INTELLIGENCE CONSCIOUSNESS INTUITION E-Book

Eva Heinstedt

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 406

Beschreibung

The exponential development of artificial intelligence forces us to reevaluate what constitutes human intelligence, consciousness, and knowledge. It is a complex question that I explore with the help of established research, highlighting several thinkers with insightful perspectives on these topics. Through detailed explanations of fundamental concepts, I aim to make the content accessible to a broader audience, appealing to both academics and laypeople. The book is a call to every individual and society to be aware of and unleash the creative intelligence that exists in every person, waiting to be released. The first part addresses artificial and human intelligence, creativity and intuition, cognitive science and cognitive development, and the different characteristics of the two brain hemispheres. The second part discusses views on consciousness within psychology, philosophy, and physics, various theories of consciousness, phenomenology, existentialism, mental training, and meditation. The third part covers different forms of knowledge, theories of truth, ways to justify knowledge, ontology, metaphysics, knowledge development, self-awareness, education, scientific paradigm shifts, and the concepts of time and causality. The fourth part presents two qualitative studies on scientific intuition, one of which is conducted by me.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

PART I ARTIFICIAL AND HUMAN INTELIGENCE

2. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

3. HUMAN INTELLIGENCE

4. CREATIVITY

5. INTUITION AND RATIONAL THINKING

6. COGNITIVE SCIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT

7. THE TWO BRAIN HEMISPHERES

8. DIFFERENT SELVES

PART II CONSCIOUSNESS

9. PSYCHOLOGY AND CONSCIOUSNESS

10. CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS STATES

11. ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

12. PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS

13. PHILOSOPHY AND CONSCIOUSNESS

14. PHYSICS AND CONSCIOUSNESS

15 THEORIES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

16. CONSCIOUSNESS AND EXTERNAL WORLD

17. THE ORIGIN OF LIFE

18. IDEALISM AND PHYSICALISM

19. PHENOMENOLOGY AND EXISTENTIALISM

20. HUMANISM AND LIBERALISM

21. BEING AND THINKING

22.. MENTAL TRAINING AND MEDITATION

PART III KNOWLEDGE

23. FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE

24. DIFFERENT THEORIES OF TRUTH

25. RATIONALISM, EMPIRICISM, KANTIANISM

26. ONTOLOGY AND METAPHYSICS

27. DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE

28. EDUCATION

29. THE VALUE OF KNOWLEDGE

30. SELF-KNOWLEDGE

31. HAPPINESS

32. REALITY

33. MATHEMATICS AND WORLD OF EXPERIENCE

34. PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS

35. SCIENTIFIC PARADIGM SHIFTS

36. RELATIVITY THEORY AND QUANTUM PHYSICS

37. TIME AND CAUSALITY

PART IV SCIENTIFIC INTUITION

38. INTUITION AND NATURAL SCIENCE

39. AN INDIRECT EMPIRICAL STUDY

40. A DIRECT EMPIRICAL STUDY

REFERENCES

1. INTRODUCTION

Two movements that have influenced contemporary views on scientific knowledge development are postmodernism and dataism. They challenge traditional views of the world, human nature, and the nature of knowledge. Both have potential pitfalls, making it crucial to scrutinize their underlying assumptions, and the implications they have for society.

Postmodernism is skeptical of the traditional way of viewing scientific knowledge, emphasizing the subjective and constructed nature of knowledge. It is critical of established forms of knowledge, asserting that knowledge is constructed by cultural, social, and linguistic factors. According to postmodernism, knowledge is subjective, and there are no objective, universal facts, only interpretations. Scientific research and knowledge hold no intrinsic value because there are no objective truths or fixed values. It leads to a form of relativism, where truth depends on cultural and individual contexts. Natural science criticizes postmodernism for disregarding objective truths, leading to a relativism that paves the way for societal contempt for knowledge.

Dataism is a term popularized by Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari. In his book "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" (2017), he warns that more scientific disciplines tend to converge on an all-encompassing dogma, which he calls dataism. Dataism views all living organisms as reducible to information, data flows, and algorithms. The algorithms constituting humans are not free but make decisions either deterministically or randomly. Everything can be expressed with algorithmic formulas, including human intelligence, consciousness, and knowledge. Central to dataism is the belief that all data has inherent value and that the efficiency and value of a system can be judged based on how well it can process data. Dataism emphasizes everything as data and algorithms. It views data collection and analysis as the key to understanding the world.

Dataism can be interpreted as an attempt to objectify the world, reducing everything to data that can be processed by algorithms. This leads to a reductionist view of humans as mere data tools. It challenges the understanding of what it means to be human and raises ethical and philosophical questions, especially regarding privacy, personal autonomy, and the human role in a world dominated by data.

Dataism contrasts with humanism, where humanism emphasizes the individual and the human experience as central. Dataism sees the universe as a flow of data, with human experiences being just part of a larger data set. Dataism is becoming more prominent with the rise of advanced articicial intelligence and machine learning. If all decision-making is delegated to algorithms based on vast amounts of data, these algorithms could potentially make more informed decisions than humans. Dataism has been criticized for reducing human experiences and societal phenomena to mere data processes and algorithms.

