Read The Act of Creation Online
Authors: Arthur Koestler
Caddis-fly larva, 486
Calculus, infinitesimal, 110
Calderon, 53
Cannon, W. B., 55, 205, 211, 280, 286
Cantor's theory of infinite aggregates, 331
Caricature, 70-2, 90
Caricaturist, 182
Carlyle, T., 329
Carpenter, W. B., 152
Carracci, Annibale, 402
Carroll, Lewis, 67
Cartoons, 70-2
Cat, auditory nerve of, 514
"Cat in the Rain", 339
Catharsis, 306-9
Catholic Universe Bulletin, 37
Cats, 568-71
Causal sequencies, reversal of, 179
Causality, 615-18
physical, 584
Cavendish, 666
Cell, nucleus and cytoplasm, 421-3
Cell-matrix, 419-21
Centipede, paradox of the, 75-7
Central nervous system, control of motor activities by, 447
Centrosomes, 420
Cerebral cortex, regenerative adaptations of, 458
Cervantes, 148
Cezanne, 329, 538
Chambers, Robert, 132
Champollion, 186
Chaplin, Charlie, 61, 305
Character types, technique of creating, 68
Characters, fictional, 345 et seq.
Charcot, 152
Chekhov, A., 69
Chemistry, learned by explicit verbal form, 637
Chess, 40-2, 639, 650
problems, 91
Child, C. M., 452, 453
Child-Adult, bisociation of, 68-9
Children
and causality, 616
contradictions due to scales of relevant values, 627
learning to speak, 594 et seq.
picture-strip language of, 606
questioning mania of, 616-18
stage where symbolic relations become relevant, 628
symbols as action-words, 606-7
vocabulary of, 221
Chimpanzees
and tools, 573-4
experiments with, 101-2, 103-5, 108, 110, 119, 120,
504, 556, 573-5, 576-82
Chloroplasts, 420
Chromosomes, 419, 420, 421
Chronological matrices, 640
Cicero, 53, 74
Circular motion, 128, 129
Classificatory codes, 640
Closure principle, 387
Clown, 81-2
Cocaine Episode, 218-19
Cocteau, Jean, 182
Codes and coding, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 64,
96, 163, 209, 416, 418-21,424,428,464,
471-3, 479, 484, 518, 524, 552, 572,
593, 636-9, 642 et seq., 645, 656 et seq.
autonomy of, 552
explanation of, 39, 40
in piano-playing, 547
in playing soccer, 549
logical, 625
mode of operation, 40
of organisms, 417 et seq.
of perception, 376-80
suspension of, at discovery stage, 178
Coghill, G. E., 430, 431, 447, 506
Cognitive theories, 561-2
Cohen, J., 342
Coincidence, bisociation of, 78
Coleridge, S. T., 152, 166, 167, 169
Colour, temperature values of, 375
Comedy, 304
Comic
Bergson's interpretation of the, 46, 47
bisociative mechanisms of the, 182
defining the, 31-2
Comic simile, 340
Comic technique, 82-6
(see also Humour, Laughter)
Common sense, 636
Complexes, repressed, 181
Composing music, 547
Concepts, 642, 645
defined, 597
Concretization, and symbolism, 182-6
Conditional fear reflex, 610
Conditional reflex, 498
Conflict, 350-2
Connoisseurship, 537
Conscious
and unconscious experiences, 154
ante-chamber of, 160, 161
code guiding focal beam of, 163
levels of, 658
linear scale of awareness distinguished from hierarchic levels, 632
presence chamber of, 160
protoplasmic, 154, 292
symbiotic, 292
two-way traffic with unconscious, 181-2,
verbal thinking dominating, 600
Conservation of Energy, Principle of, 239
Constable, 378, 379, 381, 382
Consummatory act, 480-4
Contes Drolatiques, 83
Context level, in telegraphy, 545
Contradiction
law of, 627, 628
three stages in law of, 627
Contradistinction, law of, 625
Controls, supra-ordinate, 468
Controversy, scientific, 240 et seq.
Convention and creation, 380-2,
Copernicus, 124, 125, 128, 216, 217, 225, 234, 240, 677
fear of ridicule, 238
Cordelier, Frère, 122
"Coronation Street", 302-3
Cosmic vortices, theory of, 663
Costa of Haarlem, 122
Coué, E., 313
Coulomb, 664, 666
Counting, 623, 624
Course in Poetics, A, 317
Cowan, J. D., 21
Coward, Noël, 67
Cozens, Alexander, 376
Crab, ambulation of, 439
Craig,W., 481, 492,
Craik, K. J., 506, 564, 585, 618, 634
Creation
act of, based on an underlying pattern, 330
convention and, 380-2
judging an act of, 330-1
visual, 366 et seq.
