The Creative Mind

What do we mean by the ‘creative mind’? Generally speaking, it is the mind that generates novel solutions to problems.

Throughout human history, we have encountered particularly creative minds such as that of Mozart, Leonardo daVinci, Einstein, Poincare, Archimedes and Coleridge.

There are some really interesting things about the creative experience. Most creative solutions, for instance, are generated when a person is not consciously working on the problem. Instead, they are generated when the person is focused on something else.

This is somewhat contrary to what most people assume which is that creative solutions occur when the person is at rest. In fact, it is almost a necessary condition that the person is preoccupied with a different subject but that there needs to be a subject of focus rather than a so-called ‘resting’ state.

Another interesting thing about the creative experience is that the solution tends to be the result of information coming together from previously uncoupled or dissociated knowledge domains, which is one of the reasons for the novel nature of the solution.

A common misconception about the creative process is that the creative solutions appear to come ‘out of nowhere’ with the implication that one cannot assist or predispose oneself toward a creative solution. What has been observed, however, is that people who have a wide range of expertise tend to be more creative in their thinking probably because they have a wider and deeper knowledge base to draw upon.

It is observed that by giving a problem a lot of thought, creative thinkers keep exploring and deepening their knowledge base, encouraging more information to come into more frequent contact. When the thinker then turns their attention to another subject, the information is given greater freedom to interact thus giving rise to the so-called creative solution.

Have you had a creative experience? How does it compare with what you’ve read here?

What is the mind?

According to Western Psychology, the mind is considered a processing system which enables a person to interact with his/her environment.

Although psychologists cannot directly observe the mind, no more than scientists can directly observe electrons and quarks, like scientists, they make deductions and form conclusions about the mind by observing behaviour. In other words, if you want to find out about your mind, you should observe your behaviour. It will give you clues to how you’re thinking and why.

The mind is often differentiated into 'conscious' and 'unconscious' or 'subconscious' states. It is said that the conscious mind or mind-state accounts for only about 5% of your mind while the subconscious accounts for the remaining 95%.

Conscious states have a quality of 'real-time' awareness about them. For instance, as you drink your coffee, you are aware that you are drinking your coffee and of all the different sensations, thoughts and emotions you are experiencing as your drink your coffee.

Unconscious or subconscious states correspond to states in which you lack awareness. Thus sleeping and dreaming while you're asleep, or while you are under general anesthetic are often considered states in which the unconscious or subconscious states prevail.

According to Eastern Psychology, primarily Buddhist Psychology, the mind is described as having certain qualities. For instance, the mind is said to be luminous and radiant, non-physical and limitless. The mind is also said to be of two kinds – the conceptual mind by which a person interacts with his/her environment but which has a mistaken sense of reality and the non-conceptual mind which is capable of penetrating the nature of reality, of knowing ultimate truth.

You might ask how Buddhism claims to know these things about the mind. Well, the practice of meditation, which is the practice of awareness, appears to reveal these qualities of the mind.

Have you ever thought about the nature of your mind and what it is capable of?