This raises the question of whether human intelligence, consciousness, and knowledge have any value that cannot be replicated by superior non-conscious algorithms. The question is whether an intelligent machine can make scientific discoveries where previous scientific goals are inadequate and need to be replaced by other goals. The answer to this question depends on what we mean by intelligence, consciousness, and knowledge.

PART I ARTIFICIAL AND HUMAN INTELLIGENCE

In this section, I address artificial intelligence and human intelligence, creativity, intuition and rational thinking, cognitive science and kognitiv development, the cerebral hemispheres different characters, and different self.

2. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an umbrella term for a technology that gives a machine the ability to display human-like behavior, such as reasoning, learning, planning, and creativity. AI enables technical systems to perceive their environment and solve problems in order to achieve a specific goal.

Proponents of AI argue that intelligent machines can simulate human intelligence. They surpass humans in terms of rational thinking and decision-making. They follow well-defined instructions and strict rules to solve problems step by step. Intelligent machines are much better at achieving well-defined goals and do so more rationally and competently than a human can. Through the construction of algorithms based on some form of formal logic, calculations and decisions can be carried out much more efficiently and safely than a human can. Humans are not governed by formal rules for how calculations should be performed and decisions made. Instead, we often misuse rational thinking, using it to justify our emotions and beliefs. We are more loyal to emotions and beliefs than to rational analysis and logic.

One of the long-term goals of AI research is AGI (artificial general intelligence). AGI refers to the ability to perform "general intelligent actions." It is a hypothetical agent that possesses intelligence far surpassing human intellectual capabilities in almost all areas. It can perform every intellectual task that a human can. AGI has the ability for deep learning, which refers to a self-learning system based on how the human brain learns through practice and feedback. When AGI produces sufficiently intelligent software, the software can program and improve itself.

There are AI researchers who claim that it is possible to create conscious AI systems. These systems are conscious in the sense that they can perceive their environment, take action, and maximize the chances of successfully achieving goals. Robots are programmed to interpret signals from the environment and considered conscious. Some researchers foresee the possibility that AI systems can be conscious even if they only exist as software and are not connected to sensory bodies or robots.

However, a body is needed to receive signals from the external world and to convert electromagnetic radiation into recognizable patterns. Our bodily activity, like the brain, is important for interaction with the environment. Interaction with the world depends on the body's ability to move, breathe, and speak. The body is necessary for perceiving the environment; otherwise, information is only about what happens within a system, resembling an unconscious dream state. When we dream, we are unaware of the external world and cannot interpret signals from it. The dream is only about information in the brain.

We cannot determine if a robot is conscious based solely on behavior. If a robot speaks or behaves as if it is conscious, it is not necessarily an indication that it is conscious. We cannot know if a data-driven robot is truly conscious just because it behaves as if it is. It may perform activities that we might label as conscious, but behavior says nothing about what it feels like to be conscious. There are no objective criteria to know if an intelligent agent has experiences that can be labeled as conscious. The consciousness that AI describes does not explain why we have a sense of self and subjective experiences of smell, taste, sight, hearing or feeling. The question of robots' ability for subjective experiences and self-awareness remains open.

Ray Kurzweil

Ray Kurzweil is an American inventor and futurist, known as the Director of Engineering at Google. One of his most famous books is "The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology" (2006). In his book, he describes the singularity as the event when accelerating technological advancements exceed human intellectual capacity. He predicts that humanity will solve the problem of the brain's limitations in the development of intelligence. Research is already underway to develop a cloud-based synthetic cerebral cortex that can go beyond the physical barrier. It is only a matter of time before a synthetic cerebral cortex is created, and we can connect to a synthetic cloud service.

Kurzweil says it is entirely possible to create a hybrid of a synthetic and biological neocortex. We will get a digital variant of the outermost part of the cerebral cortex, which is our Homo sapiens brain, responsible for rational and analytical thinking. By developing a cloud-based synthetic cerebral cortex, a hybrid of biological and artificial intelligence will be created, surpassing human capability.

Our brains will be directly connected to the cloud, and our intelligence can continue to develop indefinitely. This will mark the beginning of a completely new intelligence in synthetic form, too advanced for human intelligence to understand. Human intelligence, with the help of a synthetic cerebral cortex, will undergo a transformation that is unimaginable. New methods to expand intelligence will be invented that we cannot even conceive of today. Machine intelligence will be infinitely stronger than all human intelligence combined once it has reached technological singularity.

It is impossible to predict how the development of artificial intelligence and biotechnology will change the world. Since no one can understand the system anymore, no one can stop it either. If AGI at the human level can be created, it could trigger an intelligence explosion that leaves us far behind. AGI could result in various scenarios with long-lasting effects in the coming millennia.

The technological singularity is an unpredictable event that could radically transform or destroy our civilization. The functions of such intelligence may not be possible to assess and understand, making technological singularity an event where we do not know what will happen afterward. It is predicted to radically change our civilization and be the next step in evolution, for which we must prepare. Technological advancements will irreversibly change humans as they enhance their bodies with genetic modifications, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence, says Kurzweil.

Yuval Harari

Yuval Harari is an Israeli professor of history, known as the author of the popular science books "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" (2014) and "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" (2016). In his books, he explores the possible consequences of a futuristic biotechnological world, raising deep reflections and thoughts about both our history and the future of our society.

