Dear Rob,
It is useful to remember that co-occurrence does not mean causation (like in those anecdotes me and Don Norman recently exchanged here). Nevertheless, genetics are obviously important factors in everything we are.
What I find particularly interesting is not the study you mention nor the questions you raise.
What is interesting is that you would actually raise such questions.
Your email illustrates very well that age-old human paradox: we like to think we are self-made-men in charge of our destinies, but we also like to think we are destined to greatness (be it by genetics or by the gods).
On the other hand, you also talk about something that is related to the (statistical) power laws found in networks. The old adage "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" applies to a lot of things. It has a bearing on genetics, but also in all other factors. These factors can be concurrent with or have an effect on genetics. And due to the way genetics work, with mutations and traits skipping generations, we are somewhat helpless to perform any kind of study that can effectively isolate such variables.
And you may be falling prey to a fallacy, by not acknowledging the "power of networks". If you wanted to be an artist in the 19th century, you would travel to Paris. The data you have is not enough to draw any conclusions, even preliminary. Besides, you are assuming that creativity is the sole product of the individual... That's a major oversight.
References:
I highly recommend "Linked", by Laszlo Barabasi. It's a quick and extremely insightful read about networks.
And regarding the bias of our judgement of creativity and where it comes from:
Glăveanu, Vlad Petre (2010), ‘Paradigms in the study of creativity: Introducing the perspective of cultural psychology’, New Ideas in Psychology, 28 (1), 79-93.
Best regards,
==================================
Carlos Pires
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
-------------------------------------------------------------
Design & New Media MFA // Communication Design PhD Student @ FBA-UL
Check the project blog:
http://thegolemproject.com
On 14/11/2014, at 17:51, Rob Curedale wrote:
> I saw a reference to a study this morning on the Science Daily site
> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141113074833.htm
>
> For some time I have been interested in the relationship of 3d spatial
> creativity, evolutionary environments and genetics.
>
> In the field that I work in Industrial design I have noticed that of the
> 100 best known designers of the 20th century in the USA almost all lived in
> more than one country. People such as Jon Ive at Apple, Raymond Loewy or
> Mies van de Rohe. The most creative designers whom I have worked with also
> have often travelled a great deal.
>
> I do not want to bore people with my own family history but it is something
> that has led me to think about this topic.
>
> A DNA study of my family showed their migration over the last 60,000 years
> from Nigeria to Iran to the Western Himalaya to Siberia to Spain. This has
> included diverse challenging environments such as desert, high mountains
> and arctic environments. National Geographic said that this route is
> unusual for a European DNA history. My family over the last few hundred
> years has included some people who produced significant creative work such
> as stained glass windows for important public buildings in Europe other
> designers and a classical composer.In the middle ages some were guild
> leaders and in the early industrial revolution several owned manufacturing
> companies.One was a significant pioneer of the wine industry in
> Australia.The great grandmother of Paul Pankhurst Emily Pankhurst for
> example was the leader of the Suffrage movement in the UK who was one of
> the most important people who contributed to women's vote. These are
> different types of creativity.
>
> I have travelled to about 45 countries and designed about 1,000 manufacture
> products.
>
> Is it possible that a desire to travel and explore and spatially oriented
> creativity are linked and genetically inherited to some extent?
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
> Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design
> Subscribe or Unsubscribe at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design
Subscribe or Unsubscribe at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|