Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity as Seen Through the Lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, G

by Howard Gardner

This peerless classic guide to the creative self uses portraits of seven extraordinary individuals to reveal the patterns that drive the creative process -- to demonstrate how circumstance also plays an indispensable role in creative success. Howard Gardner changed the way the world thinks about intelligence. In his classic work Frames of Mind, he undermined the common notion that intelligence is a single capacity that every human being possesses to a greater or lesser extent. With Creating Minds, Gardner gives us a path breaking view of creativity, along with riveting portraits of seven figures who each reinvented an area of human endeavor. Using as a point of departure his concept of seven "intelligences," ranging from musical intelligence to the intelligence involved in understanding oneself, Gardner examines seven extraordinary individuals -- Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky, T.S. Eliot, Martha Graham, and Mahatma Gandhi -- each an outstanding exemplar of one kind of intelligence. Understanding the nature of their disparate creative breakthroughs not only sheds light on their achievements but also helps to elucidate the "modern era" -- the times that formed these creators and which they in turn helped to define. While focusing on the moment of each creator's most significant breakthrough, Gardner discovers patterns crucial to our understanding of the creative process. Creative people feature unusual combinations of intelligence and personality, and Gardner delineates the indispensable role of the circumstances in which an individual's creativity can thrive -- and how extraordinary creativity almost always carries with it extraordinary human costs.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Education, History, Biography, Philosophy, Art

466 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He also holds positions as Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and Senior Director of Harvard Project Zero. Among numerous honors, Gardner received a MacArthur Prize Fellowship in 1981. He has received honorary degrees from 26 colleges and universities, including institutions in Bulgaria, Chile, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, and South Korea. In 2005 and again in 2008, he was selected by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines as one of the 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world. The author of 25 books translated into 28 languages, and several hundred articles, Gardner is best known in educational circles for his theory of multiple intelligences, a critique of the notion that there exists but a single human intelligence that can be adequately assessed by standard psychometric instruments.

During the past two decades, Gardner and colleagues at Project Zero have been involved in the design of performance-based assessments; education for understanding; the use of multiple intelligences to achieve more personalized curriculum, instruction, and pedagogy; and the quality of interdisciplinary efforts in education. Since the middle 1990s, in collaboration with psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and William Damon, Gardner has directed the GoodWork Project-- a study of work that is excellent, engaging, and ethical. More recently, with long time Project Zero colleagues Lynn Barendsen and Wendy Fischman, he has conducted reflection sessions designed to enhance the understanding and incidence of good work among young people. With Carrie James and other colleagues at Project Zero, he is also investigating the nature of trust in contemporary society and ethical dimensions entailed in the use of the new digital media. Among new research undertakings are a study of effective collaboration among non-profit institutions in education and a study of conceptions of quality, nationally and internationally, in the contemporary era. In 2008 he delivered a set of three lectures at New York's Museum of Modern Art on the topic "The True, The Beautiful, and The Good: econsiderations in a post-modern, digital era."

from http://www.howardgardner.com/bio/bio....

Reviews

[JY Tan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought a copy of this book half a decade ago. It followed me from shelf to shelf, but I was never really able to meaningfully commit to it despite myself keenly knowing nothing in psychology interests me more than creativity for a very long time. Either other books caught my interest more, or I was simply too busy for a book I know would be difficult to read yet important that I finish.

The insufferably obtuse writing aside, this is one of the most thoughtful books I have ever read. Howard Gardner clearly had immense passion for the subject, being able to meticulously create biographies for seven significant figures across different fields of creativity. This can not be a small feat, especially for a psychologist. He was on his search for a robust theory of what allows human beings to create, and via his analysis of these eminent lives he was able to identify certain patterns that allow the most creative minds to stand out. I initially took issue with how being well-accepted as a criterion for creative achievement, but at the same time I had to accept that it was probably the best indicator available. Some of his theories are very intriguing, such as a need for a Faustian bargain, and the need for emotional support throughout periods of low points. I also cannot help but notice the pathological behaviors that plagued their private lives, which hurt many others who helped them along the way. It begs the question if a certain degree of pathological behaviour is neccesary to succeed in a creative discipline, or this was merely the consequence of Machiavellianism driving success during their times.

I have to confess I was mostly lost in most of the chapters. I understood the first chapter of Freud and the final chapter of Ghandi the best, followed by Einstein and Eliot. The developments of Stravinsky, Picasso, and Graham's fields have been skimmed by me regretfully so I did not have deep insight over how their contributions were significant, but I still paid keen attention to their biographical details. I can't say I have gained much from this reading aside from a sense of the immense difficulty of discovering the ingredients that enable human creativity across the fields.

