%A Stevan Harnad
%J Consciousness and Cognition: Fragments of Mind and Brain
%T Creativity: Method or Magic?
%X Creativity may be a trait, a state or just a process defined by its products. It can be contrasted with
certain cognitive activities that are not ordinarily creative, such as problem-solving, deduction,
induction, learning, imitation, trial-and-error, heuristics and "abduction," however, all of these can be
done creatively too. There are four kinds of theories, attributing creativity respectively to (1) method,
(2) "memory" (innate structure), (3) magic or (4) mutation. These theories variously emphasize the role
of an unconscious mind, innate constraints, analogy, aesthetics, anomalies, formal constraints,
serendipity, mental analogs, heuristic strategies, improvisatory performance and cumulative
collaboration. There is some virtue in each, but the best model is still the one implicit in Pasteur's
dictum: "Chance favors the prepared mind." And because the exercise and even the definition of
creativity requires constraints, it is unlikely that "creativity training" or an emphasis on freedom in
education can play a productive role in this preparation. 

%K creativity, Pasteur's dictum, novelty, problem solving, deduction, induction, learning, imitation, heuristics, abduction, mind structure
%P 127-137
%E Henri Cohen
%E Brigitte Stemmer
%D 2007
%I Rodopi
%L cogprints1627

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