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Fig. 13.1
Two frameworks for generating chairs are represented here by the probability that each
generates a particular design in the space of possible chairs. If distribution 1 represents our existing
framework, a traditional way of conceiving of chairs, the introduction of distribution 2, a radical
approach that deviates from the tradition of a square platform with legs at each corner, would
count as creative. The reverse scenario in which distribution 2 predates distribution 1 would have
distribution 1 being creative with respect to 2
matter. A pseudo-random number generator is a framework for generating pseudo-
random numbers. And evolution is a framework for generating ecosystems, niches
and organisms. Based on this conception of a framework we offer our own definition
of creativity.
Creativity
is the introduction and use of a framework that has a relatively high
probability of producing representations of patterns that can arise only with a
smaller probability in previously existing frameworks.
What we mean by this is not altogether plain, so we shall spend the remainder of
this section examining our definition and the next section comparing its implications
with those of alternatives.
The basic idea of our definition is reflected in Fig.
13.1
. Distribution 1 repre-
sents an old framework for designing chairs, and distribution 2 a new one. Both are
probability distributions over a common design space, represented in the figure by
the horizontal dimension. All points in the design space where distribution 2 has
significant probability are points where distribution 1 has insignificant probability.
The use of distribution 2 relative to the prior use of distribution 1 to generate one of
these points is therefore creative.
The motivation for this approach to understanding creativity comes from search
and optimisation theory. When a solution to a problem can be cast in terms of a
computational representation to be found in some definable representation space,
then the problem can be tackled by applying some search algorithm to that space.