Creative act
bisociation of two genetic codes, 452
dreamlike phases of, 325
musical composition, 547
psychologists' views on, 12-13
regression in, 315, 316
relaxing of controls in, 178
Creative activity
a regression, 462
humour and, 31
operates on two planes, 35, 36
patterns of, 27
Creative anarchy, 229-30, 335
Creative emphasis, 82, 83
Creative instability, 498
"Creative Mind"
note on, 177
Creative originality, 82-3, 131
Creative synthesis,
see 'Discovery'
Creativity
regeneration and, 463-5
starts where language ends, 177
Crowther, J. G., on Maxwell, 689-90
Crustaceans, regeneration in, 451
Crying
comparison with weeping, 271-2
in hunger, 281
in pain, 280
with fear, 281
Cubist, 376
Curiosity, 501-4
"Cutting of an Agate, The", 674
Daguerre, 195
Daily Express, 405
Dante, 148
Dantzig, T., 624
Darchen. R., 505
Darwin, C., 29, 80, 131, 132, 133 et seq., 213, 225, 503, 692-6, 707
natural selection and, 131-44
note on, 254
on pain, 280
Darwin, Dr. E., 132, 137, 143, 265
Darwin. R., 692
Data, collecting, 233
Daumier, 72
Davy, H., 668
Day-dreaming, 635
dreaming and, 180
Death-and-Rebirth motif, 358 et seq.
Deformity, bisociation of, 74-5
de Gaulle, General, 70
Degradation theory of laughter, 53
De Magnete, 662
de Méré, Chevalier, 103
Denes, P., 534
De-particularization, in hearing, 515
Descartes, René, 53, 148, 149, 211, 228, 250, 342, 663
Descent of Man, The, 503, 693
Desdemona, 33, 58
Destructive environmental conditions, 449
Dialogue Concerning Two New Sciences, 265, 679
quoted, 680-2
Dickens, Charles, 75
Dictionary of Psychology, 510
Dimensional variables in thinking, 630-1
Dirac, Paul, 245, 329
Discovery
analogies related to scientitic development, 224
animal, 101-2, 103-4
anti-rabies vaccine, 114
'blindness' of thinkers, 216-20
by analogy and intuition, 199-207
by misadventure, 192 et seq.
chance and ripeness, 108-18
collective, 335
concept of the unconscious, 147-54
data and, 233-5
derivations of artistic, 328
false inspirations and, 212-14
faulty integrations and, 214-16
Fuchsian functions, 114-16
independent multiple, 110
influence on art-forms, 334-5
inoculation, 112-13
letter-press, 123
links in history of, 230
magnetism and electricity, 661 et seq.
mathematical, 114-18, 164
mechanism of the solar system, 124-30
multiple, 335
natural selection, 131-44
principle of Archimedes, 105-8
principle of relativity, 111
printing press, 121-4
rare in Art, 393
recurrent cycles in, 335
rediscovery, 335
Relativity Theory, 175-6
rules of, 652
scientists and, 190, 661 et seq.
suspension of codes of disciplined reasoning in, 178
unexpected, 145 et seq.
vaccination, 112-14
Discrimination, 610-11, 625
learning process, 490
Disease, controversies over origins of, 242
Disney, Walt, 67
Displacement, 189-91
activities, 485
of emphasis, 464
phenomenon of, 179
Disraeli, B., 133
DNA, 417 et seq., 421
Dogmatic matrices, 640
Dogs, 563-4, 565
Don Quixote, 38, 305
Donald Duck, 67
Donne, John, 229, 359, 363, 674
Double entendre, 91
Double identity, 179
Dramatic art
conflict, 350-2
identification and, 345-6
origin of, 308-9
paradox and climax, 350-1
Dreamer, gullibility of the, 179
Dreaming
essential part of psychic metabolism, 181
displacement in, 189
passive bisociation in, 178
restorative power of sleep derived from, 462
reversal of logic in, 191
Drever, J., 535
Dubos, R., 113, 247, 261
Duncker, Carl, 189
Dürer, 329
Dynamic equilibrium, 449
Dynamo, electrical, 194, 670
Ear, and hearing, 513
Eastman, Max, 79
Echo, 48
Eclogues, 146
Economy, 335-40, 397
in anthorship, 339
Eddington, 251, 265
Edison, T., 190, 196, 197, 256, 705
Effect, Law of, 495, 496
Egg, fertilized, 417 et seq.