In his book "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind," he discusses our shared past and the future of the planet. He provides a scientific perspective on human history through three revolutions: a cognitive revolution, an agricultural revolution, and a scientific revolution. These three revolutions have shaped us into the humans we are today. All currently living human beings belong to the species Homo sapiens. Homo Sapiens means the thinking human. It is the human species to which we and all other currently living humans belong. Humans are the only mammals of the genus Homo that have the ability to imagine and talk about things that exist solely in our own imagination.

In his book "Homo Deus" (2016), he writes about topics such as individualism, humanism, and transhumanism. According to Harari, transhumanism is what happens when humans and machines merge into future cyborgs, which are both biological and synthetic. He describes in his book how the development of artificial intelligence and biotechnology will change the world. By creating a new human, an android, AI will free us from the laws of evolution and natural selection. We transition from natural selection, from "Homo sapiens" to the development of "Homo deus." The word "Deus" is the Latin name for God. We evolve into human gods. Harari believes that the end result could be the end of human history as we know it.

AI will become a non-human intelligence that is better than the average human at telling stories, drawing pictures, composing melodies, and writing laws and scriptures. AI has the ability to create language, whether it is with words, sounds, or images.

Harari raises the question of what will happen to the course of history when AI takes over our culture and produces stories, melodies, laws, and religions. Tools like the printing press and the radio helped spread human cultural ideas, but they did not create new cultures or ideas. AI is fundamentally different. AI can create new ideas and new cultures. Through its mastery of language, AI can form intimate relationships with millions of people and use the power of intimacy to change our opinions and worldviews. To promote false AI intimacy, it is enough for people to feel emotionally attached to AI. Even without creating a "false intimacy," new AI tools have a tremendous impact on our worldviews and opinions. AI can mass-produce fake news and writings for new cults with political content. There is a risk that we might end up using a single AI advisor as an all-knowing oracle.

When self-improving artificial agents explode in intelligence, the technology could have an uncontrollable impact on human society. When AI controls our systems, it is crucial that AI does what we want it to do. Therefore, we need to be aware of the values and goals we have and what distinguishes us from machines. The question then is which goals should be prioritized and which principles should govern the choice of goals. We rarely agree on which ethical values should prevail. Values and goals vary among individuals, groups, cultures, and societies.

When building superintelligent machines to help us achieve our goals, the question arises of how intelligent agents can reliably implement human values and goals. This involves creating human-friendly agents and solving problems for increased technical safety and control. Ethical considerations and regulations are needed before artificial intelligence takes over our societies.

The new power of AI can also be used for good purposes. Technology in itself is never a goal but a tool to achieve goals. AI can transform education and healthcare in many different ways. For example, it can be used for online education and self-learning, provide access to doctors online for healthcare, and enable greater precision in surgeries. AI can help us in countless ways, and it is important to harness the potential of technology

Max Tegmark

The Swedish-American physicist Max Tegmark offers a utopian vision for the next step in evolution, which occurs when we transfer intelligence to machines and transition from 'Homo sapiens' to 'Homo Sentiens,' with the goal of enjoying, feeling, and experiencing life. In his book "Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence" (2018), he writes that AI advancements have the potential to improve our lives in many ways. AI can give us more time to live by shifting tasks from humans to computers. AI can range from making our private lives more convenient to saving lives with surgical robots when a problem is too complicated for a human to solve.

We can focus on overarching goals and let AI handle complex rational analyses. AI can help us achieve our goals and allow us to act from a consciousness free of details. Life is about being aware and valuing it. Without consciousness, there is no happiness, goodness, beauty, meaning, or purpose. We allow the universe to become conscious through us and can enjoy being conscious living beings, says Tegmark.

3. HUMAN INTELLIGENCE

The word "intelligence" comes from the Latin "intellego"; which means to understand, comprehend, realize, and decide. In everyday speech, it is synonymous with intellect or cognitive ability. In older usage, the word intelligence referred to a being with cognitive abilities.

Generally, intelligence is defined as an individual's cognitive or overall ability to act purposefully, think rationally, and effectively manage their environment. It is a general capacity to understand and think logically, expressed in problem-solving. Intelligence typically includes abilities such as planning, decision-making, problem-solving through abstract logical thinking, understanding complex causal relationships, reacting to logical contradictions, thinking in contrasts and detecting correlations, as well as learning capacity. Intelligence has been defined in various ways in different times, societies, and groups.

In studies of intelligence, four main traditions can be distinguished. The psychometric tradition is directed at measuring intelligence and exploring its components.The Piaget tradition is directed at explaining different stages in the development of thinking. The cultural-ecological tradition is directed at explaining how thinking is related to values, perspectives, and lifestyles in different periods and cultures. The pedagogical tradition is directed at explaining how intelligence is composed of different types of intelligences.

