rel="nofollow" href="#litres_trial_promo">Chapter 7 explains how feeling part of a creative dyad can nurture invention, whether you are pursuing scientific discovery or discussing aesthetic ideas. Chapter 8 applies these ideas to larger groups.
Chapters 9-11 turn from process to product with a focus on the it. Key themes are the criteria for establishing greatness and the question of which characteristics are universal and which, domain-specific. As in other chapters, examples will be furnished from many fields.
Chapters 12-13 apply systems theory to the creative process. A system, the objective plural, can be supportive or toxic in its influence. In Chapter 12 we will look at “Great Groups” and other institutional teams. In Chapter 13 we will look at systemic forms of support for creativity, such as patronage.
Finally, Chapter 14 will establish common themes and make suggestions while appendices will offer supplementary material such as charts, alternative exercises, and a bibliography.
How to Use This Book
If you are a student, your instructor will probably want to assign some of the exercises for journaling and class discussion. This book may be heavy on theory in some chapters, but you are probably taking this course because you want to apply what you are learning. The exercises are a way to do that.
If you are an instructor in a public U.S. college, you will be concerned about separation of church and state. Accordingly, you will notice that parts of this book deal with spirituality—not to endorse any particular religion but to deal with universal patterns that inspire creativity. If you are hesitant to deal with issues involving transcendence or states of consciousness, you may wish to read the Astins’ study of spirituality in entering college students, summarized at the beginning of Chapter 5. Young people report that they are involved with questions about ultimate concerns and values. In addition, many artists, writers, and musicians feel that their ideas are coming from an “idea-space”4 larger than they are. This theory is called the “idealist” or “causal” view and has commonalities with the Unified Field theories emerging from quantum mechanics and cosmology.
If you are curious about the subject, you may wish to skip the exercises and focus on the chapter explanations. You may also wish to consult some of the additional sources in the bibliography.
If you are a creator looking for inspiration, you will definitely want to practice the ten-step method in Chapter 3. You may also find Chapter 1 interesting in its description of the creative process and Chapter 14 useful in its summary of suggestions. You may wish to study the chapters that pertain most to your field of interest and skim or skip the others. You are also encouraged to try some of the exercises.
For whatever reason you are using this book, I encourage you to contact me. I’d like to hear about your breakthroughs, suggestions, complaints, and ideas.
1Ken Wilber, “The Integral Operating System: An Integral or Comprehensive Map,” (February 19, 2012), retrieved from http://integrallife.com/integral-post/integral-operating-system, 1.
2Ken Wilber, “The Integral Operating System: How It All Fits Together: The Four Quadrants,” (February 19, 2012), retrieved from http://integrallife.com/integral-post/integral-operating-system, 6.
3Ken Wilber, “The Integral Operating System, What Type?” (February 19, 2012), retrieved from http://integrallife.com/integral-post/integral-operating-system, 4.
4Richard Ogle’s term as explained in his book Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity and the New Science of Ideas (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2007).
Introduction
“Imagination is more important
than knowledge.”
—Albert Einstein5
Why Study Creativity?
The International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State, State University of New York, lists “12 solid reasons.”6 Here they are, in bold. (The explanations are mine.)
1.Development of “Your Potential”
The Human Potential Movement, which blossomed in the 1960s, has taught us that being fully human is not just about eliminating pathology but also about reaching our highest potential. As the old army recruiting poster said, “Be the Best that You Can Be.” According to Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy, we fulfill our needs in this order: physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. We must first have air, water, and food; then we need to have a safe place to live; then we need to have friends and/or a group; next we need to feel good about our accomplishments; and at last we need to experience actualization of our full potential. In his later years Maslow added an even higher need: “transcendence,” the need to transcend our narrow identities and expand our awareness. It is with these last two needs in mind that I wanted to write this book. In order to achieve self-actualization and transcendence, we need to maximize our creativity.
2.“Rapid Growth of Competition in Business and Industry”
Thomas L. Friedman sums up this idea succinctly:
If Americans and Europeans want to benefit from the flattening of the world and the interconnecting of all the markets and knowledge centers, they will all have to run at least as fast as the fastest lion—and I suspect that lion will be China, and I suspect that will be pretty darn fast.7
Friedman calls our new world “flat” because technology has connected us and eliminated many hierarchies. Bloggers are competing with standard news outlets. Megacorporations are now competing all over the world, and one entrepreneur with a computer and an idea can compete as well. Friedman says that since the demolition of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and the mid-nineties
