The blending of intellectual and creativity

THE BLENDING OF

INTELLECT AND CREATIVITY

Bob King introduces us to his philosophy teacher, Macomber, who was his teacher at UCSB in 1971. Macomber made an immense impression upon him helping him to formulate his course, "Digital Media for the Artist".  King's story is a tribute, a personal story, a scientific, professional and technology story all in one. 

King's essay, "The Play of Mind on Mind" explains to us how Macomber viewed education.  Macomber believed that knowledge involves reading, writing and conversation and unlike most professors recommended Cliff Notes.  Cliff Notes would give you the main ideas on which to build a conversation.  Macomber points out that artists practice and perform.  He believed that liberal artists play conversation - it was their creative medium.  Macomber points out that you start elementary school by being told to be still and be quiet.  As one grows one has to re-learn conversational skills.  Macomber points out that students of the arts should see conversation as a creative activity, as a dance.  He says, "try picturing liberal arts education as noisy, talkative, comfortable, very creative and artful like dance".  King notes that Jenlink and Carr proposed different types of conversation, i.e. transacting, transforming and transcendent.  Macomber was ahead of his time by pointing out that people learn by building on what they already know.  King takes this further and calls it the "Katamari style" of learning.

In Kings' essay, "The Crux of the Matter", he describes Macomber's conflict with the Greek-Indo European and Christian/Semitic way of looking at life.  King further explains that Macomber believed that if you added emotion and sexuality to reading, writing and talking a life of the spirit would develop.

In "A Concluding Reflection"  King explains that there are four basic types of knowledge, scientific, aesthetic, intellectual and spiritual.  The common feature of them all is conversation.  He concludes his conversational telling of the story telling us about the next phase of writing a script and adding music.

Thien Nhat Hahn's passage uses the example of a poet who sees a cloud floating in a sheet of paper.  Basically, that nothing in this world is separate, everything is related.

Malcolm Gladwell's article, "the Physical Genius" describes how a sports hero, a master cellist and a renowned brain surgeon all have their imagination as a common denominator.

"Media Studies: A Field Guide" by King demonstrates how intellect and creativity are intertwined.  He describes the context, history, content and method of media studies.  He introduces various concepts from such well known writers as Marshall McLuhan, Walter Ong, Mimi Ito among others.  King shows that what one learns in higher education is "verticality".  It is an education that is higher and deeper enabling one to talk with intelligence and creativity.