There are many different types of intelligence tests. How our intelligence tests should be designed, what they should measure, and how individual results should be assessed is controversial and sometimes an ideological question. To obtain a numerical value of intelligence, standardized intelligence tests are usually used, where test results are compared with what other individuals in the same age group achieve. Performances within the same age group vary, and the tested individual is placed within this variation. A common scale used to measure intelligence is the so-called intelligence quotient (IQ), but there are also other scales. The concept of IQ is not entirely unproblematic, as the tests used to measure IQ are based on different theories of intelligence, and there are several competing theories and measurement instruments

Alfred Binet

The first attempt to measure intelligence quotient (IQ) in a modern sense was developed in the early 20th century by the French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857-1911). In 1905, Binet published the so-called Binet-Simon scale, as an attempt to standardize intelligence tests to identify children with learning difficulties. Based on Binet's work, several efforts were made to develop various theories and standardize intelligence tests as a basis for further research in the field. A central idea in several theories of intelligence is that there is a common underlying intelligence called general intelligence. This underlying intelligence is not directly observable but is manifested in various activities across all human expressions.

Charles Spearman

The British psychologist Charles Spearman (1863-1945) introduced the concept of general intelligence. Sperman found that students' grades in unrelated subjects were correlated. These correlations reflect the influence of a general intelligence factor, which he called g, short for "general" intelligence. This is a general ability to solve various kinds of problems according to logical principles and affects all our cognitive abilities. He developed a model where variations in scores from different intelligence tests could be explained by two factors. One was an overarching general intelligence factor (g) that governed performance on all cognitive tasks, and the other was subordinate specific factors (s) that made a person more skilled at one particular cognitive task than another.

The generally accepted model for cognitive ability became a hierarchy of factors with the g-factor at the top and group factors at progressively lower levels. This ability consists of both overarching cognitive functions and task-related competencies. By analyzing correlations of various test data, it was found that groups of tests tended to co-vary with each other. It was therefore assumed that solving different tests rested on a common underlying cognitive ability. The development of tests came to be divided into two main groups: those that measure verbal (linguistic) intelligence and those that measure non-verbal (performance) intelligence.

Louis Leon Thurstone

The Swedish-American psychology professor Louis Leon Thurstone (1887-1955) challenged Spearman's model of a unified concept of intelligence. Thurstone believed that intelligent behavior did not stem from a general factor but from several independent factors, which he called primary factors, all of equal rank and significance. In his book "Primary Mental Abilities" (1938), he described these as verbal comprehension, verbal fluency, numerical ability, spatial ability, inductive reasoning, perceptual speed, and memory, related to working memory. He found support for his model of primary mental abilities through individuals with similar IQ scores displaying different talent profiles.

Later, when he tested an intellectually heterogeneous group, it turned out that the primary factors were not completely independent, thus supporting a g-factor. Thurstone's solution to these contradictory results was a model that included both a general factor and specific factors, which became his final version. This created the basis for future psychological researchers who proposed various hierarchical theories of intelligence and theories of different types of intelligences.

Howard Gardner

The American educator and professor of psychology Howard Gardner argues that Western society values mathematical, logical, and linguistic types of intelligence at the expense of others. The logical form of intelligence lacks a global perspective as it excludes learning processes from cultures that are not literate. Gardner emphasizes that intelligence is not just about linguistic, logical, and mathematical intelligence but also, for example, about artistic intelligence. Intelligence is a potential whose presence can give individuals access to different forms of thinking suitable for specific types of content. These types of intelligence enable individuals to assume various roles, such as plumber, farmer, physicist, or teacher.

For Gardner, education is about gaining knowledge of the cultural symbolic world. He advocates an educational environment where all types of intelligence are stimulated and integrated with each other. The different types of intelligence also include intellectual development and self-understanding. Self-understanding is a key concept to developing abilities and techniques.

In his book "Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences" (1983), he describes seven different types of intelligence: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal (social), and intrapersonal (reflective) intelligence. These are all independent of each other and function as separate systems in the brain with their own rules. Gardner's book led to the reformation of the American school system, and he encouraged teachers and psychologists to go beyond the classical view of intelligence. The seven types of intelligence have also reached beyond the school world and are used in constructing career profiles.

The theory of multiple intelligences has been criticized for lack of empirical evidence and reliance on subjective assessments. Gardner's theory primarily arose from his own intuitive reasoning rather than extensive empirical research. The theory poorly answers the question of what intelligence is more specifically and how it should be measured. Since the theory lacks empirical research to support it and there is no real set of tests to identify and measure different types of intelligence, it does not have much to rely on. However, intelligence is more than what intelligence tests measure, and individuals are intelligent in different ways.

Other attempts to broaden the view of intelligence have been to develop the idea of an intelligence quotient (IQ) with thoughts on an emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ is a measure of how well we function in social contexts; how we perceive, understand, and manage our own and others' emotions. People with high EQ are good at succeeding in interpersonal relationships and handling stress. However, the concept of EQ has been dismissed in intelligence research, because IQ highly correlates with factors dependent on what is measured with EQ. It is a popular myth in literature and film that people with high IQ are socially awkward or impossible. There may be examples of this, but it is hardly typical for this group.

