For Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), creativity is the key element in genius. However, Schopenhauer defined creativity in an unusual way. He wasn’t referring to the ability to create new concepts by recombining existing ones. No, he was referring to the rare ability to come up with breakthrough, surprising ideas. His theory of the will (life force) doesn’t attribute creativity to nature. Schopenhauer viewed the will as a wild, blind force that drives all living creatures to secure their reproduction and survival, and seek short-term pleasure regardless of the cost. In his book “The world as will and representation” (1818), Schopenhauer emphasised the need for reason, creativity, and self-discipline to escape the dire influence of the will. Schopenhauer rated creativity as important as all other skills derived from human intelligence. Creativity has little value in the absence of prudence, foresight, self-discipline, self-reliance and purposefulness. When virtues are practised in unison, they produce sizeable benefits, noted Schopenhauer. The problem is that few people have the motivation and endurance to keep practising virtue in the face of short-term failure. Creativity is the opposite of the will because it pushes in the opposite direction. While the will leads to deep chaos, entropy, disorder and suffering, creativity creates order, purpose, clarity and harmony. Creativity is the ultimate antidote to suffering. According to Schopenhauer, self-awareness is the first step to minimise the negative effects of the will. How can one grow self-aware? You need to stand still and observe. Stop striving, running and chasing. Stop reacting automatically. Slow down. After becoming self-aware, one needs to adopt measures to curtail the influence of the will. Are you pursuing objectives that you have not chosen yourself? Are you implementing projects that have few chances of success? Schopenhauer’s books “Parerga and Paralipomena” (1851) and “Two fundamental problems in ethics” (1843) encourage readers to cultivate prudence, foresight, purposefulness, self-discipline and self-reliance. Creativity and genius constitute the result of daily, relentless self-discipline. They are the result of sustained efforts to create order mentally and practically, emotionally and intellectually. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/schopenhauers-views-on-genius/

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