World Science Festival 2008: Illuminating Genius (Excerpt)

Blending live performances, personal accounts of the creative process, and state-of-the-art brain imaging, this program illuminated questions about whether creativity is innate or learned, whether the innovative brain has distinct structural or chemical features, and whether we can enhance our ability — and that of our children — to be creative.

Choreographer and dancer Bill T. Jones, actor Michael York, painter, sculptor and digital artist Matthew Ritchie, and 2007 MacArthur Fellow and "prodigy of invention" Saul Griffith joined neuroscientists V.S. Ramachandran, Nancy C. Andreasen, and David Eagleman to explore cutting edge research into the brains creative impulses. The event was moderated by John Hockenberry.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Nancy
• Andreasen
• David
• Eagleman
• Saul
• Griffith
• John
• Hockenberry
• Bill
• T.
• Jones
• Vilayanur
• Ramachandran
• Matthew
• Ritchie
• Michael
• York
• Neuroscience
• dance
• brain
• art
• creativity

[IKNOWALLABOUTALL]

Bill T. Jones doesn't make any sense! He totally missunderstands the other guy! Pointing his finger is rude also; one would think someone who works with his body would know this. I think hes got something missing in his brain in regards to communicating with people. He just says whatever he wants no matter what anyone else says.

For example:

Person A - "Hi Bill what would you like on your burger?"

Bill- " you cannot understand MY burger, it is MY church"

I would like to see the full video.

[bernzeppi]

Dancer dude is full of himself... there was no interaction, just pure ego

[EpifanoEntertainment]

what does he says from 3:24 to 3:26?

[DJSpinoza]

I think what we witnessed between the dancer and the doctor was a clash of two ideologies. For the dancer his dance is a spiritual thing and it is understandable why he is defensive. The scientist appears to discard the notion of a human as a spiritual being in favor of a materialistic world view where you are no more than a sum of your constituent components, you are your brain cells.

[DJSpinoza]

The scientist is driven by curiosity, he wants to take things apart to see how they work, thinks he can understand beauty that way. Remember the fable about the cottager and his wife who had a hen that laid a golden egg every day? They supposed the hen must contain a great lump of gold in its inside, and in order to get the gold they killed it. Having done so, they found to their surprise the hen differed in no respect from their other hens. I don't think Bill T. Jones wanted to be a dead hen.

[vielbosheit]

@Trailer1220 I mean as I understand it you seem to be in the 'qualia' camp

[vielbosheit]

@Trailer1220 What else would we be if not the sum total of neurological activity in our brains? Perhaps I am misunderstanding what you mean.

[vielbosheit]

5:23, sick crotch grab

[Ramsez]

that's one crazy negro. he just starts dancing in the middle of the interview...

[Trailer1220]

I've come to the point where i really just feel sorry for people who think 'they' are nothing more than the sum total of neurological activity in their brain. The conscious experience you have of the world is entirely non-physical, entirely subjective existing beyond third party observation. Our minds are not of the same essence as our brains, yes mind is manifest through the physical form of the brain but the qualitative experience of consciousness is 'you'. Your essence is energy not matter