric Times May 1996 Vol. XIII Issue 5 http://www.mhsource.com/edu/psytimes/p960533.jhtml?_requestid=612579 18) Creativity and unpredictability -- Margaret Boden , http://shr.stanford.edu/shreview/4-2/text/boden.html 19) Famous Quotes - Einstein , http://stripe.colorado.edu/~judy/einstein/famous.html