From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Wed Jan 08 2003 - 03:35:39 MST
On Tue, 7 Jan 2003, Nathanael Allison wrote:
> What causes the first human to put together a pointed rock and a stick to
> form a spear?
Hunger.
> What causes the first human to melt iron and form swords and shields?
Wanting to eliminate the alpha male.
> What causes the first humans to plant crops?
Women wanting to spend less time foraging (???)
> What causes the first human to think of strategic hunting?
The desire to spend less time traveling across the countryside
and more time testing the output quality from the still.
> Human can only learn by assuming that there is a constant and observing a
> change.
That isn't how I "learn". One "learns" through repetition. One "discovers"
or perhaps "creates" through the observation of the unusual. Very creative
people are able to imagine something in their "mind's eye" and then work
through (or create) a process for producing that.
> A society that creates the most new memes will be able to identify more
> variables, which will help to more clearly define what is constant and what
> changes.
Only if you get to experiment with them. Communism would work fine if you
could use genetics to modify everyone so they all *really* had equipotential.
It doesn't work when those bright enough to realize they have more potential
than others are getting the same slice of the pie. In that situation it is
to ones advantage to place ones efforts in creating self-political advantages
rather than technical inventions.
> If you look at history, the societies who properties molded the most usable
> creative minds seem to have certain traits in common. Feel free to add or
> subtract from the list.
I think you are missing something like "5. a technology base for advancement".
For example -- does there exist anyplace in Afghanistan (or pick another
3rd world country) the technology that would allow an inventor to "tinker"
with the architecture of an internal combustion engine? Can you bore out
a cylinder? Can you change the timing on a camshaft? What about creating
a Bose-Einstein condensate where you need milli-kelvin refrigeration
capabilities?
> 1. High Encouragement of Individuality
> 2. Little Social Exclusion
> 3. Shared Social Value Complexes
> 4. Almost No limits of Information
>
> Speaking psychologically do these have an impact on creative thought? Does
> number 4 by itself cause creative thought?
I've seen arguments that "social exclusion" (!#2) might actually drive creativity.
I can cite a very specific example in my life where I changed a "reality"
that could *not* be changed which directly involved social exclusion.
As the saying goes -- necessity is the mother of invention.
I don't think #3 (shared social values) plays much of a role. For the
most part scientists do not have "shared social value complexes" with
the majority in most societies (those brainwashed by religions). Yet they
drive themselves to discover and create. I've had this conversation with
the current director of the Univ. of Wash. Genome Center as well as the
discoverer of the Clock genes. Scientists will tackle the problem because
"it is there" (with little regard for whether the prevailing social values
think it is of use).
Having access to greater information certainly can stimulate creative thought.
How many ideas cross over from science fiction to science fact? But it is
neither essential nor sufficient. It may simply serve to promote the
aggregate quantity of creativity.
> If so, the society that will conquer ours today will have even greater
> extremes of those properties which cause creative thought.
I'd say #1 and #4 are important. Something along the lines of #5 (and
inexpensive access to "play" with the technology base) would be essential IMO.
> Until genetic or other means is used to alter creativity in “humans”.
There is a reasonable amount of evidence that you may not be able
to push creativity very far in humans without pushing them into the
realm of mental instability. That is going to be a very tricky
problem to resolve.
Robert
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