Customer Reviews

Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity as Seen Through the Lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi

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Many have written about creativity, but few have considered creativity in the context of a cognitive model. Professor Gardner has added greatly to my understanding of what creative people's lives are like, by focusing on people from a variety of fields (from politics, to dance, to music, to physics, to poetry). A key lesson for me was that creativity can cause problems for the creative person. Having seen some of the bad habits outlined in this book, we can each see how we can become more creative and also avoid some of the pitfalls. Clearly, creativity can become an obsession, since it turns out to be so pleasurable to creative people. Creative people would clearly benefit from a series of questions that prompt them into considering the relevance and approriateness of their lives. I especially liked how Professor Gardner suggested what additional research should be done. I hope someone is working on these questions, now. I am a business person, and did not expect to learn much that would help in business. I was happily surprised to find that I did. An important lesson is that creative people need the right kind of emotional and social support in order to be most effective in not only creating more, but also in making their creations more useful for us all. I also recommend CREATIVITY IN CONTEXT and CORPORATE CREATIVITY, as good books for business people to read on the subject of creativity.

Howard Gardner is a leading writer and educator who developed the theory of 'Multiple Intelligence'. I have read most of what he has written, and I found this to be one of the more enjoyable and accessible books. What makes this a powerful book is that it takes his theoretical concept (Multiple Intelligence), and explores it from the perspective of renowned individuals who creatively exhibited a specific intelligence style.

Gardner's theories are groundbreaking and this book is a great introduction, but also don't miss his seminal work in this area (Multiple Intelligence). I have had two children that have participated in multiple intelligence programs in school, and the results of those programs have been outstanding. I truly believe that if the concept that his work explored were deployed throughout our educational institutions that we would have many more "learners" as opposed to students.

As the author of Aha! - 10 Ways To Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas, I was deeply influenced by Gardner's work. I believe that anyone who wants a better understanding of how learning styles and can impact the creativity of an individual will gain much from "Creating Minds."

This is one of the most enjoyable as well as one of the most informative books I have read in recent years. I have long admired Gardner's work, especially his research on multiple intelligences which he discusses in other works such as Intelligence Reframed (2000), Frames of Mind (1993), and Multiple Intelligences (also 1993). As Gardner explains in the Preface, this volume" represents both a culmination and a beginning: a culmination in that it brings together my lifelong interests in the phenomena of creativity and the particulars of history; a beginning in that introduces a new approach to the study of human creative endeavors, one that draws on social-scientific as well as humanistic traditions." Specifically, this "new approach" begins with the individual but then focuses both on the particular "domain," or symbol system, in which an individual functions and on the group of individuals, or members of what Gardner calls the "field," who judge the quality of the new work in the domain.

This is the approach he takes when analyzing the lives and achievements of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi. Throughout the book, Gardner makes brilliant use of both exposition (e.g. analysis, comparison and contrast) and narration (especially when examining causal relationships of special significance) to reveal, explain, and evaluate each of the seven geniuses.

Gardner sets for himself several specific objectives:

* "First, I seek to enter into the worlds that each of the seven figures occupied during the period under investigation -- roughly speaking, the half century from 1885 to 1935."

* "In so doing, I hope to illuminate the nature of their own particular, often peculiar, intellectual capacities, personality configurations, social arrangements, and creative agendas, struggles and accomplishments."

* Also, "I seek conclusions about the nature of the Creative Enterprise writ large. I believe that if we can better understand the breakthroughs achieved by the individuals deliberately drawn from diverse domains, we should be able to tease out the principles that govern creative human activity, wherever it arises."

* Finally, "I seek conclusions about the sparkling, if often troubled, handful of decades that I term `the modern era'...Such a selection [of the seven during the half-century period] allows me to comment not only on [their] particular achievemnents...but also on the times that formed them, and that they in turn helped to define."

Gardner achieves all of these objectives while somehow maintaining a delicate balance between respecting (indeed celebrating) individual genius and explaining the relevance (to each of the seven) of three relationships which are common to them all: the relationship between what he calls the "child" and the "master" throughout human development; the relationship between an individual and the work in which he or she is engaged; and finally, the relationship between the individual and other persons in his or her world.

Of special interest to me is Gardner's acknowledgment that two themes emerged during the course of his research for this book which he had not anticipated when he began. Citing a "confidant" relationship with Fleiss from whom Freud received "sustenance" when he needed it most, Gardner gradually realized that a relationship of this kind, "far from being an isolated case," represents the "norm" among the other six. Besso played much the same role for Einstein, Braque for Picasso, the Diaghilev circle for Stravinsky, Pound for Eliot, Horst for Graham, and Anasyra Sarabhai for Gandhi.

