Fifi said: "Would it be worth starting a thread on inspiration and the creative impulse? Is anyone else as fascinated by the topic as I am?"
OK, here goes. Just be aware that this is a scientist's take on the beast, albeit one who spends his life with an artist. I'll start by saying what I understand by inspiration and the creative impule: for me, it is the abrupt appearance of an idea, or of an understanding or a realization of a connection that was previously unknown or unexpected. Something like Kekule's aromatic ring / snake dream, like Galileo realizing that Jupiter has moons, or the first Impressionist painting (OK, not a great example, since which one is it? ;).
These inspirations, be they scientific or artistic, have a number of things in common, and I think that those are essential preconditions before inspiration can send one reeling:
1) irritation (as the one that leads to a pearl): there must be an emotional need, something that grates and that requires resolution
2) readiness (preparation, work, transpiration): technique, knowledge, ability, familiarity with the field, where the mind is free to play with concepts without being distracted by, or expending undue effort on, trivial control activities.
3) vocabulary (data base): in order to see links between, or come up with new concepts, a large set of concepts to play with appears to me essential, especially if the insight relies on nuances of existing concepts.
4) combinatorics: the greater the breadth of concepts/ideas that the individual has available, the greater the chance that links can be made between them; I believe that inspiration is partly seeing similarities between concepts, and that simple juxaposition of a large number of (relevant to the problem) concepts can reveal such links.
5) chance: mistakes, typos, scribbles, appropriate images that are around at the right moment to trigger the process
6) openness: the willingness to step out, and try looking at things from a totally different perspective, and to make mistakes
7) slow to the chase: a new concept doesn't always spring fully formed into the mind like an Athena from the forehead. In my experience, there is a prior phase where I feel that something is coalescing, but I can't bring it to consciousness. And also after the fact, the thought is often so fragile that it hardly bears immediate scrutiny, but only slowly takes on a more solid form.
8) a sharp knife: to discard the seemingly brilliant insights from the truly brilliant insights. Bury the former, and appear to leap from genius stroke to divine inspiration ;)
but I'm sure everybody else will have their own angle on this ;)
OK, here goes. Just be aware that this is a scientist's take on the beast, albeit one who spends his life with an artist. I'll start by saying what I understand by inspiration and the creative impule: for me, it is the abrupt appearance of an idea, or of an understanding or a realization of a connection that was previously unknown or unexpected. Something like Kekule's aromatic ring / snake dream, like Galileo realizing that Jupiter has moons, or the first Impressionist painting (OK, not a great example, since which one is it? ;).
These inspirations, be they scientific or artistic, have a number of things in common, and I think that those are essential preconditions before inspiration can send one reeling:
1) irritation (as the one that leads to a pearl): there must be an emotional need, something that grates and that requires resolution
2) readiness (preparation, work, transpiration): technique, knowledge, ability, familiarity with the field, where the mind is free to play with concepts without being distracted by, or expending undue effort on, trivial control activities.
3) vocabulary (data base): in order to see links between, or come up with new concepts, a large set of concepts to play with appears to me essential, especially if the insight relies on nuances of existing concepts.
4) combinatorics: the greater the breadth of concepts/ideas that the individual has available, the greater the chance that links can be made between them; I believe that inspiration is partly seeing similarities between concepts, and that simple juxaposition of a large number of (relevant to the problem) concepts can reveal such links.
5) chance: mistakes, typos, scribbles, appropriate images that are around at the right moment to trigger the process
6) openness: the willingness to step out, and try looking at things from a totally different perspective, and to make mistakes
7) slow to the chase: a new concept doesn't always spring fully formed into the mind like an Athena from the forehead. In my experience, there is a prior phase where I feel that something is coalescing, but I can't bring it to consciousness. And also after the fact, the thought is often so fragile that it hardly bears immediate scrutiny, but only slowly takes on a more solid form.
8) a sharp knife: to discard the seemingly brilliant insights from the truly brilliant insights. Bury the former, and appear to leap from genius stroke to divine inspiration ;)
but I'm sure everybody else will have their own angle on this ;)
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Re: Creatons, slushing through the void, careen into a fertile mind. The genius reels and staggers.
Wed, May 7, 2008 - 3:33 PMI think my idea of inspiration is very different from yours! When I think of inspiration, it is devoid of planning and despite discipline. There are those who have had no prior experience or training in some things and one day find they are compelled to create something they had not entertained or been trained to do.
Take Howard Finster, for example. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Finster
Sometimes we are inspired by something we see and sometimes we cannot explain it. I don't believe inspiration requires any preconditions other than the will to carry out what you have been inspired to do.
