HOW
CREATIVITY
DEVELOPS
Deciduous forests and coral reefs; ant hills, butterflies and flocks of birds; hummingbirds; elephants.
How creative nature is! And yet, as naturalist Charles Darwin explained to us, such marvels could happen absolutely spontaneously through random change combined with natural selection and competition. This simple combination, he said, can create spontaneous creativity.
He got that right, but the explanation does not reveal from where the winner’s strength typically comes. In this section, we shall look at the fundamental drivers of spontaneous creativity and success, and at how they helped create civilisation. We shall also study a number of the (often surprising and amazing) effects creativity has had on civilisation, culture and life. And as we do that, we will stumble upon the key to civilization.
When creativity began
The taming of life
The dynamics of ideas