I don't think I can comfortably recommend this to anyone short of a connoisseur of the arts and sciences. However, I am glad I am finally able to pick this book up and close it again for the final time.

[Maica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Howard Gardner provides intimate sketches of these creative individuals who stood out on various domains, while studying their lives in alignment with his theory of Multiple Intelligences. Filled with lots of useful info and insights.

[Ci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly, a comment about the writing style: much space is devoted to the methods of writing this "historical biographic sketches" of several creative people. Depending on a reader's motivation, such preface may be too ponderous to get things started. Also the writing is a mixture of academic analysis and more casual narratives. I consider this book to be "informative" but not "inspiring". Here are some of my book notes:

1. Theme of "marginality". Creative people such as T.S. Eliot had been caught between cultures, "inhabiting" diverse time period, experiencing personal complexity and disturbances. Creativity is associated, at least in some degree, with a certain level of "not-belonging" and dissonance to their time and social sphere.

2. Sigmund Freud: "If repression qualifies as the central idea in the Freudian conspectus, the dream presents itself as the privileged route to an understanding of the processes of the repression and to the psychic life". Hence the masterpiece about "dreams".

3. Einstein -- I skipped this segment for now since I am to read a proper biography.

4. Pablo Picasso -- the constant creating-deconstructing artist of the first rank. Full of wrath and energy.

5. Igor Stravinsky -- the musician for the modern age.

6. T.S. Eliot -- the poet capturing the modern dissonance

7. Martha Graham -- the modern kinetics and aesthetics departure from classic ballet

9. Gandhi -- the political master behind "brahmacharya" (self control) and the political process of non-violence "Satyagraha".

The book's short-coming is that it is dry and largely humor-less.

[J. Robin Whitley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first heard about Gardner's book while reading another book. Gardner was often quoted in the book Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives (0046442072434)by Louise Desalvo. Because of her references I found myself excited about ordering Creating Minds as the next read.

Gardner's book is an important book as he looks at the lives of seven great creators within the Modern Period and their similarities and differences. It is however a very different approach from Desalvo's book. At first I was disappointed because I expected writing more in the vein of Desalvo's. Gardner's approach was analytical rather than writing to encourage personal exploration. Once getting past that (and understanding Gardner's focus on the theory of Multiple Intelligences) I could appreciate it from an educator's point of view.

His summaries of the creators Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi was phenomenal. While I understand his premise, I'm not sure I agree with his conclusions. Perhaps this was because my original hope was to use the book to inspire my own creative mind. As a reader who is 50 years of age, his conclusions came across rather discouraging since he focuses on successful creators making contributions in their twenties.

[mavromou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Si bien siempre disfruto de leer a Gardner, y el libro resulta interesante tan solo considerando la descripcion bibliográfica que hace el autor de las siete mentes creativas en cuestión, esperaba mucho mas del libro. En un momento el autor señala que escribió mucho mas sobre el estudio y que el libro podría haber sido el doble de lago, me hubiesen gustado leer las partes que decidió no publicar. Es decir me quede con ganas de leer mas sobre las conclusiones sobre la creatividad de las personas estudiadas, tanto desde lo cualitativo como de lo cuantitativo.

Sin embargo, es muy interesante el marco que toma para analizar a esas mentes creativas, desde un aspecto mas sistémico y social, dado que ese modelo es el de Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.

Mas allá de todo, el autor cuenta ademas del modelo de referencia para estudiar la creatividad de los siete personajes la estructura de su investigación y las variables consideradas y emergentes que surgieron. Lo que desde ese aspecto también resulta interesante como marco conceptual de referencia para realizar estudios de la creatividad.

[Mark]

Howard Gardner explores such interesting subjects. If only he could write better. I've tried to get back into this two or three times, but the prose is like wet cement.

[Book Lover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic read. Very interesting to hear about the creative minds / thought process, and actions/behaviour of some of the greats. The mix of different creative industries is great. Very relatable!

[Sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad book overall. It basically deep dives into a few key genius personalities that we've been lucky enough to hear about or see or be able to research on in the Internet. I was expecting more insight into their personal lives and a bit more of an insight into what made them the genius that they are, beyond the type of stuff you can just Google and research on the Internet so there were some interesting bits in places but overall it was an OK book at best. It looks at some of the different ways in which people like Gandhi and Einstein and Picasso and TS Eliot and a few others were able to make their mark on the world in such a lasting way and the legacy that they have left behind. Anyway here are some of the best bits from the book:

Freud was impressed by the parallels between the child at play, the adult daydreamer and the creative artist.

