Creativity1

• Subjective-objective distinction:

  • subjective creativity: you’ve never thought of it/made it/organized it2 before;
  • objective creativity: no-one else has ever thought of it/made it/organized it before

• Example: Ramanujan, brilliant Indian mathematician, re-invented higher math on his own (subjective creativity), and then at university created new proofs (objective creativity).

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1From Arthur Koestler, The Act of Creation, New York: Arkana, 1990.

2Creativity occurs in many spheres of activity; William C. Miller (in Flash of Brilliance, New York: Perseus Books, 1999) identifies seven forms of creativity: thinking up new ideas; making something tangible; producing an event; organizing people or projects; doing something spontaneous; building relationships; and changing your ”inner self.”