Part 1 of The Runaway Species -- New Under the Sun

Discuss the January 2019 Philosophy Book of the Month, The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World by David Eagleman and Anthony Brandt.
Post Reply
User avatar
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
The admin formerly known as Scott
Posts: 5765
Joined: January 20th, 2007, 6:24 pm
Favorite Philosopher: Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
Contact:

Part 1 of The Runaway Species -- New Under the Sun

Post by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes »

This topic is for discussing Part 1 of The Runaway Species. Please do not post in this topic unless you have read at least through Part 1 of The Runaway Species.

How did you enjoy Part 1 of the book?

From my reading of it, in this part of the book, assert that creativity always involves at least one of three main components: bending, breaking, or blending. Then many examples are given of each. This providing of many examples both (1) helps explain what they mean by each of three components and (2) helps provide the evidence to backup their assertion that creativity involves bending, breaking, or blending.

Did you interpret the authors' main assertion in Part 1 to be as I have summarized it above? If so, do you agree with it? If not, what did you under the authors' assertion(s) in Part 1 to be, especially regarding "bending", "breaking", and "blending"?

Overall, I enjoyed reading Part 1 of the book. However, I did feel like it was a slow point in the book for me. Going over so many examples started to seem repetitive and less interesting to me the more it went on. Granted, this is somewhat to be expected since the first part of a book like this is presumably providing the foundation of the hopefully more interesting arguments in the rest of the book, such as in terms of creating a foundation of evidence, examples, and background info.

What do you think?
My entire political philosophy summed up in one tweet.

"The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master."

I believe spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline) manifests as bravery, confidence, grace, honesty, love, and inner peace.
Tehsorso
Posts: 10
Joined: December 23rd, 2014, 3:49 pm

Re: Part 1 of The Runaway Species -- New Under the Sun

Post by Tehsorso »

I think that, rather than discrete categories, at least two processes - bending and breaking - can really be seen as degrees of intensity of a nearly universal creative process: the modification of an initial entity according to the goals of the individual. In other words, there is a point where bending becomes breaking - such as that when the modifications to the original lead to the creation of something entirely different (for instance, in the case of the bull drawing, where the more extreme renditions are beyond recognition).

Blending is a more difficult process to include on this continuum; however, rather than keeping it separate, it can be conceputalized as an underlying prerequisite to both breaking and bending. After all, most creative endeavors can be seen as alternation of a certain thing/situation/concept by drawing inspiration from another thing/situation/concept.

In other words, all creative acts involve a degree of bending, breaking and blending.

I'll check with the book later today, but from what I remember I don't think the authors touched on the potential of the three concepts to be more or less simultaneously present in all creative acts, rather than isolate.
User avatar
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
The admin formerly known as Scott
Posts: 5765
Joined: January 20th, 2007, 6:24 pm
Favorite Philosopher: Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
Contact:

Re: Part 1 of The Runaway Species -- New Under the Sun

Post by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes »

I agree that in the book, as best I recall, the authors weren't clear whether they were arguing that categories were meant to be mutually exclusive or not. I feel the way or presenting implied that they were, but (since I feel that would be blatantly untrue) I gave them the benefit of the doubt and assume they realize that it is a continuum, with different acts of creativity involving different levels of bending, breaking, and blending.

When things are "bent", that could probably generally be considered a form of blending. For example, if you make something bigger, in a sense you are blending the concept of bigness or something big with the original concept. If you take something that's usually red and make it blue, you are blending the things that are blue with something that's usually red. So I don't think the distinction between the three categories is black-and-white, but rather it is a useful construct with useful but arbitrary categorizations of different types creative methods (bending, breaking, and blending).
My entire political philosophy summed up in one tweet.

"The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master."

I believe spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline) manifests as bravery, confidence, grace, honesty, love, and inner peace.
User avatar
calm-realm
New Trial Member
Posts: 6
Joined: March 31st, 2018, 11:36 am

Re: Part 1 of The Runaway Species -- New Under the Sun

Post by calm-realm »

About the three B's (bending, breaking and blending):
I also interpreted that any combination of the B's can be used in the creative process, and their boundaries are not extremely clear (or important). What the authors did was an Analysis: break a complex topic into more manageable pieces. I found this to be incredibly useful and insightful, because then a structure appears in the previously unclear creative process.

About the summary: I agree if every word of Scott's Summary (even that sometimes there are too much examples). I would just add :
- Innovation never stops because it is never about the right thing; it’s about the next thing.
- Creative ideas need to find their audience, the social context defines its acceptance. If it is too similar to previous ideas, it is not interesting; if it is too different, people get shocked or do not understand.

