Comments on: Similarities: Because It’s All Been Done

By: Peter Han

Peter Han — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:31:00 +0000

I get the impression that memory (past experience) seems to be predominant in the act of creativity. I think that in addition to memory, there is a mental workspace that pulls from our various memories and then plays with them in ways that can be highly unpredictable and novel if we are open to incorporating external stimuli into such play. Also, there are heuristics and metaphorical manipulations that enrich such playing with our memories. The manipulations are a vital component of creative output. Thanks for your work on this blog. I find it captivating and rewarding.

By: Chuck Kerr Design » Inspiration: Similarities Flickr page

Chuck Kerr Design » Inspiration: Similarities Flickr page — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:59:34 +0000

[...] friend sent me a link to this article from brainpickings.org (ew?) which is all about artistic swipes — many of which have been [...]

By: Creativity: Inspiration, Innovation, Imitation..? « Drempt

Creativity: Inspiration, Innovation, Imitation..? « Drempt — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 06:11:50 +0000

[...] quote Maria Popova of Brain Pickings, as many of the recent posts on Drempt have been [...]

By: Jonathan Miller

Jonathan Miller — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:12:55 +0000

Hard to read some of these examples as less than outright copies, but often ‘knockoffs’ are less are less outright steals, are subconscious copies or the result of ‘convergence’. More thoughts here: http://bit.ly/aH8ilQ

By: Gwenn

Gwenn — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 18:44:28 +0000

Culture is created by imperfect imitations over time. The imperfections create flaws sometimes, but they can also be innovations!

http://www.gwennseemel.com/index.php/blog/comments/culture_la_culture/

By: Versions: The Purpose and Repurposing of Images | Brain Pickings

Versions: The Purpose and Repurposing of Images | Brain Pickings — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:01:31 +0000

[...] we’re quite fascinated by — from the notion of originality in creation (how similar is too similar?) to the moral tensions of sampling and borrowing. That’s exactly what occupies artist Oliver [...]

By: Before OK Go: The History of Object Chain Reactions | Brain Pickings

Before OK Go: The History of Object Chain Reactions | Brain Pickings — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 01:08:32 +0000

[...] And while we love seeing this historically-fueled cross-pollination of creative disciplines — film inspiring everything from physical interaction design to advertising to music videos — we also think it’s important to understand the roots and origins of things we laud as innovative today. Or else we end up with suspicious similarities. [...]

By: Maria Popova

Maria Popova — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 13:15:33 +0000

Vasant:

Very interesting. I’ve always been a science-grounded cynic, but over the past few months, I’ve gone into Matthieu Ricard’s (French scientist turned Buddhist monk) research – and it’s fascinating. I think the whole theory of consciousness may be the missing link between art and science, bridging causality and creativity – that which causes us to create one thing and not another, see this as beautiful and that as ugly – so you may be on to something.

Besides, isn’t speculation the fundamental backbone of innovation?

By: Vasant Kumar

Vasant Kumar — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:56:05 +0000

Maria – I am a huge fan of your work!

On Creativity – I wonder if cognitive neuroscience will someday confirm what Eastern Mystics have believed – that all that is known and will be known is a stream of consciousness that we become aware of at various times in the continuum of Life. It is certainly a seductive hypothesis that explains Newton and Laplace arriving at Calculus independently for example with no one questioning the integrity of either. Maybe in a Bergsonian sense (Henri Bergson) the brain acts as a valve regulating the access to such a flow of creative consciousness! Just speculating :-)

By: Maria Popova

Maria Popova — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:18:15 +0000

Spoken like a true creator. Right on.