invention and genius
Invention depends on two processes. The first generates a collection of alternatives, the other chooses, recognising what is desirable and appears important among that produced by the first. What one calls “genius” is much less the contribution of the first, the one that collects the alternatives, than the facility of the second in recognising the value in what has been presented, and seizing upon it.
Paul Valery as translated by Bill Buxton
I could not agree more.
People say we live in an age of data, but data deluge has been with us since the inception of life. Reality constantly bombards us with incalculably large amounts of data. Success of a species is directly determined by how well its members can filter this bombardment for the purpose of survival. Put in the words of Paul Valery, genius is built into life.
Similarly, there are two sources of creativity: Cross-fertilisation and isolation.
Our current super-social, impatient generation is utilizing more of the former. Locations where different cultures and ethnicities interact have become hot spots. Co-working spaces, meet-ups, conferences have multiplied. But, as Paul Valery remarks, cross-fertilisation represents the inferior part of the creative process. It exposes people to others' ideas and lets them see what other variations are composed on the same themes. The real genius lies in isolation where most of the selection and synthesis processes occur.
Sooner or later we will cross-fertilize ourselves to homogeneity. Then we will need to turn to isolation as our source of creativity. Groups and individuals will severe ties with each other and continue their explorations independently. Being a loner will again be back in fashion.
Of course this cycle will repeat itself... But without a sustained period of isolation, cross-fertilization can never work out its magic. Today we need another Galapagos Island, not another merging of continents via tectonic movements.
