Creativity and Mental Illness Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Creativity and handstal IllnessMen have c each(prenominal)ed me mad, but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence--whether much that is glorious--whether all that is profound--does not spring from disease of judgment--from moods of straits exalted at the expense of the general intellect. Those who dream by mean solar day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night - Edgar Allen PoeWhen you are insane, you are busy being insane - all the time... When I was crazy, thats all I was. - Sylvia Plath Is creative genius somehow twist together with madness? According to the dictionary, to create is to bring into being or form out of nothing. Such a powerful, mysterious, and even impossible conduct must surely be beyond the scope of scientific interrogation No wonder creativeness has for so long been explained as the reflection of an irrational, intuitive psychic underground teaming with forces (perhaps divine) that are unknown and unknowable (at least(prenominal)(prenominal) to the sane, conventional intellect). The ancient Greeks believed creative inspiration was achieved through altered states of mind such as divine madness. Socrates said If a man comes to the portal of poetry untouched by the madness of the muses, believing that technique totally will make him a good poet, he and his sane compositions never reach perfection, but are utterly eclipsed by the inspired hothead (8). Creative inspiration - particularly artistic inspiration -- has often been thought to require the sampling of dark depths of irrationality while maintaining at least some connection to everyday reality. This dive into underground forces reminds one of a skin-diver with a breathing tube wrote Arthur Koestler in his influential book... ...ard cordial Health Letter, March 1996 http//www.mentalhealth.com/mag1/p5h-cre1.html6) delicate Inspiration and the Brain , Another reception to Dr. Bruce Miller study - FTD & creativity http//www.artsfusion.com/1999/january/awfeaturejan.html7) The Systems View of Life , includes discussion of how creativity is fundamentally built into all living systems -by Fritjof genus Capra, theoretical high-energy physicist and author. Capra studied with Werner Heisenberg at the University of Vienna. He does research at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and lectures at the University of California, Berkeley. http//magna.com.au/prfbrown/capra_3.html8) Amazon.com, To order the book Touched with Fire Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic temperment - by Kay Redfield Jamison http//www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/068483183X/themeadowlarkpre/102-1781957-3733743