Origins of Genius: Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity / Edition 1

by Dean Keith Simonton

Overview

How can we account for the sudden appearance of such dazzling artists and scientists as Mozart, Shakespeare, Darwin, or Einstein? How can we define such genius? What conditions or personality traits seem to produce exceptionally creative people? Is the association between genius and madness really just a myth? These and many other questions are brilliantly illuminated in The Origins of Genius.
Dean Simonton convincingly argues that creativity can best be understood as a Darwinian process of variation and selection. The artist or scientist generates a wealth of ideas, and then subjects these ideas to aesthetic or scientific judgment, selecting only those that have the best chance to survive and reproduce. Indeed, the true test of genius is the ability to bequeath an impressive and influential body of work to future generations. Simonton draws on the latest research into creativity and explores such topics as the personality type of the genius, whether genius is genetic or produced by environment and education, the links between genius and mental illness (Darwin himself was emotionally and mentally unwell), the high incidence of childhood trauma, especially loss of a parent, amongst Nobel Prize winners, the importance of unconscious incubation in creative problem-solving, and much more. Simonton substantiates his theory by examining and quoting from the work of such eminent figures as Henri Poincare, W. H. Auden, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Niels Bohr, and many others.
For anyone intrigued by the spectacular feats of the human mind, The Origins of Genius offers a revolutionary new way of understanding the very nature of creativity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195128796
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/08/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	9.49(w) x 6.40(h) x 1.12(d)
Lexile:	1330L (what's this?)

About the Author

Dean Simonton is Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Davis. The recipient of the Francis Galton Prize, he is the author of Genius, Creativity, and Leadership, Scientific Genius, Why Presidents Succeed, and other books. He lives in Davis, California.

Table of Contents

Preface	IX
1. GENIUS AND DARWIN The Surprising Connections	1
2. COGNITION How Does the Brain Create?	25
3. VARIATION Is Genius Brilliant—or Mad?	75
4. DEVELOPMENT Are Geniuses Born—or Made?	109
5. PRODUCTS By What Works Shall We Know Them?	145
6. GROUPS The Right Place and the Right Time?	199
7. DARWINIAN GENIUS The Future of an Idea	243
Notes	249
References	261
Index	297

What People are Saying About This

Gary Cziko

This book is required reading for anyone wanting to understand the creative power of the human intellect, the power that Darwin himself tapped to change forever our understanding of the evolution of species and our own place in nature. Origins of Genius may be well instrumental in changing forever our understanding of the evolution of creative human thought. (Gary Cziko, Professor AT&T Technology Fellow, University of Illinois)

Howard Gardner

No scholar writing about genius and creativity has the breadth of knowledge of Dean Keith Simonton. His Darwinian perspective is provocative, intriguing, generative and important.

Teresa M. Amabile

A provocative story of how the limited human mind might produce work of astonishing brilliance and enduring value. (Teresa M. Amabile, Harvard Business School)

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

One of the most eminent researchers of eminence has written a very readable, intellectually exciting book about creativity seen from a Darwinian perspective. Anyone interested in what makes some persons stand out and shine will find it fascinating.

Colin Martindale

In this book, Dean Keith Simonton brings Darwinian principles to the question of creativity and genius. He does so with resounding success....Hans Eysenck called Dean Keith Simonton the successor of Charles Francis Galton. With the appearance of this book, we see that he is also one of the successors of Charles Darwin. (Colin Martindale, author of The Clockwork Muse: The Predictability of Artistic Change)

Frank J. Sulloway

Dean Keith Simonton is an undisputed pioneer in the scientific study of history. His latest book, Origins of Genius, supplies yet another original and enduring contribution to the understanding of the creative process. Inspired by Darwinian theory, Simonton has brought together a large body of research on creative genius, and given this research a sweeping new interpretation. Every book that Simonton has previously published produced has been a gem and his Origins of Genius is no exception. (Frank J. Sulloway, author of Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics, Creative Lives)

Editorial Reviews

In Simonton's bold formulation, creative genius--the ability to produce highly original ideas with staying power--is based on a fundamentally Darwinian process that enhances the adaptive fitness of the individual and the human species. In a fascinating treatise leavened with candid descriptions by Einstein, Nietzsche, Mozart, Darwin, Poe, Linus Pauling and many others of their own creative processes, Simonton, a professor of psychology at UC-Davis, argues that creativity can be understood as a process akin to natural selection that leads to the survival of those ideas that prove their hardiness. If that sounds more like a quaint analogy than a real scientific theory, consider that, as Simonton explains, computer programs called "genetic algorithms" that are modeled on Darwinian principles and feature randomly generated strings of ones and zeroes that reproduce "sexually" (that is, each string exchanges a portion of its strand with a mate) are already solving real-world problems such as how to plan fiberoptic telecommunications networks, make forecasts in currency trading and improve oil exploration operations. Similar "variation-selection" programs have generated original art, solved equations and composed jazz melodies. Besides providing his own mathematical model of creative productivity, which will interest specialists, Simonton explores how cultural evolution and environmental influences stimulate the emergence of genius, as well as the links between mental illness and creativity. His dense and at times astonishing analysis of the creative process is likely to generate controversy but also has the potential to influence how we think about the human mind. (July) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

What makes a genius? What factors are responsible for the development of creative scientific breakthroughs? Why does it appear that some scientific discoveries are made simultaneously by several scientists with no knowledge of each other's work? Simonton (Greatness: Who Makes History and Why; psychology, Univ. of California at Davis) attempts to answer these questions as he surveys the research on genius and creativity, examining such contributing factors as cognitive processes, personality, environment, heredity, development, productivity, psychopathology, and sociocultural milieu. Using Charles Darwin as his primary example of creative genius, Simonton draws from the lives of eminent scientists and creative individuals to demonstrate that creativity follows Darwinian principles of selection and variation. This fascinating and intriguing study is recommended for academic and large public libraries.--Lucille M. Boone, San Jose P.L., CA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Simonton (psychology, U. of California-Davis) argues that creativity can best be understood as a Darwinian process of variation and selection. Then he uses that construction to explore the sudden appearances of dazzling artists and scientists, the definition of genius, the conditions or personality traits that seem to produce exceptionally creative people, and the association between genius and madness. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews