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62 Creativity

both momentous and mundane obligates a theory of creativity to explain both,
and not lose itself in the adoration of the history-changing works of the great
creators.

What Gives Direction to an act of Creation?

Why does a person engaged in a creative project create whatever he ends
up creating? if the creative process moves beyond experience, then there is
an infinitude of possible outcomes. Staring with dismay at a badly function-
ing device, the inventor contemplates the infinite space of possible improve-
ments. Which factors shape his path? Having decided that his current theory
is unsatisfactory, a scientist enters an infinite space of possible novel theo-
ries. Why does his research meander through the labyrinth of nature’s secrets
along one path rather than another? Having decided not to paint the same
old painting once again, the painter enters an infinite space of possible novel
paintings. What factors control the direction of his exploration?
according to a proverb, necessity is the mother of invention, but this
cannot be the whole truth of the matter. Perhaps our caveman forebears
invented the hearth as protection against ice age colds, but this type of
explanation is limited. The brilliant architectural inventions of the medieval
cathedral builders can hardly have been driven by the need of the com-
munity, because those cathedrals served no practical purpose; on the con-
trary, they were a drain on the community, leaving the members with less
resources to attend to their needs. The originators of the French impression-
ist movements might have felt an inner need to paint differently, but this is a
different kind of need from the caveman’s wish for temperature control and
it strains credulity that they needed to paint in the particular style that they
invented. The history of science is dotted with examples of need-indepen-
dent inquiry. Nobody needs to know exactly how the universe began, but
cosmology fascinates. if necessity is the mother of invention, perceived pos-
sibility is the father. individuals who operate at the edge of what is known
discern unexplored possibilities and they pursue them because they desire
to pursue them.
The principles of need and possibility only go so far. They are too gen-
eral to answer specific questions about direction. There are many needs and
many possibilities. Why does this or that creative project unfold along one
path rather than another? a theory of creativity should explain the direction
of creative processes at the level of particular projects.