Daily Archives: 12 Jul 06
What Kind of Genius Are You?
“A new theory suggests that creativity comes in two distinct types – quick and dramatic, or careful and quiet.” Wired is all over this supposedly ingenious theory of Chicago economist David Galenson, “nothing less than a unified field theory of creativity.” Only it is not a new theory at all. Writers on creativity have long distinguished the brash immature version, often a flash-in-the-pan, from the more measured mature creativity which emerges later in life and seems to build more on a lifetime’s groundwork. There also seems to be a relationship between the respective style of creativity and either iconoclasm or reverence, not surprisingly. It strikes me that it is sometimes more difficult to recognize mature creativity, and a fortiori to proclaim it genius, since it is a matter of opinion whether it is anything more than mere synthesis of, or even borrowing from, the prior creative work in whose tradition it is embedded and on which it draws. There may be an inverse correlation between the frequency with which someone is proclaimed a mature genius and the critic’s familiarity with what has already been done in the field. Perhaps that is why the Wired writer is so enamored of Galenson’s work.
In Big Shift, U.S. to Follow Geneva Treaty for Detainees
“The Bush administration called today for Congress to fix, rather than scrap, the system of military tribunals that was struck down by the Supreme Court last month, while the Pentagon pledged to treat detainees in accordance with the Geneva Conventions as the court required.” (New York Times )
Before the court ruling, the administration repeatedly stated that the detainees were not subject to the protections of the Geneva Conventions; now they are, but mealymouthed administration spokesmen feel the most important point to make about this announcement is that it is not a change of policy. Let us hope there is a fight brewing in Congress about an imperious administration now needing to crawl hat in hand to them to rubberstamp its abuses of power.
U.S. Terror Targets: Petting Zoo and Flea Market?
“It reads like a tally of terrorist targets that a child might have written: Old MacDonald’s Petting Zoo, the Amish Country Popcorn factory, the Mule Day Parade, the Sweetwater Flea Market and an unspecified “Beach at End of a Street.”
But the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, in a report released Tuesday, found that the list was not child’s play: all these “unusual or out-of-place” sites “whose criticality is not readily apparent” are inexplicably included in the federal antiterrorism database.
The National Asset Database, as it is known, is so flawed, the inspector general found, that as of January, Indiana, with 8,591 potential terrorist targets, had 50 percent more listed sites than New York (5,687) and more than twice as many as California (3,212), ranking the state the most target-rich place in the nation.” (New York Times )
Another Mission ‘Accomplished’
“This is proof, if anyone still needs it, that this administration is desperate for something to boast about. On Mr. Bush’s watch, triple-digit budget surpluses have turned into annual triple-digit budget deficits. There’s no information in the midsession report to alter that utterly dispiriting fact. Yes, the report is expected to project that this year’s deficit will be somewhat less gargantuan than last year’s — probably somewhere between $280 billion and $300 billion, versus a $318 billion shortfall in 2005. That’s not much to crow about.
But Mr. Bush is likely to gloat, anyway. Earlier this year, the administration conveniently projected a highly inflated deficit of $423 billion. With that as a starting point, the actual results can be spun to look as if they’re worth cheering.” (New York Times editorial)