molecules of, 417-18
Ego, 292-3
Egomorphism, 296
Egyptian painting, 368, 376, 377
Eidetic images, 530-1
Einstein, A., 111, 146, 173, 175-6, 176-7, 183, 211, 213,
214, 234, 243, 249, 251, 256, 258, 461, 672, 704-5
and cosmic religiousness, 262
description of working methods, 171-2
Electric motor, 194
Electrical conduction, 665
Electricity
and magnetism, 661 et seq.
unification with magnetism, 230
Electromagnetic radiation, 670
Electrostatic field, 666
Elements, transmutability of chemical, 215
Eliot, T. S., 45
Embryo
organizers and inducers, 425-8
regulative and mosaic development, 423-4
Embryonic development, motivation in, 467
Emerson, 388, 389
Emma Bovary, 310
Emotion
earthing of, 328
science and, 255 et seq.
Emotional catharsis, 383
at moment of discovery, 87-8
bodily changes of self-asserting, 56
catharsis of, 87, 88
inertia of, 55-63
James-Lange theory of, 286
laughter and, 53 et seq.
participatory tendencies, 54, 271 et seq.
physiological effects of, 57
reason and, 56
self-transcending tencdencies, 54, 88, 285
three-dimensional theory of, 276
Emotive potentials, 321-2, 328
Emotive response, law and order in, 325-6
Empathy, 188
projective, 296, 374, 386, 387
Empedocles, 131
Emphasis, 334
Empson, W., 353
Engrams, 519-20, 523
Environment, 448, 469
variable, 450
Enzyme-producing genes, 419, 422
Enzymes, 418
Epicureans, 131
Epicurus, 164
Epileptics, induced fits in, 311
Equilibrium, 448-50
Erasmus, 256
Erewhon, 73
Escapism, 306
Ether-drift, 244
Eudoxus, 256
Evolution, 226
regeneration and, 465-6
surplus of needs an inherent characteristic, 493
Evolutionary doctrine, 131
Evolutionary process, complementary aspects of, 416-19
Exaggeration, 333
'Excitation clang', 442
Experiment, verification by, 214
Experimental science, Galileo's, 680
Explanation, gradations in, 619-20
Exploratory drive, 87, 501, 502, 504-7
in organisms, 506-7
inherent, 507
Expressionist art, 370
Eyesight, 158
Eyseneck, 242
Facts, collecting, 233
Falstaff, 61
Faraday, Michael, 170, 171, 190, 194, 213, 230, 321, 668, 670, 687-8
Fear reflex, conditioned, 610
Fechner, 153, 495
Fermentation, controversy on, 240-1
Fey, Dietrich, 400
Fibonacci sequence, 329
Fichte, I. H., 151, 152, 159
Fiction, identification in, 345-6
Fidelio, 68
Finnegans Wake, 339
Fish
nest-building, 479-80
swimming motions of, 438
Flatworm, 451, 454
Fleming, A., 145, 194, 200, 707
Flower, the root and the, 362-3
Focal awareness, 180
Fogg museum, Harvard, 402
Following response, 489-91
Fontanelle, 228
Foreshortening, 374
Forgetting, 190
Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, 694
Forster's syndrome, 315-16
Fragonard, 336
Frames of reference, 35, 38, 40, 43, 63, 320
France, Anatole, 73
Frankenstein, 256
Frankenstein monsters, 47
Franklin, Benjamin, 202-4, 256, 665, 666, 685-7
Free association, 646
choice, 632-3
French Revolution, 132
Freud, S., 32, 55, 59, 86, 139, 153, 159, 166, 181, 191, 192,
200, 218, 256, 257, 265, 292, 320, 495, 496
quoted, 13
Fringe, 159
Fry, D. B., 534
Fry, Roger, 395
Fuchsian functions, 114-16
Full consciousness, 208
Function, reorganization of, 457-60
Functional integration, 416, 417
Fundamentalists, 131
Gabor, D., 21
Galambos, R., 513
Galanter, E., 433
Galatea, 47
Galileo, 48, 94, 102, 110, 125, 131, 176, 217, 228, 236, 239,
240, 256, 265, 507, 662, 679-83
Gall, F. J., 215, 234
Galois, Everist, 111, 704
Galton, Sir Francis, 160, 166
Galvani, Luigi, 667
Games, parlour, 38-9
strategy of, 39
Gastaut, H.. 550
Gauss, K. F., 117-18
Generalization, learning process, 490
Genes, 418
Genetic code, 417-19, 421
Genetics, controversies over, 241
Genius, corporate orthodoxy the curse of, 239
Germ theory, 247
Gestalt school of psychology, 109, 387, 432, 497, 560
ambiguities of, 582
pitfalls of, 573 et seq.
