Re:Creative minds: the links between mental illness and crea...
by amichail on Wednesday May 06, 2009 @04:42PM
(#596684)
I'd say the main difference is emotional.
What does that mean exactly and why does it not apply to mathematicians?
Re:Creative minds: the links between mental illness and crea...
by joecode on Wednesday May 06, 2009 @06:57PM
(#596948)
Mathematicians typically deal with abstract problems that have no direct relation to human feelings. Novelists, artists, and social scientists typically do the opposite.
Re:Creative minds: the links between mental illness and crea...
by biohacker42 on Wednesday May 06, 2009 @04:18PM
(#596636)
I'd say the main difference is emotional.
Yes, and I'd go further and say that it is specifically a much greater then average empathy intensity which leads to great and moving art.
And that can hurt emotionally just as much as being an elite athlete can hurt you physically.
Mathematical proofs require a lot of creativivty, too. There are many different ways to prove a given theorem, and it takes quite a bit of imagination to come up with one.
I'd say the main difference is emotional. Being creative in the humanities requires a certain emotional madness, which can be especially debilitating. Scientists and mathematicians mostly just need to be obsessive, focused, and good at ferreting out hard to recognize patterns.