Creating Minds

HowardGardnerchangedthewaywethinkaboutintelligence.InhisclassicworkFramesofMind,heunderminedthecommonnotionthatintelligenceisasinglecapacitythateveryhumanbeingpossessestoagreaterorlesserextent.Nowbuildingontheframeworkhedevelopedforunderstandingintelligence,Gardnergivesusapathbreakingviewofcreativity,alongwithrivetingportraitsofsevenfigureswhoeachreinventedanareaofhumanendeavor.Usingasapointofdeparturehisconceptofsevenintelligences,rangingfrommusicalintelligencetotheintelligenceinvolvedinunderstandingoneself,GardnerexaminessevenextraordinaryindividualsSigmundFreud,AlbertEinstein,PabloPicasso,IgorStravinsky,T.S.Eliot,MarthaGraham,andMahatmaGandhieachanoutstandingexemplarofonekindofintelligence.Understandingthenatureoftheirdisparatecreativebreakthroughsnotonlyshedslightontheirachievementsbutalsohelpstoelucidatethemodernerathetimesthatformedthesecreatorsandwhichtheyinturnhelpedtodefine.Whilefocusingonthemomentofeachcreatorsmostsignificantbreakthrough,Gardnerdiscoverspatternscrucialtoourunderstandingofthecreativeprocess.Notsurprisingly,Gardnerbelievesthatasinglevarietyofcreativityisamyth.Buthesuppliesevidencethatcertainpersonalityconfigurationsandneedscharacterizecreativeindividualsinourtime,andthatnumerouscommonalitiescolorthewaysinwhichideasareconceived,articulated,anddisseminatedtothepublic.Henotes,forexample,thatitalmostinvariablytakestenyearstomaketheinitialcreativebreakthroughandanothertenyearsforsubsequentbreakthroughs.Creativepeoplefeatureunusualcombinationsofintelligenceandpersonality,andGardnerdelineatestheindispensableroleofthecircumstancesinwhichanindividualworksandthecrucialreactionsofthesurroundinggroupofinformedpeers.Hefindsthatanessentialelementofthecreativeprocessisthesupportofcaringindividualswhobelieveintherevolutionaryideasofthecreators.Andhedocumentsthefactthatextraordinarycreativityalmostalwayscarrieswithitextraordinarycostsinhumanterms.