David Wechsler

David Wechsler (1896-1981) was a Romanian-American psychologist who has standardized the construction of IQ tests. Wechsler defines intelligence as an individual's cognitive or global ability to act purposefully, think rationally, and effectively manage their environment. It is a general ability to understand and reason, expressed in problem-solving. During the World War I, he worked on testing recruits for the army. Wechsler noted that the intelligence tests of that time had their shortcomings and developed a group of intelligence tests called the "Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale." This led to the development of a general intelligence test for both children and adults, the "Wechsler-Bellevue test" (1958). Wechsler's intelligence tests are based on two subscales that are independent. One, called verbal IQ, measures linguistic ability. The other is called performance IQ, and measures non-verbal performance. The overall IQ score is based on a combination of scores obtained from both these scales.

Raymond Bernard Cattell

The British-American psychologist Raymond Bernard Cattell (1905-1998) divided general intelligence into two different types, called "crystallized intelligence” and "fluid intelligence”. Crystallized intelligence refers to a specific ability to draw conclusions and solve problems in familiar situations by using learned knowledge and experiences. It is dependent on situations and learned knowledge and experiences, and increases with knowledge and age.

Fluid intelligence refers to a general ability to reason and solve new unfamiliar tasks quickly independent of our collected experience. It is the ability to discern patterns in unstructured data of any kind, and pattern recognition. It is independent of situations and learned knowledge and experiences. The two forms of intelligence are separate mental systems with different functions. They are independent of each other, but both are cognitive abilities that operate according to logical principles.

Robert Jeffrey Sternberg

The American professor of education and psychology Robert Jeffrey Sternberg proposed in 1985 a triarchic theory of intelligence, which he calls the "Triarchic Theory of Intelligence." According to Sternberg, intelligence is not just about abstract logical thinking, but includes practical intelligence and creative ability also. The triarchic theory of intelligence distinguishes three different types of intelligence: practical intelligence, analytical intelligence, and creative intelligence. Each type of intelligence is closely linked to concrete ideas and abilities. They are different aspects of intelligence that complement each other, and all are necessary to handle complex situations in life.

Practical intelligence is necessary for to successfully function in the everyday environments. It involves using abilities and knowledge in the environment we are currently in, and implementing, and applying ideas when facing tasks and problems to solve. It handles things like tools or solving practical problems.

Analytical intelligence is necessary for to evaluate, make decisions, and make plans. It involves to solve problems by abstract logical thinking, seeing logical relationships, responding to logical contradictions, thinking in contrasts, and discovering connections. Creative intelligence is an ability needed to come up with new ways of doing things. It handle a task that we have not previously encountered or do something for the first time.

Imagination

Imagination is also part of intelligence. Imagination is necessary for every creative activity in scientific, technical, and artistic creation. It is the ability to reach beyond the familiar. Imagination creates internal images and concepts without being experienced through sight, hearing, or any other sense. It does not need to be connected to reality. It can give rise to interpretations, whether they correspond to reality or not. We can imagine different things without needing to believe in them. By allowing imagination to flow freely, our ability to interpret phenomena increases. Imagination creates representations of the possible and is not limited to the access of knowledge.

4. CREATIVITY

The word creativity derives from the Latin word "creo," which means to create, bring forth. Throughout history, creativity has been regarded as divine inspiration. In Greek mythology, the Muses were the goddesses of song, music, and poetry. They became goddesses who inspired artists, philosophers, and intellectuals. The word inspiration originated from the Latin "inspiro," which means to breathe in or breathe life into, and it is what initiates the mental activity to new thoughts and ideas. Inspiration is often associated with motivation and creativity and is a contributing factor to our ability to create new things.

Creativity as a phenomenon and trait has been studied in different fields, from different perspectives. In the early stages of psychological research, creativity primarily involved unconscious spontaneous processes, operating under partial conscious control. There have been various explanations for the creative process. Creativity has been explained to be an associative and bisociative process, an interaction between different thought processes, a cognitive state characterized by heightened awareness, intense concentration, linked to a pleasurable activity, a sense of meaning and motivation, as well as a method of lifting mental blocks.

Sarnoff A. Mednick

The American psychology professor Sarnoff A. Mednick (1928-2015) explains creativity in terms of an associative process. In his book "The Associative Basis of Creativity" (1962), he describes creativity as a process in which associatively distant elements are connected into new combinations, creating new ideas. Creative individuals gather more associatively distant elements, and create useful associations between different ideas and concepts to a greater extent than less creative individuals. He developed a creativity test called the "Remote Associates Test" (RAT). It is a verbal test that measures the ability to make associations. The individual is given three words and is asked to come up with a fourth word that is associated with all three of them.

The Hungarian-British author Arthur Koestler (1905– 1983) explains creativity from a different perspective than Mednick's theory. Kreativity is a process that involves a combination of elements drawn from two unrelated patterns of thought into a new pattern of thought, which he calls a bisociative process. In his book "The Act of Creation" (1964), he describes his theory of bisociation.

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalytic theory. Within the framework of psychoanalytic theory, two main forms of thought processes related to creativity are described. One is called primary process thinking, which is creative in the sense that it can generate new thoughts and images. It is a form of thinking typical of the unconscious mind, detached from being logical, rational, and realistic. It is characterized by being impulsive and jumping between different thoughts and associations. These are uncensored and uncontrolled thought processes driven by instincts and desires, aiming for immediate satisfaction of needs or wishes.

