Our potential for evil and creativity

Psychologist Rollo May explains the classic Greek conception of the “daimonic” or darker side of our being (unlike the demonic, which is merely destructive) is “as much concerned with creativity as with negative reactions.

“The daimonic model considers both creativity on one side, and anger and rage on the other side, as coming from the same source. That is, constructiveness and destructiveness have the same source in human personality. The source is simply human potential.”

[From his foreword to psychologist Stephen A. Diamond's book "Anger, Madness, and the Daimonic: The Psychological Genesis of Violence, Evil, and Creativity," psychologist

What reminded me of May's quotes (from my interview with Dr. Diamond: The Psychology of Creativity: redeeming our inner demons) is a post by creativity researcher James C. Kaufman on his Psychology Today blog, in which he points out that creativity and intellect are not simply "pure" and only virtuous. He asks :

"Is Hannibal Lecter creative? Was Adolf Hitler creative? How about Ted Bundy, Voldemort, Charles Manson, Vito Corleone, Jesse James, Lizzie Borden, or that guy who used to pick on you in the sixth grade?

"If creativity is seen as having an inherent moral component to it, then these people cannot be creative.

"If to be a creative person is to be a good person, then it's hard to argue that Josef Stalin or John Wilkes Booth were particularly creative.

"Indeed, Robert Sternberg has written about how both Stalin and Hitler still have followers today, showing that their ideas have 'lived on' and borne the test of time - one hallmark for determining if someone is 'Big C.' It is the lack of morality needed for lasting creativity that has led Sternberg to argue for the equal importance of wisdom."

Dr. Kaufman adds that he has a book "coming out this year or next called The Dark Side of Creativity. It has lots of essays exploring these topics... The idea of the dark side of creativity is still being explored empirically, but the concept is an interesting contrast to most approaches.

"When discussing mental illness and creativity, the 'creativity' part is often assumed to be good - indeed, some of the evolutionary work argues that creativity is the reason why mental illness persists; being imaginative is supposedly enough of an advantage to outweigh the detriments of mental illness. Yet malevolent creativity (and emotional intelligence) can be harmful and evil in their own right.

"If you don't believe this, then contact me for my highly classified plans to make a million dollars overnight. I'm only selling them for $50, in cash, sent to me care of this website."

From Gandhi, Bill Gates, and... Hannibal Lecter?: Creativity and Emotional Intelligence in all the Wrong Places, by James C. Kaufman.

His books include : The Psychology of Creative Writing and Creativity 101.

[Photo: Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter - from The shadow self : page 2.]

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