On Tue, 11 May 2010 00:56:52 -0700, Michael Smith wrote:
>Well, if there was an AHA! moment, at least we know it originated near
>your right ear...eh....sort of.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/books/08creative.html
So, which is worse: rank neuroscience research or research on
creativity?
In cognitive psychology courses that I teach, I point out that
the theory and tasks often used in creativity research might be
fun things to do in the lab but are severely lacking in ecological
validity and provide no real insight into what is consider "truly
creative" by a society at any particular time. Indeed, it is the
artful formulaic social artefacts that are often seen as pleasing,
widely popular, and "creative", especially in popular culture where
"re-imagining" of old franchises in movies like "Star Trek", the
Jason Bourne character, Batman and numerous comic book
characters that constitute a large part of contemporary U.S.
movie making serve as example of "successful acts of creation".
In this sense, "Avatar" trumps "The Hurt Locker" even though the
latter may be seen as more creative artistically ("Avatar" is more
of a technical achievement) but financially lacking in return.
Avatar wins because it made the most money not because it
was the more creative work.
A good example from the movies about creativity in the movies
is Robert Altman's film "The Player" which pokes fun at a number
of Hollywood film convention (including the Hollywood happy
ending) as well as showing in its "film within a film" how an
original story is converted into a "commercially viable" movie
(with the persons with the original idea for the movie becoming
corrupted in the process of producing a successful "product").
Altman was a wise movie-maker and used a number of traditional
conventions from the crime/mystery genre to subvert the film
(e.g., the film has a happy ending but only if one isn't too morally
particular).
Additional examples includes how source materials had to be
changed in order to make movies more successful but less creative.
In the movie "Forrest Gump" there is a particular characterization
of Forrest presented but one that clashes with the character in the
novel who spent time as a wrestler (The Dunce) who wore diapers
in his matches. Which treatment is more creative? Which is "safer"?
In the movie "The Natural" Robert Redford plays the ball player
"Roy Hobbes" who astounds in the "feel good" walk-off home run
that wins the National League pennant for the New York Knights.
But read the summary of Bernard Malamud's novel "The Natural"
here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Natural
And compare it to the film version here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Natural_%28film%29
It should be clear why the movie version of the "The Natural" would
turn out to be successful but is a less creative work. Creativity
is truly a difficult concept to pin down because of its dependence on
different values (e.g., artistry, technical prowese, insight, commercial
return, etc.) which will vary across time and places. Vincent van Gogh
is a great example of an artist who's work was not thought of too
highly during his life but after his death his work is seen as being great
and influences the work of many artists; see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh
So, how can it be that something not be thought of as creative or
valuable at one point in time become seen as immensely creative and
of tremendous value at another time? Is being creative and producing
creative works something that can be easily recognized and appreciated
without knowledge of the values driving the creation of the work and the
social context it is being produced in? I don't think so.
Creativity is a very slippery concept and perhaps psychological
research on it has only trivialized our understanding of it..
Or not.
-Mike Palij
New York University
[email protected]
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