tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8729746510565989814.post259484368614099334..comments2010-04-05T18:27:57.583-07:00Comments on Eric Dorfman: The Hunt for Creativity, Pt. 2erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01191918019603653293noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8729746510565989814.post-85886392145994814872010-02-02T14:43:26.931-08:002010-02-02T14:43:26.931-08:00Ah, you answer your own question. The missing ingr...Ah, you answer your own question. The missing ingredient in my spiel is indeed self-awareness. Companionship and need for closeness are not what I would call love, but they are the foundation for it. As Maslow distinguished them in the hierarchy of needs, these things are at lower strata. What self-awareness brings to a foundation of creativity and affection based on survival, allows us to transcend these in a way that most creatures do not, indeed that many humans do not choose to either. Self-awareness is a choice, perhaps THE choice. It takes philos and eros and creates agape. It takes pity and makes it into compassion, sympathy into empathy, envy into aspiration. And because that is how I see the world, that is also how I see God at work within us, although in saying that I don't think that belief in God is either her or there, it's just words and semantics.(And I say that as I don't think this view of God is a common one and certainly not a dogmatically Christian one either)The useful word is really self-awareness. :)MrsC (Maryanne)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14440723067459232998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8729746510565989814.post-64939558427889618242010-02-01T12:08:45.456-08:002010-02-01T12:08:45.456-08:00Thanks, Mrs C, for your interesting thoughts.
The...Thanks, Mrs C, for your interesting thoughts.<br /><br />They raise a few ideas. Who's to say that animals don't experience love for each other? Any way we could describe it can be displayed in the 'pair bonding' of animals. The desire to be together, in-sync behaviours, defending one another, even altruism (pigeons step aside and let their mates have the best scraps). <br /><br />Is a bird building a nest creativity? Well, maybe not. But is building the BEST nest, say to attract a mate, is that? I'd argue it comes from the same innate impulses that ours do.<br /><br />Perhaps a better distinction would be self-awarness (or consciousness). Many people including Darwin have thought about that one. Dolphins certainly have self awareness - it's been well demonstrated. But do dogs? Ants? Dunno.<br /><br />So, my question then - did human creativity God in Man's own image? (sorry to all the faithful) That, of course, doesn't touch whether or not God exists (I'm so not going there). But the need to understand the universe, not only to put it into comprhensible terms but to create for ourselves a safe psychological environment, could well have been behind that process.<br /><br />And, yes, I agree with you - creativity is the process of making anything at all, whether tangible objects or intangible experiences. :)erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01191918019603653293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8729746510565989814.post-52480294285925722652010-01-31T20:01:59.957-08:002010-01-31T20:01:59.957-08:00Interesting posts on creativity, Eric. I have alwa...Interesting posts on creativity, Eric. I have always viewed our creativity as what distinguishes us, along with love, from species who only know survival. Which is predicated on fear. That doesn't mean it isn't an excellent survival trait, and it probably got us out of the trees. To me, creativity is that which has us be 'made in God's image', but that view would have issues, I am sure, for atheists! :) I see creativity also as going beyond the ability to make beautiful objects, words or experiences, it is also about creating our lives, about having choices. You've also got a handle on that aspect of creativity, and thank you for sharing your insights with me. :)MrsC (Maryanne)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14440723067459232998noreply@blogger.com