Gardner cites what he calls "the Faustian bargain" as the second theme which emerged unexpectedly during his research. This subject is much too complicated to be summarized in a review such as this. Suffice to note now that inorder to maintain their gifts and continue their work, the seven creators "went through behaviors or practices of a fundamentally superstitious, irrational, or compulsive nature," thereby sacrificing normal relationships with family members and friends. "The kind of bargain may vary, but the tenacity with which it is maintained seems consistent." I intend to keep these two themes in mind when I re-read this extraordinary book.

To me, it is of great interest in itself to read about the lives of these seven remarkable individuals. Gardner gives us an account of their lives looking through the window of his theories on creativity. While not 100% convincing in all that he proposes, sometimes resorting to seeing what he wants to see (rather than reporting what he sees), Creating Minds is a valuable attempt at identifying the nature of creativity. I think the book fails to provide a case for the argument that creativity is characterized by "a special amalgam of the childlike and the adultlike." As long as the following question goes unanswered it's only too tempting to rush to conclusions: Do creative individuals retain childlike qualities more than other people, and how exactly do they benefit from doing so? This question epitomizes my general unease with Gardner's study of creativity. If we only look at creative people, how can we understand in which ways and how they stand apart from 'normal people'? Finally, I am not so sure about the significance of that modern era talk.

Howard Gardner has changed the way we think about intelligence. His seminal book, Frames of Mind, introduced the idea that the correct question we should be asking is not, "How smart am I?" but rather "How am I smart?"

It was Gardner who first came up with the idea that there are different kinds of intelligence, and that we have differing gifts in all of them. In Creating Minds, he goes beyond the basic concept that he laid out in
Frames of Mind, by looking at creativity through the lens of these multiple intelligences.

What he tries to do is to illuminate how specific creative geniuses in different fields used different intelligences. On the whole, the book works.

Gardner gives us, in brief, the lives of Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky,
T. S. Eliot, Martha Graham, and Mahatma Ghandi. In each biography, he talks about their particular gifts, especially their "intelligence," using his own framework. This works very well with some of his subject and not so well with others.

It's easy to get a handle on spatial intelligence with Picasso, and musical intelligence with Stravinsky, and linguistic intelligence with Eliot. It's easy to understand how a dancer like Martha Graham has bodily or physical intelligence. But when we move into some other domains, especially the social, things get a bit murky.

The chapter on Ghandi seems to me to be in the book because it was necessary to complete the range of intelligences that Gardner had described. Part of the problem may be that political creators have to mobilize other human beings and creativity in that domain is sometimes is harder to judge and define than, for example, the ability to conceptualize a sculpture or a set of mathematical equations.

I also wish that Gardner had included some comparisons of other contemporaries in the same field in some of his stories. I would like, for example, to have seen Gandhi set against Hitler. Both were effective at mobilizing people, but they pursued very different ends. Or, perhaps we could have set Gandhi against Franklin Roosevelt or Martin Luther King, Jr.

The biggest problem I had with the book, though, was Gardner's definition of creation as lifetime achievement. I'm not sure I'm comfortable, with the idea that the most creative people are the people who work in the same field throughout a lifetime, and make major contributions there throughout that lifetime. That certainly is one kind of creativity and it's well represented and analyzed in this book.

We learn, for example, that most of the creative people studied by Gardner seem to move through their creative life in stages. They spend a decade or so mastering their domain and then producing great work. Then there's another decade or so spent mastering a new aspect of the domain, followed by more creative output.

We also learn about the need for a circle of people around the creative person who provide both support and stimulation. Many times these are the unsung heroes of the genius' career.

There are some things missing, though. There's no discussion of folks who produce creative work in different fields.

There's a good deal to be said for the idea that someone - such as Linus Pauling, recipient of two Nobel Prizes - who changes fields and makes major contributions in more than one field, is more creative than a person who stays in a single field. There's something to be said for the argument that a person who is effective in many areas, but not of genius caliber in one, is as creative as the one-field genius.

Those kinds of reservations lead me to suggest that this is a much more compelling book as biography than it is as psychology. You can, if you choose, forget all of the material about what constitutes creativity and the reference to the multiple intelligences and read each of the main characters' sketches as a short biography and come away with an insight into that person and his or her creative life that you would not have otherwise.