I thought maybe we can iterate the summary to improve it collectively (Bending it and blending with new insights). Here is my try:
The authors assert in the first part of the book that creativity always involves at least one of three main components: bending, breaking, or blending. Then they give many examples (sometimes too many) in order to both (1) help explain what they mean by each of three components and (2) provide the evidence to backup their assertion that creativity involves bending, breaking, or blending.
They use the same technique to assert that a creative ideas will never cease to exists because the current solutions quickly become uninteresting and that the innovation must have the right amount of change to be accepted by its audience: too much of the same and they lose interest; too much change and they get disoriented.
Post Reply

Return to “The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World by David Eagleman and Anthony Brandt”

2023/2024 Philosophy Books of the Month

Entanglement - Quantum and Otherwise

Entanglement - Quantum and Otherwise
by John K Danenbarger
January 2023

Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless: Wisdom Behind the Incomparable Chicken Soup for the Soul

Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless: Wisdom Behind the Incomparable Chicken Soup for the Soul
by Mitzi Perdue
February 2023

Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature: How Civilization Destroys Happiness

Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature: How Civilization Destroys Happiness
by Chet Shupe
March 2023

The Unfakeable Code®

The Unfakeable Code®
by Tony Jeton Selimi
April 2023

The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
by Alan Watts
May 2023

Killing Abel

Killing Abel
by Michael Tieman
June 2023

Reconfigurement: Reconfiguring Your Life at Any Stage and Planning Ahead

Reconfigurement: Reconfiguring Your Life at Any Stage and Planning Ahead
by E. Alan Fleischauer
July 2023

First Survivor: The Impossible Childhood Cancer Breakthrough

First Survivor: The Impossible Childhood Cancer Breakthrough
by Mark Unger
August 2023

Predictably Irrational

Predictably Irrational
by Dan Ariely
September 2023

Artwords

Artwords
by Beatriz M. Robles
November 2023

Fireproof Happiness: Extinguishing Anxiety & Igniting Hope

Fireproof Happiness: Extinguishing Anxiety & Igniting Hope
by Dr. Randy Ross
December 2023

Beyond the Golden Door: Seeing the American Dream Through an Immigrant's Eyes

Beyond the Golden Door: Seeing the American Dream Through an Immigrant's Eyes
by Ali Master
February 2024

2022 Philosophy Books of the Month

Emotional Intelligence At Work

Emotional Intelligence At Work
by Richard M Contino & Penelope J Holt
January 2022

Free Will, Do You Have It?

Free Will, Do You Have It?
by Albertus Kral
February 2022

My Enemy in Vietnam

My Enemy in Vietnam
by Billy Springer
March 2022

2X2 on the Ark

2X2 on the Ark
by Mary J Giuffra, PhD
April 2022

The Maestro Monologue

The Maestro Monologue
by Rob White
May 2022

What Makes America Great

What Makes America Great
by Bob Dowell
June 2022

The Truth Is Beyond Belief!

The Truth Is Beyond Belief!
by Jerry Durr
July 2022

Living in Color

Living in Color
by Mike Murphy
August 2022 (tentative)

The Not So Great American Novel

The Not So Great American Novel
by James E Doucette
September 2022

Mary Jane Whiteley Coggeshall, Hicksite Quaker, Iowa/National Suffragette And Her Speeches

Mary Jane Whiteley Coggeshall, Hicksite Quaker, Iowa/National Suffragette And Her Speeches
by John N. (Jake) Ferris
October 2022

In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All

In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All
by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
November 2022

The Smartest Person in the Room: The Root Cause and New Solution for Cybersecurity

The Smartest Person in the Room
by Christian Espinosa
December 2022

2021 Philosophy Books of the Month

The Biblical Clock: The Untold Secrets Linking the Universe and Humanity with God's Plan

The Biblical Clock
by Daniel Friedmann
March 2021

Wilderness Cry: A Scientific and Philosophical Approach to Understanding God and the Universe

Wilderness Cry
by Dr. Hilary L Hunt M.D.
April 2021

Fear Not, Dream Big, & Execute: Tools To Spark Your Dream And Ignite Your Follow-Through

Fear Not, Dream Big, & Execute
by Jeff Meyer
May 2021

Surviving the Business of Healthcare: Knowledge is Power

Surviving the Business of Healthcare
by Barbara Galutia Regis M.S. PA-C
June 2021

Winning the War on Cancer: The Epic Journey Towards a Natural Cure

Winning the War on Cancer
by Sylvie Beljanski
July 2021

Defining Moments of a Free Man from a Black Stream

Defining Moments of a Free Man from a Black Stream
by Dr Frank L Douglas
August 2021

If Life Stinks, Get Your Head Outta Your Buts

If Life Stinks, Get Your Head Outta Your Buts
by Mark L. Wdowiak
September 2021

The Preppers Medical Handbook

The Preppers Medical Handbook
by Dr. William W Forgey M.D.
October 2021

Natural Relief for Anxiety and Stress: A Practical Guide

Natural Relief for Anxiety and Stress
by Dr. Gustavo Kinrys, MD
November 2021

Dream For Peace: An Ambassador Memoir

Dream For Peace
by Dr. Ghoulem Berrah
December 2021