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Visionary Creativity: How New Worlds Are Born
These are times of turmoil. But times of turmoil can also be times of creativity as we become aware of new possibilities in our arts, sciences, and industries, and of new directions for our lives. Today’s challenges all have one thing in they call out for Visionary Creativity. We flourish in pursuit of our creativity, and it is in creativity that we find not only fulfillment for ourselves, but also the visions our world is calling for. In this profoundly engaging book you will enter the worlds of modern art, current movies and television dramas, new technologies, and cutting edge science. You will see familiar figures examined in surprising musicians, including Mozart, Stravinsky, and the Beatles; artists, including Van Gogh, Picasso, and Warhol; writers, including Twain, Joyce, and Rowling; scientists, including Darwin, Einstein, and Wolfram; and business leaders, including Jobs, Zuckerberg, and Karp. Today’s Visionary Creatives inhabit an emerging world and are driven to produce work that will help all of us to see what they see as we move deeper into the twenty-first century. As Shelley wrote, “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”
310 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 25, 2015
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33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 16, 2015
I discovered John Lobell online a few years ago, while researching the relationship between consciousness and architecture, and I was instantly captivated by the clarity and sweeping vision of his thought. I've been closely watching his site ever since and have accelerated my intellectual development by continuing to read his work and his recommended reading.
Mr. Lobell is a rare visionary with a big-picture, holistic approach to culture. By surveying an extraordinary range of profound ideas on the cultural evolution of humanity, he delivers bold, significant conclusions. I count myself lucky to have found his work and immediately ordered Visionary Creativity when I learned of its publication.
The book does not disappoint. It's an inspiring treatise that defines true creativity, recapturing the term from a mass of gimmicky self-help books. With a deep knowledge and appreciation of intellectual history, Lobell shows how the creative spirit, through punctuated dialogues between the individual genius and the cultural collective, performs revolutionary transformations on humanity, shaking up society and redefining human reality in the process. The book is similar to Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions in its study of large scale paradigm shifts, but it takes Kuhn further, demonstrating how visionary creativity transforms all aspects of culture, including art, science, philosophy, mathematics, and more.
I appreciate the book's optimism. Visionary creativity is essentially hopeful; instead of being overwhelmed by all of the problems of today, it has the power to envision new structures to help us move beyond our sticking points. In this respect, the book echoes Einstein: "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."
A few things I would have liked to see:
*A more developed discussion of visionary creatives throughout history. Lobell provides ample examples of visionary creatives for the reader to understand the term; as a reader, I would have liked the book to go even further and provide a more comprehensive survey of visionary creativity throughout history. This, of course, could be a book in itself, perhaps somewhat like Boorstin's "The Creators."
*A more extensive development of the ideas of 21st-century culture. Lobell offers intimations of a new worldview by summarizing several big theories buzzing around the noosphere and considering their cultural ramifications. I only wish these summaries were more extensively developed and connected, but again that could be material for a book in itself.
*An index would be helpful, as many great minds, ideas, and achievements are referenced in the book.
*I see Lobell is writing a book on visionary creativity's applications in business; I would also like to see a discussion of its role in social transformation, including politics and economics.
An ultimate tribute to the power of the individual to transform the world, this is a vivifying, intellectually-electrifying read for students and creative minds everywhere.
A standing ovation for Visionary Creativity, a book destined to accelerate human development and inspire great minds to comprehend the world of today and lead us into the fantastic world of tomorrow!
Mr. Lobell is a rare visionary with a big-picture, holistic approach to culture. By surveying an extraordinary range of profound ideas on the cultural evolution of humanity, he delivers bold, significant conclusions. I count myself lucky to have found his work and immediately ordered Visionary Creativity when I learned of its publication.
The book does not disappoint. It's an inspiring treatise that defines true creativity, recapturing the term from a mass of gimmicky self-help books. With a deep knowledge and appreciation of intellectual history, Lobell shows how the creative spirit, through punctuated dialogues between the individual genius and the cultural collective, performs revolutionary transformations on humanity, shaking up society and redefining human reality in the process. The book is similar to Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions in its study of large scale paradigm shifts, but it takes Kuhn further, demonstrating how visionary creativity transforms all aspects of culture, including art, science, philosophy, mathematics, and more.
I appreciate the book's optimism. Visionary creativity is essentially hopeful; instead of being overwhelmed by all of the problems of today, it has the power to envision new structures to help us move beyond our sticking points. In this respect, the book echoes Einstein: "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."
A few things I would have liked to see:
*A more developed discussion of visionary creatives throughout history. Lobell provides ample examples of visionary creatives for the reader to understand the term; as a reader, I would have liked the book to go even further and provide a more comprehensive survey of visionary creativity throughout history. This, of course, could be a book in itself, perhaps somewhat like Boorstin's "The Creators."
*A more extensive development of the ideas of 21st-century culture. Lobell offers intimations of a new worldview by summarizing several big theories buzzing around the noosphere and considering their cultural ramifications. I only wish these summaries were more extensively developed and connected, but again that could be material for a book in itself.
*An index would be helpful, as many great minds, ideas, and achievements are referenced in the book.
*I see Lobell is writing a book on visionary creativity's applications in business; I would also like to see a discussion of its role in social transformation, including politics and economics.
An ultimate tribute to the power of the individual to transform the world, this is a vivifying, intellectually-electrifying read for students and creative minds everywhere.
A standing ovation for Visionary Creativity, a book destined to accelerate human development and inspire great minds to comprehend the world of today and lead us into the fantastic world of tomorrow!
June 1, 2022
I've never read this book, but imagine it is filled with stories of Picasso and Steve Jobs and their wild "creative" habits.
In her essay about art criticism, "Against Interpretation,"Susan Sontag says, "In most modern instances, interpretation amounts to the philistine refusal to leave the work of art alone. Real art has the capacity to make us nervous. By reducing the work of art to its content and then interpreting that, one tames the work of art. Interpretation makes art manageable, conformable". I wonder how attempting to interpret what we call "visionary creativity" went for this writer. I wonder if it made him nervous, so he tried to capture it and fit it into a form.
In her essay about art criticism, "Against Interpretation,"Susan Sontag says, "In most modern instances, interpretation amounts to the philistine refusal to leave the work of art alone. Real art has the capacity to make us nervous. By reducing the work of art to its content and then interpreting that, one tames the work of art. Interpretation makes art manageable, conformable". I wonder how attempting to interpret what we call "visionary creativity" went for this writer. I wonder if it made him nervous, so he tried to capture it and fit it into a form.
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