Creativity: The Magic Synthesis

Creativity: The Magic Synthesis

What exactly is creativity? What occurs - psychologically and neurologically - during the creative process? Can creativity be cultivated? If so, how? Dr. Silvano Arieti - the world-renowned psychiatrist and winner of the 1975 National Book Award in Science for his magisterial "Interpretation of Schizophrenia" - confronts these questions as he draws upon more than 25 years of clinical and research experience to provide us with a unique description of what actually happens in the human mind during the process of creativity. Writing with his customary grace and clarity, he helps us to see creativity as truly a "magic synthesis" - a binding together of the primitive, irrational forces of the unconscious with the logical, rational, and cognitive mechanisms of the conscious mind. Dr. Arieti draws his examples from great achievements in poetry, painting, music, religion, science, and philosophy to illuminate the many facets of the creative process. In addition, he offers fascinating insights into the personality of the creative individual, the effects of mind-altering drugs, and the relations of psychopathology to creative work. Of particular interest is his explication and analysis of the nine positive social factors that make for a society in which creativity is valued and fostered - and his application of this understanding to our educational system. A modern classic, this book gives us a new appreciation of creativity, that little understood but distinctly human quality, and of how it can be nurtured in all of us.