theory, 517
Gibson, J. J., 50
Gilbert, W., 228, 662, 665
Gladstone, W. E., 143
Goethe, 132, 151, 257
Goldstein, K., 501
note on, 382
Golem of Prague, 47
Gombrich, E. H., 378, 395, 398
Goose, imprinted, 489
Gradients, ascending, 390-1
Grafting operations, 459
Graves, R., 321
Gravity, controversy on theory of, 240
Gray, Asa, 132, 665, 666
Greek art, 369, 372, 376, 377, 378, 395-6
Greek science, 675-6
Greig, J.Y.T., 32
Gris, Juan, 374
Groddeck, 153
Growth, controlled by genetic code, 432
Guarini, 335
Guericke, 665
Guided learning, 575, 612
Gulliver in Laputa, 257
Gulliver's Travels, 73
Gutenberg, J., 121, 163
Guthrie, E. R., 496, 559
Habit, 44-5
and originality, 649 et seq.
Habit-formation, 155
Habits, mechanization of, 154-7
Hadamard, J., 116, 120, 147, 329
inquiry into working methods of mathemeticians, 171-2
Haeckel, Ernst, 250, 342
Halley, 663, 664
Hamburger, V., 424
Hamlet, 345
Hamman, 173
Handbook of Psychological Research on the Rat, 567
Handwriting, 552
Hardy, G. H., 329
Harlow, H. F., 501, 504
Harmony of the Spheres, 260, 261
Harter, N., 431, 544
Hartmann, E. von, 153
Harvey, W., 228, 234
Hauptmann, G., 351
Haüy, Abbé, 192-3, 707
Head, Henry, 532, 599, 601
Hearing, 513 et seq.
filtering process in, 518-19
melody, 520-1
selective control of input, 514-16
Heath, T. L., 237
Hebb, D. O., 497, 498, 505, 519, 526, 537, 538, 561, 562, 565, 590,
607, 646
Hegel, 151
Heideshain, M., 432
Heine, H., 89, 90
Heinroth, O., 491
Helmholtz, von, 170, 217, 231
Hemingway, A., 69
Henry, Joseph, 194
Herder, 151
Hero, 102, 109
Herodotus, 623
Heron, W., 502
Herschel, 614
Herz, H. R., 671
Hierarchy, the concept of, 287-91
Hierarchic level of consciousness, 632, 633
Hierarchies of environment, 483
Hierarchies of feedback, 483
Hilgard, E. R., 496, 500, 556, 559, 562, 569, 590
Himmelfarb, G., 139
Hingston, R.W.G., 486
Hippasos, 215
Hippocratic 'humours', 48
Hippocratic Oath, 675
Hippocratics, 675
Histoire Naturelle, 131
History of Art
discoveries of new techniques, 393-4
stagnation and cross-fertilization, 395-6
visual representation, 367-9
History of Physics, 664
History of science, 234 et seq.
History of science, The, 334
Hixon Symposium, 413, 433
Hobbes, T., 53, 89, 214, 646
Hogarth, 72
Homer, 353
Homeric laughter, 30
Homunculus, 47
Honey-bee, 487, 567
Hook, Sidney, 176
Hooked atoms of thought, 164-6
Horrocks, J., 704
Horsley, Miss E., 21
Hoskins, M., 685
Housman, A. E., 317, 318, 354
How Natives Think, 624
Hull, C. L, 497, 499, 500, 557, 559
Human, perceptual and sensory-motor skills, 513
Human figure, proportions of, note on, 331-2
Humorist
bisociative process of the, 93, 94
the creative act of the, 94
Humour
aggression and, 52, 54, 56, 62
creation of, 91-3
defined, 31
economy in, 84
emotional dynamics of, 55 et seq.
identification in, 54
implication in, 84
interpolation and extrapolation, 84
Law of Infolding and, 340
procedure for dissecting, 64
riddle in, 85, 86
technique of implication, 82-4
transformation, 85
varieties of, 64 et seq.
(see also 'Comic technique', 'Laughter')
Humphrey, G., 601, 603, 646
Humphreys, L. G., 499
Huxley, Aldous, 62
Huxley, T. H., 144, 213, 214, 218, 233
Huyghens, 228, 240
Hyden, H., 21, 519
Hydra, 451
Hypnosis, 297
Hypno-therapy, 297
Hypnotism in dental surgery, 239
Hypparchus, 234