In the context of the concepts here, I see creativity as an extension of entropy; an illusion of organization which must always come at some kind of expense, some kind of destruction. You can't paint without emptying and rearranging the contents of your paint tubes. You can't sketch without wearing your pencil down. These are "deaths" of the destroyed thing for the sake of creation of the new thing.
Regarding entropy, would the painter feel that they finally put the pigments where they were meant to be? Did they REDUCE entropy in the universe? From a very human perspective, the argument could be made that the paint is more organized than it was before. From the perspective of the atoms contained, I'd say entropy has increased overall, as the atoms of the material in the art is now a few steps further along their journey from their most organized state (which could theoretically be that little compact thing that exploded into the whole dang universe, but I personally don't think identifying the properties of the original perfect state is necessary to support the theory that changing the state of a thing necessarily introduces entropy.)
I consider the human experience the same way. We are in a state of being: we are humans, being. There are catalysts for material shaping into what we are, and there are catalysts that reduce us back to raw materials. From ashes, to ashes. From dust, to dust. I believe that creation *necessarily* comes from the "death" of the organization of the materials used in creating the new form, whether it's a painting or a person.
I never made the connection before...no wonder we fear death. We've been indoctrinated our whole lives (via Paul) to see it as God's enemy. How illuminating!! Thank you!!
Re: associations with "creativity" --
In the context of the concepts here, I see creativity as an extension of entropy; an illusion of organization which must always come at some kind of expense, some kind of destruction. You can't paint without emptying and rearranging the contents of your paint tubes. You can't sketch without wearing your pencil down. These are "deaths" of the destroyed thing for the sake of creation of the new thing.
Regarding entropy, would the painter feel that they finally put the pigments where they were meant to be? Did they REDUCE entropy in the universe? From a very human perspective, the argument could be made that the paint is more organized than it was before. From the perspective of the atoms contained, I'd say entropy has increased overall, as the atoms of the material in the art is now a few steps further along their journey from their most organized state (which could theoretically be that little compact thing that exploded into the whole dang universe, but I personally don't think identifying the properties of the original perfect state is necessary to support the theory that changing the state of a thing necessarily introduces entropy.)
I consider the human experience the same way. We are in a state of being: we are humans, being. There are catalysts for material shaping into what we are, and there are catalysts that reduce us back to raw materials. From ashes, to ashes. From dust, to dust. I believe that creation *necessarily* comes from the "death" of the organization of the materials used in creating the new form, whether it's a painting or a person.
I never made the connection before...no wonder we fear death. We've been indoctrinated our whole lives (via Paul) to see it as God's enemy. How illuminating!! Thank you!!