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Chapter 7

This document discusses the relationship between aesthetics, creativity, and well-being, highlighting how art and beauty can stimulate positive emotions, aid in personal growth, and enhance healing. It defines creativity as the ability to produce novel ideas and solutions, distinguishing between process and product creativity while outlining the characteristics of genius. The document also explores the traits of creative individuals and geniuses, emphasizing the importance of a supportive environment and intrinsic motivation in fostering creativity.

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Foo Chen Gui
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10 views45 pages

Chapter 7

This document discusses the relationship between aesthetics, creativity, and well-being, highlighting how art and beauty can stimulate positive emotions, aid in personal growth, and enhance healing. It defines creativity as the ability to produce novel ideas and solutions, distinguishing between process and product creativity while outlining the characteristics of genius. The document also explores the traits of creative individuals and geniuses, emphasizing the importance of a supportive environment and intrinsic motivation in fostering creativity.

Uploaded by

Foo Chen Gui
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Part III : Positive States

Chapter 7:
Aesthetics,
Creativity & Genius
Aesthetics
&
Well-being
Introduction
Aesthetics:

The study of the mind and emotions in


relation to the sense of beauty
◦ E.g. Beauty in creativity and the
appreciation of excellence
◦ Eg: Monalisa portrait
• Cave paintings in Lascaux, 12000 – 20000 years old
• Cave paintings in Vallon-Pont-d’ Arc
• Beadwork on leather or cloth, paintings on pottery or
feathers, bones or beautiful stones/phoenix shape
Aesthetics today…
What is the relationship between
Aesthetics
&
Positive Psychology?
Aesthetics and well-being
These objects serve as a stimuli for
positive emotions
◦ Recalling pleasant memories and
experiences
◦ Taking us away (even for a moment)
Aesthetics and well-being

Personal
growth

Aid in
Art healing

Boost
intelligence
Art and personal growth:
 Artchallenges people to view the world,
others and themselves in new ways and
stimulate them to think and feel differently.
◦ E.g.: Avant-garde(unusual) : out of norm (lady gaga)

 Art is necessary for well-being because it :


◦ heighten awareness,
◦ energizes our appreciation of the human
experience
◦ allows a more complete interpenetrating of self and
the world of objects and events.
Art and healing:
Music

 Patients heal faster after surgery


 Cancer patients are helped in the healing
process
 Alzheimer patients remember events from
the past
 Help people cope better with severe pain
 Boost immune system
Art and intelligence:
Music
 Helps children raise test scores
 Increase the size of the brain (corpus collosum)

Other findings:
3 & 4 year olds who play the piano scores 34%
higher on test of abstract reasoning skills than
those who were taught computer skills.

 Childrenwith Attention Deficit Hyper activity


Disorder(ADHD) learn to concentrate better and
control their aggression better after playing games
based on music rhythms
Can tragedy and sadness be
beautiful?

Benefits of experiencing tragedy:


1. Sense of empathy - reminds us of our shared
humanity
2. Learn not to allow such tragedies to occur if we can
do something about it.
3. Allows people to feel certain emotions without going
CREATIVITY
Introduction
Creativity
 The ability to transcend traditional ideas,
rules, patterns, relationships or the like and to
create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods,
interpretations etc
 Originality, progressiveness or imagination

1. The process that produces novel response that


contribute to the solution of problems.
2. Other people must deem those contributions novel.
Tap your thinking skills: where does
creativity comes from?
Types of creativity:

Creativity

Process Product
Creativity Creativity
Process creativity:
A personal and somewhat more
psychological type of creativity
◦ Openness to experiences
◦ Willingness to accept and relish change
◦ Ability to improvise and adapt quickly to
situations
◦ Ability to think in unexpected directions
Product creativity:
Process of finding highly original
and inventive solutions to
problems.
◦ Artistic products
Product creativity:
Small –C creativity
◦ Enhances life with superior problem solving
skills
◦ E.g.: blending of colors, interior design

Big-C creativity
◦ Makes lasting contribution to a field of
study or culture
◦ Associated with genius
◦ E.g.: light bulb, telephone, physics
Measurement:
In general, many people can
recognize creativity when they
see it.
Usually measured in relative
degrees.
Measurement:
Confluence Approach:
1. Intellectual abilities
2. Knowledge
3. Personality traits
4. Motivational style
5. Thinking styles
6. Supportive environment
1. Intellectual abilities
• If creative people are excellent problem
solvers, then their IQ should be high?
• Correlation between creativity and IQ tests
(.10 to .30)

• Moderate range
2. Knowledge:
• One should at least have basic knowledge of
what the “tradition” was like in order to do
something new that differs from it

• Sometimes, a firm knowledge base is not a


requirement
3. Personality
• openness to experience (unconventional)
• flexible in thinking
• tolerance for ambiguity/ outright disorder
• tolerance for frustration
• independent (working alone)
• willing to restructure problems (playing with
ideas, concepts and solutions)
4. Motivational style
 intrinsic motivation (increasing and not
depleting energy)
◦ Working on a creative endeavor may
actually seem to give them more
energy rather than deplete energy
5. Thinking style:
• Convergent thinking
 - various problem-solving strategies converge on a single,
correct answer to a problem

• Divergent thinking
 - ability to think in many different ways, using a number of
strategies
 - may or may not show direct relevance to the solution
initially

 Both convergent and divergent thinking is needed


for creativity.
◦ Divergent to generate ideas
◦ Convergent to come to a conclusion.
6. Supportive environment:
• Family
Heredity -
• Places (i.e Paris, New York)
• Cliques
Creative process:

Incubatio Illuminatio Verificatio


Preparation
n n n
Those who are creative are more
likely to achieve excellence

Those who have achieved


excellence are not necessarily
creative.
Genius
Definition:
 An exceptional natural capacity of
intellect, especially as shown in creative
and original work in science, art, music

 Someone who shows extraordinary


levels of creativity and inventiveness
Who are the geniuses that you know?
Characteristics:
Similar characteristics with people who
achieve excellence

1. Dedicated and committed to area of


expertise
2. Extremely motivated
3. Willing to work long and hard
4. Absorbed in the search of more
knowledge
HOWEVER
Characteristics (cont’d)
Geniuses were found to be:

1. Loners
2. Self-absorbed
3. Extremely confident bordering
arrogance
4. Lousy friends (only made friends when
needed)
5. Faustian bargain - is to be willing to
sacrifice anything to satisfy a limitless desire
for knowledge or power
Are genius people
mentally ill?
1. Excellence is learnt rather than the result of
innate genetic factors

2. Aesthetics exude wonderment and


appreciation of the world

3. Creativity shares most of the characteristics


of excellence but adds certain cognitive
styles

4. Genius builds on the qualities of excellence


and creativity but seems to add an intense
drive to succeed that may involve
willingness to sacrifice even the most basic

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