---
abstract: "Creativity may be a trait, a state or just a process defined by its products. It can be contrasted with\r\ncertain cognitive activities that are not ordinarily creative, such as problem-solving, deduction,\r\ninduction, learning, imitation, trial-and-error, heuristics and \"abduction,\" however, all of these can be\r\ndone creatively too. There are four kinds of theories, attributing creativity respectively to (1) method,\r\n(2) \"memory\" (innate structure), (3) magic or (4) mutation. These theories variously emphasize the role\r\nof an unconscious mind, innate constraints, analogy, aesthetics, anomalies, formal constraints,\r\nserendipity, mental analogs, heuristic strategies, improvisatory performance and cumulative\r\ncollaboration. There is some virtue in each, but the best model is still the one implicit in Pasteur's\r\ndictum: \"Chance favors the prepared mind.\" And because the exercise and even the definition of\r\ncreativity requires constraints, it is unlikely that \"creativity training\" or an emphasis on freedom in\r\neducation can play a productive role in this preparation. \r\n"
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creators_name:
  - family: Harnad
    given: Stevan
    honourific: ''
    lineage: ''
date: 2007
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datestamp: 2001-06-19
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editors_name:
  - family: Cohen
    given: Henri
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  - family: Stemmer
    given: Brigitte
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keywords: "creativity, Pasteur's dictum, novelty, problem solving, deduction, induction, learning, imitation, heuristics, abduction, mind structure"
lastmod: 2011-12-04 17:38:47
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publication: 'Consciousness and Cognition: Fragments of Mind and Brain'
publisher: Rodopi
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rev_number: 13
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status_changed: 2011-12-04 17:38:47
subjects:
  - cog-psy
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title: 'Creativity: Method or Magic?'
type: bookchapter
userid: 63
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