Abstract
An intuitive view is that creativity involves bringing together what is already known and familiar in a way that produces something new. In cognitive science, this intuition is typically formalized in terms of computational processes that combine or associate internally represented information. From this computationalist perspective, it is hard to imagine how non-representational approaches in embodied cognitive science could shed light on creativity, especially when it comes to abstract conceptual reasoning of the kind scientists so often engage in. The present article offers an entry point to addressing this challenge. The scientific project of embodied cognitive science is a continuation of work in the functionalist tradition in psychology developed over a century ago by William James and John Dewey, among others. The focus here is on how functionalist views on the nature of mind, thought, and experience offer an alternative starting point for cognitive science in general, and for the cognitive science of scientific creativity in particular. The result may seem paradoxical. On the one hand, the article claims that the functionalist conceptual framework motivates rejecting mainstream cognitive views of creativity as the combination or association of ideas. On the other hand, however, the strategy adopted here—namely, revisiting ideas from functionalist psychology to inform current scientific theorizing—can itself be described as a process of arriving at new, creative ideas from combinations of old ones. As is shown here, a proper understanding of cognition in light of the functionalist tradition resolves the seeming tension between these two claims.
Highlights
Innovative design often involves combining previously separate features or functions into a single new product
It is helpful to take a larger view of contemporary embodied cognitive science and to understand it in continuity with the functionalist tradition in psychology developed over a century ago by William James and John Dewey1
The previous section explored some foundational themes in the functionalist tradition in psychology developed by James and Dewey, emphasizing their views on the nature of mind, thought, experience, and the relation between mind and world
Summary
Innovative design often involves combining previously separate features or functions into a single new product. Obvious examples include simple 2-in-1 products, such as the shampoo/conditioner combo, the washing machine with a built-in dryer, and the versatile baby car seat that transforms into a stroller. This is the case with multi-functional (i.e., many-in-one) products, such as current cellphones: in addition to making phone calls, the smartphone acts as a camera, GPS device, calculator, alarm clock, internet browser, and more. Even when we cannot trace the origin of a new thought, idea, or behavior, the process underlying creative insight is usually assumed to involve some kind of combining or associating prior knowledge in a new way rather than coming up with something completely novel out of thin air. As Thomas Ward puts it, “Clearly, ideas do not arise in a vacuum, and there is a trivial sense in which we must always rely on some type of stored information when we develop any new idea” (Ward, 1995, p. 157–158)
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