Stimulating Creativity: Vol. 1—Individual Procedures by Morris I. Stein (review)

Books 75 (satisfactions) as a consequence of hunger and thirst (nonsatisfactions), the author passes on to more complex matters,such as‘overenjoyed pleasureor valuefeelings...[that] have to be “paid for” by exactlyequal feelings of displeasureor disvalue’ (p. 5). He postulates that the search for improving ‘organicpotentials,withoutpreviousrestrictions,will bringonly more exhaustion,stress, anxiety and disorders’(pp. 5--6), and states that ‘the millions of all kinds of addicts, including the smokers and coffee drinkers, are the living proofs, the walking experiments. . .of the relative causation’ (p. 6). The citations come from the introductory first chapter, which also gives definitions of important terms that reappear throughout the book. Thischaptersummarizeswhat will follow in the next nine chapters, which treat more deeply the author’s theoretical considerationsas applied to many domainsof humanactivity,in particular, to psychology, medicine, education, the social sciences, physics, genetics, philosophy, the arts and culture. Thesedomainsareheavilyattacked:‘...theideasinthisbook are so contrary to the generally held convictions that we had to opposecompletely the present views. Moreover, we had to turn against the best authorities we could find in every field’ (p. ix). The book is difficult to read becauseit is so repetitious,which the author himself acknowledges in the foreword: ‘We are . . . explaining the relative causal logic repeatedly throughout the book-which doesnot improveits style’(p. ix). There are many references to books, someof which are out-of-date,particularly those that dealwith tbe medical sciences.Furthermore, he relies dangerouslyon statementsinjournalisticbooks. Onefindsmany unsupported or untenable assertions, for example:‘ . . . how wrong [masturbation] is for [the young person’s] natural development’(p. 298); ‘Someof such[sexual]deviationsmay be genetic-because overadjustments in one generation do not remain without effect on the next’ (p. 298); ‘. . . a few seconds look at a beautiful woman reveals to a man vast and precise information about her suitability for reproduction through all the processes of intercourse, conception, gestation, birth or feedingof theprogenies. ...’(p. 34). Somestatementsareplainly false: ‘Enzymes . . .are formed by proteins. . . .’(p. 412): ’. . . sudden mutations ...are the only assumedfactorsof change in moderngenetics’(p.422). Yet, asregardsgenetics,he generously admitsthat ‘ ...geneticistshave discovereda few phenomena, like chromosomearrangements,breakages, polyploidy, genetic drifts and other kinds of geneticinteractions . . . .’ (p. 424). In the short sectionentitledArt asthe ModernCult, wherethe author has formulated some remarkable sentences that are mainly aimed at the commercialization of art, he makes the following incongruous assertion: ‘The Nazis . . . could find justification of genocide in genuine artistic admiration or in enjoymentof Wagnerianmusic’ (p. 4 6 4 ) .The book, apart from its promising start, is not likely to meet a reader’s desire for intellectualpleasure-release. StimulatiogCreatiVity:Vol. l-lndividual Procedures. Morris 1. Stein. Academic Press, New York and London, 1974. 348 pp. $16.50. Reviewed by Amid Jaumotte’ a d Jean Germrrin Theauthor makesthebasicassumptionthat individualcreativity is the result of transactional relations between individuals and their particular environments and that the creative process involvesthreestages:formulationof hypotheses,testingof them and communication of the results obtained. An interesting analytical survey is made of the characteristicsof each of the stages and of the manner of determining success. The mathematical method of separatingvariables is used. Here the variablesare the cognitiveand personality traits of individuals and determinatefactorsof the environmentsin which they live and work. The discussion of theoreticalapproachesand of experimental research is valuable. A review is made of procedures for improvingcreativity at each stage of the process, such as roleplaying ,hypnosis,psychotherapy,languageregressionin service of the ego, dreams, mind-expanding drugs, etc. The author *UniversiteLibredeBruxelles,AvenueF.-D. Roosevelt50, I050 Brussels, Belgium. describes the part played during the first stage (hypothesis formulation) by inspiration, intuition, self-help and special hypothesis-formulation methods; during the second stage (testing)by dialogueand duringthethird stage(communication) by the use of intermediaries,of an adoption process, of a public audience, etc. Theoretical studies are summarized or mentioned, but the generalapproach to creativity is pragmatic. Facts that underlie this invitation for individualsto reflect upon their creativifyare prudently brought forward by the author. He warnsreadersthat ‘while the material presented here is intended for use, it is not intended to be a guide for the perplexed who seek instant creativity’. Science and Its Public: The Changing Relationship. Gerald Holton and William Blanpied, eds. D. Reidel, Dordrecht, Holland, and Boston, Mass., 1976. 289 pp. Dfl. 70.00, $26...