Many creative individuals do point with some distress to the restrictiveness of their early childhood: and in the pages that follow I describe parents who are quite strict. Sometimes as a reaction, creative individuals bend too far in the opposite direction in rearing their own children.

The creation of the new vocabulary with its symbol systems and the sketching of schematic diagrams that traced various neural connections and energy fields was also an important endeavour for Freud. He was playing with ideas that could not be readily explained in the technical vocabulary of his time. If he was to avoid misunderstanding, translation of his points into the inappropriate or outmoded concepts, he needed to create his own linguistic and graphic vocabulary through which he could convey his exact meaning. sunny: again another nod in the direction of the importance of creating a new vocabulary and lingua franca that can convey some the brave new words that you want to create concepts behind. Don't wait for the idea to happen or the moment to happen : create the language TO ENABLE the moment or the idea to take place.

Freud wrote almost every night from 11:00 o'clock to one or two in the morning. Even to list his publications from 1910 to 1930 would take several pages. Certainly Freud was true to the 19th century bourgeoisie idea of the tireless worker who occupied himself in some productivity for nearly every hour of the day and berated himself mercilessly whenever he felt that he was slacking off.

Young Einstein exhibited another revealing tendency: he posed gritty questions and then pondered them at length. Severe length. Perhaps most pertinently he asked himself around the age of 16 what it would be like for an observer to move alongside a light wave: would the observer ever surpass the light wave?

Einstein: His gifts of spatial and visual imagination could advance his scientific work. Had the same person being born 20 years later his own talents and worldview might have well proved ill-suited to the demands of quantum mechanical era in which spatial abilities proved less decisive than logical mathematical powers. This was Einstein.

He knows everything but he lacks in experience. Making original creative contribution to a domain emerges as an enterprise quite different from mastering the domain as it has been practiced in the recent past. Here we're talking about Picasso.

Even those who admired his earlier work did not know what to make of his painting: les demoiselles. Reaction ranged from confusion or mystification to downright rage. Only two dealers showed interest. One of them later recalled what I'd like to make you realize at once is the incredible heroism of a man like Picasso, whose moral loneliness was at the time quite horrifying, but none of his painter friends had followed him. Everyone found that picture crazy or monstrous: Picasso described what it is like at such moments when one is taking enormous risks .

On the 26th of April in 1937 German bombers in Franco's army wiped out the town of Guernica , a small market town that had been the ancient capital of the Basque region. This wanton act killed thousands of people who were thronging the streets on market day: it horrified the world and forever branded Franco and his military as inhumane.

Picasso's wife Olga went crazy and died in 1955. His most carefree mistress Maria Teresa Walter hung herself in 1977. His most intellectual mistress Dora Maar suffered a nervous breakdown. His grandson committed suicide by drinking concentrated bleach when he was not allowed to attend Picasso's funeral service. His second wife Jacqueline whom he married in 1961 shot herself to death the night after she had completed the plans for an exhibition of her personal collection of Picasso's works.

As the novelist Marcia Davenport recently expressed it: all the great poets died young. Fiction is the art the Middle Ages. And essays are the art of old age.

Martha Graham: becoming a Graham dancer was hard work. Graham believed that it took 10 years to build a dancer : the body must be tempered by hard definite technique: the science of dance movement: and the mind enriched by experience. Students worked everyday on the torture, becoming muscular and hard and in the process. After 10 years a student could leave the ensemble and join a group of four. Graham commented that it took years to become spontaneous and simple. Ninjinski took thousands of leaps before the memorable one.

Like other modern Masters I'm considering, Graham spoke openly about her incorporation of the ideas and images of others: I'm a thief, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I steal from the best where it happens to be cold on Plato, Picasso, Bertram Ross. I'm a thief and a glory in it. Sonny: this really reminded me of the phrase standing on the shoulders of Giants .

Mahatma Gandhi: The British enterprise succeeded largely by exploiting the lingering tensions among the various warring political and religious factions on the Indian subcontinent. Population of a quarter of a billion individuals living in a patchwork of states was subjected to the domination of a few 1000 British merchants, civil servants and military personnel.

Once when young Gandhi confessed that he had stolen a Golden chip from his brother's amulet, Gandhi's father took the guilt upon himself: rather than punishing his wayward child, the father cried. This example of an injured individual who refrained from lashing out to others made a deep impression on the young Gandhi.

