A while back I listened to the book "Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy" by Jostein Gaardner (translated by Paulette Moller). There was one point in the excellent book that I needed to actually read, so I put the book on hold at my library and finally got it last week and found the passage. With your indulgence I'd like to quote it here. 



"Perhaps there is an element of the unconscious in every creative process, for what do we actually mean by creativity?" [asked Alberto Knox].

"I've no idea" [Sophie replied]. "Isn't it when you create something?"

"Fair enough, and that happens in a delicate interplay between imagination and reason. But all too frequently, reason throttles the imagination, and that's serious because without imagination, nothing really new will ever be created. I believe imagination is like a Darwinian system."

"I'm sorry, but that I didn't get."

"Well, Darwinism holds that nature's mutants arise one after the other, but only a few of them can be used. Only some of them get the right to live."

"So?"

"That's how it is when we have an inspiration and get masses of new ideas. Thought-mutants occur in the consciousness one after the other, at least if we refrain from censoring ourselves too much. But only some of these thoughts can be used. Here, reason comes into its own. It, too, has a vital function. When the day's catch is laid on the table we must not forget to be selective."

"That's not a bad comparison."

"Imagine if everything that 'strikes us' were allowed to pass our lips! Not to speak of jumping off our notepads out of our desk drawers! The world would sink under the weight of casual impulses and no selection would have taken place."

"So it's reason that chooses between all these ideas?"

"Yes, don't you think so? Maybe the imagination creates what is new, but the imagination does not make the actual selection. The imagination does not make the actual selection. The imagination does not 'compose.' A composition—and every work of art is one—is created in a wonderful interplay between imagination and reason, between mind and reflection. For there will always be an element of chance in the creative process. You have to turn the sheep loose before you can start to herd them."

 

I really like that last line. Thanks for your indulgence. Read "Sophie's World." It's a very interesting treatise on philosophy, and a really good read.

 

Please note that I do not have permission to quote this work and am not receiving any remuneration in its use.