This is a good and illuminating read. It will stretch your mind and your understanding.

This book examines the creative process by reviewing the lives of seven highly creative people. I enjoyed the seven mini-biographies, but the attempts to generalize from them seemed ponderous. Some of Dr. Gardner's generalizations seem overly broad, some don't seem to be universally true even among the seven individuals he studied, and in any case seven cases isn't enough to generalize from with much confidence.

This book reminded me of Eric Erickson's biography of Gandhi, which I read years ago with great interest. Erickson's theories about the life cycle and how it applied to Gandhi's life were more satisfying to me than Gardner's generalizations.

There is an excellent 1955 film (Le Mystere Picasso) that shows time-lapse photography of Picasso's work in progress. The film helped me to feel better about my own frequent revisions when writing. It is available on DVD from a French company, Cinestore.com.

I found this book to be a very interesting read. As a public educator, I a enjoy books that take me out of the framework or box that I view the learning process. Creative Minds made me examine and understand the creative process over a span of a lifetime and mentally note the types of blockers in the early lives of these extraordinary individuals. The book also emphasized for me the differing intelligences in the human race and the conditions necessary for creative breakthroughs. Creating Minds is an excellent reflective read for public educators

This book focuses on the lives of many significant artists. It provides insight to their life experiences which helps clarify some of the idiosyncracies displayed by the artists. This collection of stories is well worth reading

....too bad Gardner could not have included an examination of another of my favorites, Henry Miller, in his study, but this, I have found, is an exceptional work if only for the author's ambition.

Here, Gardner wanted to show similarities or differences the Modern Era (1885-1935) had on seven popular figures in the world of art, science, world affairs. Each of these folks came to thier idea(s) in their chosen fields of endeavor because each field had apparently bottomed, exhausted, became the same stuff warmed over and new forms of said fields had been created by these folks by destroying and or simplifying old tenets, and the well worn rules. Gardner also pursues how characteristics of these 7 folks (ill-defined probably in the sense that not many of the contemporaries of that time or the so called normal folks could detect anything nessesarily unusual about these guys and gal) came to gel into the genius we all know and love.

Each were standoff-ish folks who Gardner defines as "marginal personalities"...or people who knew how to marginalise thier out put in order to get to something different and original. This I found was akin to the theory artist having to go thru suffering in order to produce their works. Each had at least one magnum opus--Eliot, "The Waste Land"; Einstein, the Special Theory of Relativity; Picasso, Guernica; Stravinsky, "The Firebird Suite", and so on. Each had at least one friendly foe--Eliot had Pound,
Picasso had Braque, Einstien had Pauli, and so forth. Each made what can be described as a Faustian Bargain. (Hmmmm...) Each person is highlighted by a great biography/history put together in easily accessible writing and stunning detail. Meaning that the bios ain't just dry textbook style writing. This, if for nothing else, is in my opinion why this text will become a valuable addition to anyones library. However, I am left unconvinced that the advent of the Modern Era had much to do with these creative folk create. In spite of his compelling summary and final chapters...but, maybe there is something to the Faustian Bargain making.

My overall impression has always been that in some kind of some mass destruction like say for instance, war and plague and poverty and drug infestation and the like, someone arises from the rubble to either voice human concerns or create that voice that touches on the universal concern. That is one great reason why these folks are compelled to create what they do end up creating.

There is also the Factor Unwritten that is unique to each but cannot and will not be easily defined. Whether this is part of the Bargain, I, of course, cannot say.

And although the era Gardner speaks of seems like a fertile time, history may show that people rising from the dregs to create the divinely inspired creation occurs more than is let on. (Maybe that is another reason why this is an important work, who's to say?) My opinion, and this is to no way belittle or deny the greatness of any of these creators and creations, the best creators have yet to be born. Gardner here, however, has put together a very good study of creators and creative mind. Get it and refer to it often. (By the way, I stumbled on it because I am a big TS Eliot person and the bio section was recommended to me by a professor in these parts.)

This is Howard Gardner's masterpiece. It is a fantastic journey into the hearts and minds of these seven geniuses. Each person covered is brought to life by the author in his analysis of their accomplishments. He wanted to know in a scientific type fashion - what made them special and how were they able to accomplish the success in their lives? Each of these geniuses also contributed to our world in a positive way, which makes the book more uplifting. All of Gardner's books are excellent, but his own creativity is the most apparent in CREATING MINDS.