GANDHI: Then in 1910 he found Tolstoy farm a 1000 acre development 20 miles from Johannesburg.

Gandhi: the true remedy lies in my humble opinion, in england's discarding modern civilization which is ensouled by this spirit of selfishness and materialism which is purposeless, vain and a negation of the spirit of Christianity itself.

Gandhi's difficulty with intimacy seems to have been revisited with a vengeance in respect to his own family. From the very start, his actions towards them seemed to have been motivated either by professional goals or by philosophical principles, rather than by a sustained capacity to love them unconditionally and to empathize with them. Asked once whether a genius might leave a legacy through his family, Gandhi answered: with perhaps unintended candor: certainly not. He will have more disciples than he can ever have children.

Gandhi seemed unable to grasp that some individuals are totally immoral or amoral. He encouraged the Jews in Europe to go quietly to the slaughterhouse in the belief that this reaction would unleash sympathy in their tormentors. He wrote a direct appeal to Hitler and addressed him as dear friend , calling on him to change his tactics and promising him forgiveness. His response is nowhere recorded in history.

Returning to India Gandhi was newly aware of two facts. First Britain would never voluntarily give up India out of any feeling or morality or charity. India would have to seize its independence.

[Alex Linney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The majority of this book is biographical, with underlying themes of how creativity developed within the individuals studied. In that way, Gardner gives enough of the right info for you to draw your own conclusions on creativity. This is also the flaw, I think more pages could have been devoted to critical thinking about the nature and development of creativity. If you pay attention during the biographies, you need not read the concluding chapter as no powerful insights were made that hadn't already been implied or explicitly stated. Alternatively, if you know enough about these individuals already, you could just read the final chapter and get a good understanding of how creativity develops.

For what it's worth, it's a great resource, almost like scientific literature, but it's a dense read, took me 4 months to whittle my way through with a decent understanding. I'd say his conclusions are flexible, like the 10 year rule, is that a true limit to creativity or just correlation? Faustian arrangements, were they explicit, and if so were they necessary? He leaves some analysis up to the reader, which I liked, but I wish I knew what I was getting into.

[Carole Duff · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a young teacher, Gardner’s Frames of Mind broadened my sense of how to use multiple modalities in the classroom. And, because I’m an historian with a particular interest in early 20th century Western Civilization, I added Creating Minds to the piles of books I wanted to read. That was twenty-five years ago; with retirement and the Covid-19 shutdown, I’m finally reading down my piles. Although I enjoyed Gardner’s biographical and historical sections about each of his seven “creatives,” I can’t say I learned anything new about creativity. Perhaps the book has not stood the test of time, or maybe the project was too ambitious—or not ambitious enough. Gardner’s “creatives” were popular and successful. In my experience, most creative people are pebbles in a pond, often less honored and hopefully more honorable.

[Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really find the conclusion convincing, and thought the inclusion of Martha Graham and Ghandi was less than helpful. Ghandi doesn't seem to fit into the narrative as well as the first 3 cases, and Graham's section was awkward since her work could not really be well described in print. Her chapter seemed underdeveloped as a result. I also had issues with the gender aspect of these cases, though Gardner does try to address gender. I wished that this set of cases had included someone along the lines of Andre Norton or Agatha Christie, women whose work could have been more easily discussed in print. Still, this was an interesting read, and offers some insight on creativity, even if I would have designed the project a little differently.

[Lee Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the books that I have read on creativity, this is one of the finest. Gardner writes like an intellectual without completely losing his less-educated audience. I like his theory of "asynchrony" and the notion of "where is creativity" rather than "what is creativity", and where in the space bounded by individual talent, the field (critics), and the domain, lies creativity. I now see that creativity is a mixed bag of elements that, in the right combination, constitute revolutionary ways of regarding he domain, e.g. The Beatles were creative because music was changed by what they did. Gardner defines Creativity as having the capability to withstand "fruitful asynchrony" or rather to withstand the vagaries of creative life.

[M. Jane Colette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory, and so I really enjoyed this exploration of it as it applied to "genius" in different fields.

One can complain about some of his choice of subject (T.S. Eliot? Really?) but he sneakily addresses all those complains in the first pages by admitting yup, a lot of what he's doing is a judgement call.

Overall, a lot of food for thought for me. I'm fascinated by creativity (less so genius) and having this kind of peek into the stories of Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky etc was great.

Really loved that Martha Graham was chosen as one of the subjects, an embodiment of physical creativity + intelligence.

