Creativity: Beyond the Myth of Genius [Paperback]

Robert W. Weisberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1993

In the first edition of "Creativity", Robert Weisberg offered an approach for organizing a broad range of phenomena, unified and fragmented psychological literature on creativity, and linked it with recent research on cognitive processes. Now, in "Creativity: Beyond the Myth of Genius" Weisberg has thoroughly revised and expanded this work into a wide-ranging investigation of the nature and development of creative thought. The new book offers an analysis of the relation of "ordinary" thinking to "creative" thinking, including computer modeling of thought, and an examination of the creative proccsses that led to important mechanical inventions, scientific discoveries and works of art. From the author's perspective, the creativity of the "genius" has its roots in the same thought processes that underlie everyday actions and ideas. An inquiry on the topic, "Creativity: Beyond the Myth of Genius" should be useful to students interested in creativity, critical reasoning, problem solving or cognition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: W H Freeman & Co (Sd); 2nd edition (January 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716723670
• ISBN-13: 978-0716723677
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #741,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genius is a 3-part recipe, June 20, 2004

By 

Scott Jensen (Madison, WI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creativity: Beyond the Myth of Genius (Paperback)

Recipe for genius:
1) One part: intellect, i.e., high IQ.
2) One part: motivation/determination, i.e., staying focused
3) One part: immersion in field, i.e., being very well-read on the topic and working in it for at least a decade.

Are geniuses smart? Yes, but, as outlined above, that's only one part of being a genius. Without the other two, one isn't going to have a chance at achieving this level of achievement.

The above is the contention of the author and he makes a very compelling case for it. There are a lot of myths and folklore about what a genius is and he expertly tears down them one after another. There are also a lot of mislabeling of who qualifies as a genius. Being intellectually or artistically gifted doesn't necessarily mean one is a genius ... no matter how gifted a person might be.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone that is a scientist, artist, has a high IQ score, or is a teacher, parent or spouse of any of those three.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to be a genius in six easy steps, April 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Creativity: Beyond the Myth of Genius (Paperback)

Looking at titles that cover 'how to' be creative this book stands out as a sane title amongst the glib 'problem solver' titles that are based on the most 'creative geniuses' of all time. The myth of genius, within this publication, tends to be dispelled.
Genius - that value of creative thought - tends to be more mundane than we expect and perhaps hoped for. Giving up cigarettes isn't easy and there's little reasono that I can see why generating ideas that are creative should be any easier.

This book moves beyond the 'einstein' thinking to show how solid understanding formed the basis of ideas. How a random word (potatoe) didn't lead to the formulation of the theory of relativity.
A book that anyone who wants to consider the importance of balanced thinking (research, review, etc) has in the place of great ideas.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Evolution of a creative work, June 22, 2006

By 

Michelle Pettit - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creativity: Beyond the Myth of Genius (Paperback)

I would wholeheartedly give this book 5 stars for the fact that it contains something I haven't seen in other books on creativity -- a way of understanding creativity as something we All have in our capabilities and creative works as coming about through an evolution of thought. The evolutionary concept is a Very Valuable one to have -- even Mozart didn't have completed music bestowed upon him by God. Mozart's pieces evolved (maybe more inside his head than on paper compared to many others) and so the myth of magical bestowal of creative genius is slain. The thing is despite the fact that ideas need to evolve in the thoughts of their thinker before they become novels, poems, songs, scientific theories, paintings, sculptures -- and are not given in a lightning bolt from God -- doesn't detract from the fact that there is still something mystical in the practice of creating -- and the poets, writers, artists, and scientists who have found this are the ones who become great, because they can't let go of the process...maybe it could be said are even addicted (at any rate obsessed) Ultimately this book is valuable to understanding the evolutionary process of creative work...but it deflates the power of creative thought into something mundane -- and NEW ideas, new combinations, and creative thought itself is not mundane. Yes, there are years of work -- but the payoff is so attracting and powerful that most writers and artists feel it to be mystical-- and perhaps that is how the myth of the lightning bolt of inspiration has taken hold. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Creativity is still a gift. But it also needs tending. The tone of this book is a too deflating for my taste -- although it gave me good stuff to chew on and another way of looking at creative work.