Origins of Genius: Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity [Hardcover]

Dean Keith Simonton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0195128796 | ISBN-13: 978-0195128796 | Edition: First

How can we account for the sudden appearance of such dazzling artists and scientists as Mozart, Shakespeare, Darwin, or Einstein? How can we define such genius? What conditions or personality traits seem to produce exceptionally creative people? Is the association between genius and madness really just a myth? These and many other questions are brilliantly illuminated in The Origins of Genius.
Dean Simonton convincingly argues that creativity can best be understood as a Darwinian process of variation and selection. The artist or scientist generates a wealth of ideas, and then subjects these ideas to aesthetic or scientific judgment, selecting only those that have the best chance to survive and reproduce. Indeed, the true test of genius is the ability to bequeath an impressive and influential body of work to future generations. Simonton draws on the latest research into creativity and explores such topics as the personality type of the genius, whether genius is genetic or produced by environment and education, the links between genius and mental illness (Darwin himself was emotionally and mentally unwell), the high incidence of childhood trauma, especially loss of a parent, amongst Nobel Prize winners, the importance of unconscious incubation in creative problem-solving, and much more. Simonton substantiates his theory by examining and quoting from the work of such eminent figures as Henri Poincare, W. H. Auden, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Niels Bohr, and many others.
For anyone intrigued by the spectacular feats of the human mind, The Origins of Genius offers a revolutionary new way of understanding the very nature of creativity.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What makes an Einstein happen? How is it that some kids grow up to be Nobel laureates while others, seemingly their equals, go on to undistinguished careers? Dean Simonton, professor of psychology at the University of California at Davis, has striven to understand this phenomenon for years and has compiled his insights and research in Origins of Genius: Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity. His evolutionary perspective sheds new light on an old topic, suggesting that the genius is able to generate a diverse range of ideas, recombine them, and choose the "fittest" with which to proceed. These faculties might have a wide range of origins, including both genetic and environmental, and Simonton tries to pinpoint them and their similarities with the etiology of mental illness. His writing style is humble and personable, yet as penetrating when discussing experimental results as it is humane when presenting examples of genius and madness at work. While defining such terms as intelligence and creativity are (and should be) daunting even to a thoughtful psychologist like Simonton, his use of the terms is precise enough to avoid mushy thinking yet wiggly enough to satisfy most critics. His deeply engaging writing coupled with the undeniable, almost urgent fascination that his subject holds makes Origins of Genius a rousing success by any standard. --Rob Lightner

From Publishers Weekly

In Simonton's bold formulation, creative geniusAthe ability to produce highly original ideas with staying powerAis based on a fundamentally Darwinian process that enhances the adaptive fitness of the individual and the human species. In a fascinating treatise leavened with candid descriptions by Einstein, Nietzsche, Mozart, Darwin, Poe, Linus Pauling and many others of their own creative processes, Simonton, a professor of psychology at UC-Davis, argues that creativity can be understood as a process akin to natural selection that leads to the survival of those ideas that prove their hardiness. If that sounds more like a quaint analogy than a real scientific theory, consider that, as Simonton explains, computer programs called "genetic algorithms" that are modeled on Darwinian principles and feature randomly generated strings of ones and zeroes that reproduce "sexually" (that is, each string exchanges a portion of its strand with a mate) are already solving real-world problems such as how to plan fiberoptic telecommunications networks, make forecasts in currency trading and improve oil exploration operations. Similar "variation-selection" programs have generated original art, solved equations and composed jazz melodies. Besides providing his own mathematical model of creative productivity, which will interest specialists, Simonton explores how cultural evolution and environmental influences stimulate the emergence of genius, as well as the links between mental illness and creativity. His dense and at times astonishing analysis of the creative process is likely to generate controversy but also has the potential to influence how we think about the human mind. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First edition (July 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195128796
• ISBN-13: 978-0195128796
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,080,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars perhaps the best book ever written on this subject November 19, 2001

By Richard Greene

Format:Hardcover

This book presents one theory on creativity, but that misleads. It covers another 30 theories along the way, using its one favored theory to knit and mesh, distinguish and fit all the others. Each page contains the same contents as entire other books on the subject (fortunately for this book; unfortunately for the others). I try my best to find faults with the books that I buy but I would be hard pressed to find a single fault with this book. You will learn more about creativity from this book, even if the theory it presents turns out to be wrong, than you will from any other book, I believe, though Sternberg, Amabile, Runco, Martindale, Gruber and a few few others have near competitors so excellent that you would be foolish not to buy their books as well. This book teaches you 30 theories of creativity while presenting its favored one. It is wonderful. Finite limited human beings can do no better.

Some readers might think that this book is too researchy, especially readers looking for how to books on quick and easy creativity methods. Strangely, this book while maintaining all the professional balance and careful definition of any academic work, makes it much clearer what you have to do to become creative than the top 50 how to books combined. I counted an amazing 1100 particular suggestions in this book for how to make someone more creative--that is about 1000 more than any other published how to book and this book avoids the exaggerations, the sales language, and the imbalanced treatment of pros and cons of such lesser books.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, but ponderous, exposition on Genius and Creativity August 23, 2002

By John C. Dunbar

Format:Hardcover

I don't know how the author did it, but he produced a great book that was both ponderous and a real page-turner.

I found this book to be extremely interesting and well-written in detail. But the author could be ponderous in repeating some sub-themes and points.

You will learn a lot about the causes of genius and creativity but you won't walk away with a quick set of techniques to help you on your immediate problem. You will learn an overall approach of what has worked in the past.

His references and analogies to Darwin make the book even better. His references of other readings are also excellent and very detailed.

I really liked his comparison of artistic vs. scientific creativity or genius. One selection from the book that I found very interesting was this one on what makes for greatness in a genius:

"... individual differences in total lifetime output are indeed associated with the degree of eminence achieved. In fact, research has consistently shown that the most powerful single predictor of reputation among both contemporaries and future generations is the person's sum total of contributions. Furthermore, almost all other variables that may correlate with the differnce in fame between individuals do so only because they affect the output of creative products."

The point made in this sub-theme by Simonton was that it was the QUANTITY rather than the just the QUALITY that often was the leading indicator of peer acceptance of genius. If the genius is not stepping up to the plate and taking a lot of swings, he won't go down as a "Babe Ruth." Most of the geniuses studied were single home-runners.

Another thing I liked about the author was an often used approach of revealing a concept, proving it with lots of historical details and studies, then when you were really convinced, he showed you why other studies show why that logic might be flawed. He did this several times in the book, and it was quite stimulating to see the flaws in many people's logic... after you had made the same fatal assumption or mistake.

I highly recommend this book for those interested in the background and causes of genius and creativity. My copy of this book is heavily underlined.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute Must Reading! January 5, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I have read several of Simonton's books and dozens of his scientific articles. This book is without any question his very best. It is absolutely superb! Simonton is always extremely intelligent and awesomely creative. But in his previous works, I sometimes got the feeling that he was racing so fast to be productive that something important was being passed by. But in this extraordinary volume, he seems to have slowed down enough to smell the roses that he himself (as well as other creativity researchers) have flowered, and his careful reflection and superb writing shines in what ranks as possibly the best book yet written on the topic. It is bracingly, jarringly creative, beautifully crafted, highly counter-intuitive, sufficiently well-explained that even a statistical dufus like me can understand, and awesome in its expanse. Anyone who wishes to understand creativity must read this great book.