Book Review
'On Creativity' is a collection of five essays covering topics ranging from creativity and imagination to science and order, authored by renowned 20th century philosopher and theoretical physicist David Bohm.
1) On creativity - Bohm starts off his book by taking on one of the most ambitious and formidable questions in the history of human thought : What is creativity? He begins by taking the case of a scientist, and talks about how conventional thinking suggests that scientific creativity is only contained in the invention of new machines and in the derivation of mathematical formulae. He questions this popular definition of creativity and appends it by saying that the juice of scientific creativity lies in the discovery and perception of order in the universe. At this point, Bohm challenges the notion of the very existence of disorder. "What is commonly called 'disorder'", he writes, "is merely an inappropriate name for what is actually a certain rather complex kind of order that is difficult to describe in full detail."(A statement that clearly reflects Bohm's unorthodox views on Quantum Mechanics.)
All problems and confusion arise, then, not from disorder, but from a clash of different orders unable to work together. In other words, a breach in 'harmony'. The solution to this lies in a deep and penetrating human insight that stretches far beyond memory and knowledge accumulated over the years. According to Bohm, this insight cannot be reached by thought. The source of this insight, he then reasons, must be complete attention to the entire movement of thought. Readers familiar with the Krishnamurti-Bohm correspondences will clearly see K's influence on Bohm's thought here. He concludes the essay by saying that the act of perceiving this movement is the birthing ground of true originality and creativity, which go far beyond the limited fields of science and art, and concern human society as a whole.
[To be continued]
[To be continued]
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