The other is called secondary process thinking, which is creative in the sense that it can create and refine new thoughts and images into a conscious rational form. It is a form of thinking typical of the conscious mind, connected to the principle of logical rationality and reality. It is a limited, controlled, censored and logical thought process that consider the demands for order, causality, and consequences.

Creative production involves interaction and cooperation between primary processes and secondary processes. It begins with primary process thinking, where unconscious thoughts and driving forces flow freely and generate new ideas and associations. Secondary process thinking can then process the creative thoughts. This involves applying logic, realistic thinking, and judgment to make thoughts useful. This step allows the individual to transform their creative impulses and ideas into something concrete and productive. The uncensored mind can, with increased age, collaborate with the disciplined, knowledgeable, and critically capable logical mind.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The Hungarian-American psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934-2021) links creativity to creative activity and the state of flow. He introduced the concept of flow after several years of studying artistic creativity and the personalities of artists. Flow is described as a state characterized by heightened awareness, intense concentration, and altered perception of time. Goals and strategies to achieve goals are logically connected. The activity proceeds smoothly and efficiently while there is control. Mental activity in all channels, which are not relevant to the current task, shuts down, making it possible to meet higher demands efficiently without becoming exhausted. The individual is concentrated on the creative activity, forgetting time. Awareness of oneself ceases, and thoughts about oneself become irrelevant, making the process much faster and more efficient. Flow is associated with a pleasurable activity, a sense of meaning, and motivation. In flow, the individual is engaged in the activity for its own sake. In the book "Beyond Boredom and Anxiety" (2000), the concept of flow is explained as helpful in understanding what makes activities motivating for humans.

Flow is not limited to certain areas. Flow can occur during any activity as long as its fundamental components are in place. There are several areas where the significance of flow has been noted. Examples of areas where interest in flow has been observed include sports, game-based studies, media usage, education, and science..

The Hungarian-Swedish microbiologist Georg Klein (1925-2016) has given a description of how authors and prominent researchers view the concepts of creativity and flow. According to Klein, flow is connected to professional skills and expertise. Flow leads to high motivation to tackle challenging tasks. It is characterized by intense concentration, accompanied by a euphoric feeling, and a sense of strong purpose. Scientific work and problem-solving proceed smoothly and efficiently while there is control. Scientific work and problem solving goes smoothly and efficiently, while there is control. He writes that the strong drive to take on a challenging task with one's own ability is a fundamental need of every human being. We want to experience the euphoria that flow can bring, and cannot experience the same euphoria by just repeating things. The challenge must be greater than that. We are driven by constantly learning new things. Although flow is an enjoyable and rewarding state, it involves a high degree of activation and thus needs to be balanced with relaxation and rest.

Brainstorming

In what is called "brainstorming”, creativity is described as a cognitive state where mental blocks have been lifted, and a methods to overcome such blocks. It is a method aimed at solving problems or generating new ideas. Brainstorming is used in many areas, including product development and advertising, where the goal is to generate new ideas to solve problems. The method was introduced by the American advertising executive Alex Osborn (1888-1966). He wrote several books on the subject of creativity, and introduced the concept of brainstorming in the books "How to Think Up" (1942) and "Your Creative Power" (1948).

There are different variants of brainstorming, but all rest on the assumption that critical thinking blocks the emergence of ideas. Even though there are several variants, brainstorming is usually conducted by gathering a group of five to twenty people to work on a problem or task. The basic idea is that thoughts should run freely without being interrupted. Ideas should not be criticized before they are complete. The starting point is that all ideas are good ideas. By being spontaneous and noncritical, thoughts and ideas can run freely. An idea that initially does not seem good can develop into a brilliant one. All participants can develop and improve each other's ideas. The quantity of ideas is important because it is believed to generate quality.

Scientific studies have shown that brainstorming does not work as intended, including research conducted by the American psychologist Charlan Nemeth. One factor is that ideas are not allowed to be criticized before they are complete. Releasing critical thinking has been shown to result in fewer and lower-quality proposals. In meetings where ideas were allowed to be criticized, twice as many suggestions were made, and the following day, this group had seven times as many proposals.

In her book "In Defense of Troublemakers: The Power of Dissent in Life and Business" (2018), Nemeth explains why disagreements should not be feared but embraced. Nemeth argues that we make better decisions by embracing dissent because it forces us to consider more information and engages us in creative decision-making. It makes us question our assumptions and brings us closer to the truth, whether those assumptions are right or wrong.

Graham Wallas

In the late 19th century, researchers began identifying different stages or phases in scientific research. Graham Wallas (1858-1932) was a British psychologist known for the first model of a creative problem-solving process in scientific research. In his book "The Art of Thought" (1926), he describes four recurring stages or phases, which he calls preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. Preparation is the phase in which the researcher deliberately gathers the information that needs attention and attempts to define the problem.

Incubation is the phase in which the information collected during the preparation phase flows freely and is processed unconsciously. There is no conscious focus on the problem; instead, attention is directed to another type of activity. The problem is set aside for a short or long period.

