What it takes to be a genius: nine essential and contradictory ingredients.What does it take to be a genius? A high score on an IQ test? Brilliant physicist Richard Feynman's IQ was too low for member
"Genius 101 makes for a great read on a centuries-old scientific puzzle - as well as a lively text on the wellsprings and manifestations of genius." Teresa M. Amabile, PhDThe Edsel Bryant Ford Profess
In this path-breaking work, Dean Keith Simonton examines a range of important personalities and events that have influenced the course of history. He discusses how people who go down in history might
How can we account for the sudden appearance of such dazzling artists and scientists as Mozart, Shakespeare, Darwin, or Einstein? How can we define such genius? What conditions or personality traits s
What does it take to make a great motion picture? What do we even mean by cinematic greatness? What is more important: movie awards, critical acclaim, or box office success? Who has the biggest impact
Psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, historians - and even scientists themselves - have often tried to decipher the basis for creativity in science. Some have attributed creativity to a special logic, the so-called scientific method, whereas others have pointed to the inspirations of genius or to the inevitable workings of the zeitgeist. Finally, some have viewed scientific breakthroughs as the product of chance, as witnessed in the numerous episodes of serendipity. Too often these four alternative interpretations are seen as mutually exclusive. Yet the central thesis of this book is that the chance, logic, genius, and zeitgeist perspectives can be integrated into a single coherent theory of creativity in science. But for this integration to succeed, change must be elevated to the status of primary cause. Logic, genius and the zeitgeist still have significant roles to play but mainly operate insofar as they enhance, or constrain the operation of a chance combinatorial process.
Psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, historians - and even scientists themselves - have often tried to decipher the basis for creativity in science. Some have attributed creativity to a special logic, the so-called scientific method, whereas others have pointed to the inspirations of genius or to the inevitable workings of the zeitgeist. Finally, some have viewed scientific breakthroughs as the product of chance, as witnessed in the numerous episodes of serendipity. Too often these four alternative interpretations are seen as mutually exclusive. Yet the central thesis of this book is that the chance, logic, genius, and zeitgeist perspectives can be integrated into a single coherent theory of creativity in science. But for this integration to succeed, change must be elevated to the status of primary cause. Logic, genius and the zeitgeist still have significant roles to play but mainly operate insofar as they enhance, or constrain the operation of a chance combinatorial process.
Dean Keith Simonton developed a theory of scientific genius called chance-configuration theory that accounts for mental processes and behaviors behind the creative act, including intuition, incubation, and serendipity as well as the cognitive and motivational styles of great scientists in terms of a personality typology. Simonton examines the causes and consequences of exceptional productivity: individual differences in lifetime output, the functional relation between age and achievement, the probabilistic connection between quantity and quality, and such issues as the Ortega hypothesis, the Yuasa phenomenon, and Planck's principle. Other factors that he examines are family background, education, role models, marginality, and the zeitgeist. A concluding chapter outlines the broader implications of the theory for the measurement and encouragement of genius in science, and places it in the context of the alternative metasciences – the philosophy, sociology, and psychology of science
What it takes to be a genius: nine essential and contradictory ingredients. What does it take to be a genius? A high score on an IQ test? Brilliant physicist Richard Feynman's IQ was too low for mem
Ever since motion pictures first landed on screen, there have been many key questions that the studios and movie watchers have tried to answer. What makes a movie an Oscar winner? How does one movie b
