The Creative & Persecuted Minority

The Creative & Persecuted Minority (Iona Miller, Paul Henrickson): Power lies with convention and truth with the punished individualist. Control of perception is the essence of power. This scenario denies the joy, the real joy, expressed in immediate aesthetic responses. Research results suggest battle lines seem to have been drawn between those who tolerate creative thinking and those who do not. These authors were influenced by the mentorship of creativity experts E. Paul Torrance for Henrickson and John C. Gowan for Miller. They conclude, while the achievements of creative efforts are often very rewarding, indeed, the process of arriving there can be disturbing and painful. Research by Henrickson in Iowa indicated the non-creative personality is content with having achieved a conventional image and as for anything else couldn't care less. Yet, those iconoclasts who have unique creative gifts can make a significant difference to society, science and art. Their relationship to their life's work is often deeply spiritual or driven by a sense of destiny and mission which is revealed in their works. Creativity is an emergent property of extraordinary human development.

This article explores the works of creativity experts, promoting deep understanding of the complex territory of human expression, including perception, metaphor, narrative, praxis and theory. Creativity reveals the deep connection between mind and matter that modern physicists are just beginning to explore. The crisis of a global turning point demands something extraordinary from the best and brightest of us. A new model of research must not only include but encourage divergent or "Out of the Schrödinger's Box" thinking. It is often the artist not the academic that the public listens to, along with their own observations of changing thoughts and attitudes. This creates new environments and restructures the cultural ambiance.

Part I "An Artful Look at Science & a Scientific Look at Art" of this article contains: The Minority Report; Double-Edged Gifts; Awesome Beauty; Self Regulatory Process; and Perceptive & Silenced Minorities.

Part II "The Nature of the Creative Process" of this article contains: The Nature of the Creative Process; Roots of Artistic Expression; Homo Lumen; Global Architectronics; and Conclusions.