Chapter 8. YOU ARE NOT ALONE

"Individual creativity is almost always stimulated by the work, ideas and achievements of other people."

THE LONE GENIUS?

The popular image of creativity is of the lone genius swimming heroically against an oppressive tide of convention pursuing ideas that no one has had before. There are numerous examples of iconic figures who have made groundbreaking contributions in their own areas of work. I have mentioned some of them in previous chapters; including Galileo, Isaac Newton, Martha Graham and others. But the image of the lone genius can be misleading. Original ideas may emanate from the creative inspiration of individual minds, but they do not emerge in a cultural vacuum. Only in the most exceptional circumstances ...

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