Abstract
In this chapter we will present a different perspective, by expanding out from this moment in time and embedding it within the other relevant stages of the creative process. When we look at the complete “life span” of a creative insight in our subjects’ experience, the moment of insight appears as but one short flash in a complex, time-consuming, fundamentally social process. It is true that the individuals we interviewed generally report their insights as occurring in solitary moments: during a walk, while taking a shower, or while lying in bed just after waking.
Reproduced with permission from the Nature of Insight, R.J. Sternberg and J. Davidson (Eds.), pp 329−363, Copyright © 1995, MIT Press.
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- 1.
Note the parallels with Mead’s (1934) “generalized other” and with Vygotsky’s (1978) descriptions of how social interactions are internalized to become cognitive processes. Our proposal is consistent with Vygotsky and Mead, particularly the latter’s claim that each distinct social sphere of individual activity will result in a distinct “other”.
- 2.
This anecdote, and those that follow, are based on interviews collected for our ongoing project, Creativity in Later Life, sponsored by the Spencer Foundation.
- 3.
See Martindale (1990, pp. 56–57) for a quick review of theories that include such a dichotomy, starting with Nietzsche’s well-known distinction between Apollonian and Dionysian creativity.
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This research was supported by a grant from the Spencer Foundation.
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Csikszentmihalyi, M., Sawyer, K. (2014). Creative Insight: The Social Dimension of a Solitary Moment. In: The Systems Model of Creativity. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9085-7_7
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