[Alaura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was well-researched, well-written, and somewhat interesting. It does not tell you how to be creative, but rather lets you see parallels in the people Gardner deems as the most creative people of a generation. Honestly, it was pretty dull for me.

[Michael Exley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding thoughtful and a useful tool.

[Peter Mancini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book and a must read for educators! I think that is eye opening to see what made these great, great!

[Darrell Stanaford · Rating 5 out of 5]

A major 'aha' for me.

[Michelle Ried · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative and eye opening but not written in a way that engages the reader.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fascinating book to read. I loved learning more about historical figures that I only knew a little bit about, and some that I didn't know at all prior to reading this book.

The author might be a little ambitious in trying to find an overarching pattern for creativity, but he seems to at least be aware of the limitations of such an endeavor, and still attempts to do it scientifically.

On difficulty level, I'd place this book about middle of the road. Sometimes it gets really complicated and seems to be speaking to trained social scientists, and at other times it seems to be talking to a layperson. It's probably not too dense to turn the average reader away, but there are certainly parts that one might gloss over if one wasn't interested in research.

Overall a pretty fascinating book. I'd love to look more into the author's work on multiple intelligences.

[Jimena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo que se puede inferir de la lectura de este libro es que la creatividad se produce cuando un individuo pone su voluntad dirigida a un fin. Su voluntad en estado de Focus, focalizada en la consecución del objetivo propuesto. Esto trae consigo que el individuo creativo consigne su vida al logro de ese fin y que sus relaciones interpersonales y su vida cotidiana se vean maltrechas porque no le sugestionan lo suficiente.
El interés del individuo creativo está comprometido hasta la consecución de su objetivo.
Su voluntad es tan potente que nada puede disuadirle.
La regla de los diez años que propone Gardner (y que Freud sitúa a los siete) nos dice que un individuo creativo ofrece una innovación después de diez años dedicados al dominio del conocimiento del campo o ámbito, es interesante y nos recuerda que la creatividad llega cuando uno está trabajando.

[Mark Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy reading Gardner, but it can be a bit tough to get through. He explores creative thinkers of the early twentieth century here, choosing one for each of the MI types. Using these personalities as a base, he develops a profile for highly creative people. Much of the creativity profile is pretty standard. The exploration of each case is very interesting for the historical and societal context. If you are interested in Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Gandhi, Stravinsky, TS Eliot or Martha Graham you will probably enjoy it.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it purports to be a grand study of creativity and genius, it fails at that. It is however a nice little collection of biographers on 6 great minds who each revolutionized their field. Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham and Gandhi. It is worth reading just as a collection of biography.

The insight into creativity that the book supposedly offers is pretty nil - that great thinkers have to make sacrifices for their art, and often rely heavily on the help of others is not a very profound revelation. Still I enjoyed greatly reading the lives of Freud and Picasso.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gardner presents seven individuals to match his seven intelligences (of MI theory). His prose is beautiful and his research thorough, but he comes across as heavy handed and somewhat ageist (as all of his examples succeeded largely early in their lives). Early on in my reading I came across a question that Gardner fails to adequately explain, namely, how do each of the intelligences find their place in the world? How can each of them maximize their potential impact upon the world?

[S Kasm · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most stimulating books I have ever read on the subject of creativity ~ Howard Gardner is in a league of his own when it comes to exploring the dynamics of the human mind and its capabilities. Here, you an inside glimpse into the lives of 7 creative giants, their thought processeses and their influences. An very insightful read!

[Nina J. Kors · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro necessario nello sviluppo di ogni spirito umano: vedere i grandi sotto una luce più umana e fragile, con errori macroscopici nei rapporti umani mentre tanto straordinariamente eroici nella vita sociale e lavorativa, dà da pensare.
E quando un libro dà da pensare, merita un posto d'onore nella libreria.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a project, definitely not the easiest book I've read in awhile. The case studies involved were interesting but the sections outside of the case studies were pretty dense. It is still the best book about creativity I have read.

[Juliann]

I would say I loved this book, but it was a challenge to read as the prose is very academic and a bit heavy. Despite that, I found it fascinating and it honestly changed the way I think, and gave me a stronger appreciation for the seven innovators the book covers.

[SonicRim]

Gardner has created a framework for understanding the creativity of people across various disciplines. In our efforts to understand and inspire creativity of everyday people and of our clients. This book will provide us a tool to develop our own methods and perspectives.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very readable application of the science of creativity. This book does well to dispel the myth of the lone genius, and reveals some of the lesser-known brilliant communities behind the brilliant minds we all know.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent exploration of effective creativity.