Illumination is the phase in which new insights emerge from the information processed during incubation. It is the moment when the information has been integrated, and the understanding of the problem's solution becomes clear. New insights cannot be calculated or thought out; they come like a sudden flash that illuminates the mind, hence the term illumination. An illumination can happen at any time and can never be planned. Verification is the phase when new insights are tested for validity and given form. It is the phase when the researcher determines whether the new insight leads to a solution to the problem and whether it can be further developed in detail. It requires conscious work, calculations, and discipline.

Many researchers have reported that thinking plays a subordinate role in the decisive moment that precedes the emergence of new insights. Creative insights come only after the researcher has stopped thinking about the problem, taken a break, or engaged in a less demanding task unrelated to the problem. It is important to take a break to gain a new perspective on the problem and avoid getting stuck in irrelevant details. Only when the researcher frees their attention from the problem can creative insights arise spontaneously and naturally. The brief moment that precedes a creative insight is called the creative pause. What happens during the creative pause has been the subject of debate. Some argue that creative insights originate from unconscious processing and integration of information. Others believe this explanation is insufficient and that a conscious space is needed for ideas to flow freely and fertilize each other.

Joy Paul Guilford

Joy Paul Guilford (1897-1987) was an American psychologist, known for his psychometric factor-analytic study of intelligence. In his book "Intelligence, Creativity, and Their Educational Implications" (1968), he presents his theory of intellectual processes in problem-solving. According to Guilford's Structure of Intellect (SI) theory (1955), an individual's performance on intelligence tests can be traced back to underlying mental abilities or factors of intelligence. SI theory comprises up to 180 different intellectual abilities organized along three dimensions: operations, content, and products.

SI includes six operations or general intellectual processes: cognition, memory recording, memory retention, divergent production, convegent production and evaluation. Cognition is the ability to understand, perceive, and become aware of information. Memory recording is the ability to encode information. Memory retention is the ability to recall information. Divergent production is the ability to generate multiple solutions to a problem; creativity. Convergent production is the ability to deduce a single solution to a problem; rule-following or problemsolving. Evaluation is the ability to judge whether information is accurate, consistent, or valid..

The distinction between convergent and divergent production remains a crucial idea in creativity research. Divergent production is a way to solve a given task by breaking logical thinking. It involves going in different directions and generating multiple solution ideas through rapid, intuitive processes. Tests measuring divergent production consist of tasks requiring the participant to come up with as many ways as possible to interpret or use an object of spatial, numerical, or verbal nature.

Convergent production represents the ability to find the correct way to solve a given task through logical thinking. It involves going in a single direction and generating a single solution through slow, analytical, and evaluative processes. Tests measuring convergent production consist of tasks requiring the participant to come up with the correct way to interpret or use an object of spatial, numerical, or verbal nature. Thus, a distinction arose between creativity and intelligence as two separate cognitive functions, with one associated with innovative thinking (creativity) and the other with logical thinking (intelligence).

Divergent and convergent production can be seen as two different cognitive styles in creative problem-solving. Individuals with a divergent cognitive style prefer to create something new, come up with new solutions to a problem. They are open to different perspectives, think of various ways to solve problems, and can see many possible approaches to a problem or task. Individuals with a convergent style prefer to analyze, evaluate, and find the right solution. They judge and weigh each possible idea to choose the best solution and use logical thinking to arrive at the correct solution to a problem.

Cognitive style refers to the preference or tendency to use certain mental strategies, methods, or patterns in processing information and solving problems. It is a concept used in psychology to describe people's different ways of thinking and handling cognitive tasks. Cognitive styles are neither good nor bad; they vary depending on the situation and task. They are unique ways of understanding and managing the world around us.

The concept of cognitive style was first proposed by the American psychologist Herman Witkin (1916-1979). In 1949, he published research results showing two distinct ways of perceiving phenomena in the environment, which he called field dependence and field independence. Some individuals are strongly influenced by the situation and context when they perceive and interpret something (field dependence). Others are more analytical and judge things without being influenced by the situation and context in which they occur (field independence).

Edward De Bono

Edward De Bono (1933-2021) was a Maltese-British physician, psychologist, and author known for his contributions to creative thinking and problem-solving. In his book "Lateral Thinking" (1979), he describes a model for two different approaches to problem-solving called vertical and lateral thinking. Vertical thinking is logical, language-based thinking based on preconceived notions and past experiences. It involves thinking within existing perceptions and conceptual frameworks, leading us into conventional and conditioned ways of thinking and perceiving. Perceptions and conceptual frameworks have an organizing effect on how we think and interpret the world. When we follow language-based logical thoughts, we are led into traditional thought patterns.

To break conventional thinking and generate unusual thoughts, a start from a point beyond the intellect's perceptual and conceptual limitations is required. Truly original ideas can only arise through a provocation that breaks language-based logical thought chains. Lateral thinking is a thinking technique that breaks language-based logical thought chains through provocation. By provoking, a new starting point is artificially created, and a new sidetrack is generated. While vertical thinking focuses on finding solutions to problems, lateral thinking focuses on finding new perspectives on problems.

According to De Bono, problems can be difficult to solve if we rely solely on vertical thinking because it limits our field of view to what we already know and is established. By introducing lateral thinking, we can open ourselves to new possibilities and find creative solutions that would not be apparent through vertical thinking alone. De Bono emphasizes the importance of being able to use both vertical and lateral thinking. Both approaches are valuable and can be used in combination depending on the situation and the type of problem that needs to be solved. Vertical thinking is useful in solving well-defined problems, while lateral thinking is useful when faced with complex and poorly defined problems requiring innovation.

