Creativity

Creativity

The walls of the Louvre are covered with artistic masterpieces, widely recognized as some of the most treasured, creative works known to man. The unique stroke of a brush or the layering of paint can distinguish these geniuses from the masses. Despite the ability to label these pieces of art as especially creative, it remains unclear how one can truly qualify the defining characteristics of creativity. This faculty is commonly viewed as intangible, as `a spark of creativity,' or, `a flash of creativity.' This phenomenon, which lies at the foundation of our artistic culture, eludes our current grasp of understanding. For some, creativity rests within our human nature as an integral part of our being, for others, it may emerge from the great mechanical complexity of our brains, or the randomness of the universe. In recent years there have also emerged visual and literary works by computers which some experts believe to have a creative nature. This controversial idea causes unease in many that characteristics we commonly assume to be innately human could manifest in a machine. However, after viewing the works created by computers, it becomes necessary to consider the possibility of such creative ability whether or not the works themselves are creative.

Though one can find examples of human creativity in nearly all aspects of life, perhaps it is most clearly evident in our literature. The thoughtful combination of words can express the gauntlet of human emotions and experiences aptly, and in the most talented of authors, can breathe life into the words and seemingly recreate the experiences in the mind of the reader. Notable and critically praised author James Joyce provides an example of this in his work Ulysses:

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...uture computer which could paint like Monet, or have faith in a machine to effectively speak to the emotions of a human. However, technological innovations continually astound us, and it is no less plausible that a computer could function at this level of creativity, than one hundred years ago to imagine men landing on the moon.

Works Cited

Boden, Margaret. The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanics. London; New York: Routledge, 2004.

Faulkner, William. The Sound and the Fury. New York: Random House, 1984.

Hofstadter, Douglas. Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies. New York: Basic Books, 1995.

Joyce, James. Ulysses. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Picard, Rosalind. Affective Computing. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1997.

Singer, Irving. Feelings and Imagination: The Vibrant Flux of Our Existence. Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 2001