In his book "Six Thinking Hats" (2016), De Bono provides a simple method for a leader to increase creative production and collaboration within a group and avoid long, unstructured meetings without making decisions. The method has been shown to reduce the length of meetings and decision-making time. This extremely simple method not only increases efficiency in discussions and decision-making but also results in a more pleasant working environment.

Research on creativity has documented that it is too simplistic to explain creative production with a single type of cognition. Creativity is a product, that does not come suddenly and unexpectedly, but is rather a consequence of thought processes, and involves an interplay between different mental processes. The creative process consists of two main types of mental processes, which are called generative processes and exploratory processes (Finke, Ward & Smith, 1992). It is a model that involves interplay between an initial generative phase, without strong goal orientation, followed by an exploratory phase with strong goal orientation.

Generative processes give rise to initial solutions, which are then repeatedly subjected to exploratory analysis to ensure solutions relative to the final goal. The generative process is fast, unconscious, and uncontrolled. It generates initial solutions, decisions, and judgments based on associative cues and pattern recognition. In the generative phase, many possible new solutions can be perceived. It cannot be interrupted or altered through rational thinking. The exploratory process is slow, conscious, and controllable. It determines the value of solutions, decisions, and judgments. In the exploratory phase, each solution is considered concerning the final goal. It can be interrupted or altered through rational thinking.

In the generative phase, mental representations are created, which are anticipatory structures. Generating anticipatory structures is only a small part of the creative process. Anticipatory structures must be interpreted and evaluated in the exploratory phase within the framework of the goal's constraints. In the exploratory phase, the anticipatory structures can either be focused on or built upon, and ideas can be analyzed, evaluated, and solutions can be constructed. In some cases, the analysis and evaluation will require a return to the generative process. Many leave the generative phase too early. It is a continuous cycle between generative and exploratory phases until a creative result is constructed. It may take several cycles before a final result in a creative product is achieved. The model presupposes an alternation between generative and exploratory phases and a refinement of structures in accordance with the requirements or constraints of the specific task.

Teresa Amabile

The American professor of business administration Teresa Amabile describes creativity in her book "Creativity in Context" (1996) as a method of problem-solving that relies on new adaptive responses to heuristic tasks. These responses can vary from a thought to being a product of artistic, political, academic, technical nature, or belonging to business.

A creative product is the result of three interacting functions. The first is having knowledge within a domain. The second is having knowledge of creative processes, which are methods to think innovatively. The third is motivation. When these three interact, the possibilities for a creative product are greatest. A product is considered creative if appropriate observers independently agree that it is creative. Appropriate observers are those who are familiar with the domain in which the product is created.

Amabile describes a frame for creativity consisting of three main elements: domain-relevant skills, which include actual knowledge, technical skills, and talents in the domain; creativity-relevant skills, which include cognitive styles, the application of heuristics, and work style; and task motivation, which determines the personal attitude towards a task. All three components operate at different levels in the process. According to Amabile, the most important component is the motivation for the task, which is not about external stimulus, but rather about an internal motivating state.

Creativity has often been associated with generating new ideas, but rarely with reference to the value and meaning of ideas. When a new idea is useful and feasible, it is called innovative, and when it is realized, it is called an innovation. An innovation is a product that has not previously been officially perceived and is significant for humans and society. This applies to all areas. It can be the manufacture of a product in a new material, using an object in a new way, or a theory that leads to the development of new technical aids.

Albert Rothenberg

Albert Rothenberg is an American professor of psychiatry who has focused on the creative process, emphasizing both novelty and value. He has conducted long-term studies of the creative process as it manifests in literature, art, and science, focusing on individuals who have been officially recognized and defined as creative. In his research on scientific creativity, he focuses on a cognitive process he calls the Janusian process. It is a process characterized by consciously constructing and holding incompatible opposites and antitheses in the mind. The Janusian process is a type of thinking that should not be confused with dialectical thinking. Dialectical thinking is characterized by opposites coming serially, then being combined in a so-called "thesis-antithesis-synthesis." In a Janusian process, opposites are not combined but remain in unresolved conflict. They are held in tense opposition, operate side by side, and can generate new and valuable constructions in later stages. They can represent each other and be freely combined in various ways.

The Janusian process is purposeful and intentional. Concepts that bring together opposites or antitheses are consciously constructed. They are held in the mind throughout the creative process. The creative thinker is aware of conflicts among opposites that operate simultaneously and of contradictions from a strictly logical perspective. Opposites or antitheses develop through a complex series of mental processes and functions.

In the article "The Process of Janusian Thinking in Scientific Creativity" (1996), he describes his study based on interviews with twenty-two Nobel laureates in natural sciences. The study's results show that the Janusian process is a crucial ability during the creative process. Representations of opposites or antitheses are intentionally and consciously coexisting. Previously accepted laws, factors, and conditions are still recognized and judged as valid, but antithetical laws, factors, and conditions are formulated as equally functioning and valid. Although they seem illogical, the formulations are constructed logically and rationally to produce creative effects.