Creativity

Ozzy shared this quote with me:

I can remember one occasion, taking a shower with my wife while high, in which I had an idea on the origins and invalidities of racism in terms of gaussian distribution curves. It was a point obvious in a way, but rarely talked about. I drew the curves in soap on the shower wall, and went to write the idea down. One idea led to another, and at the end of about an hour of extremely hard work I found I had written eleven short essays on a wide range of social, political, philosophical, and human biological topics. Because of problems of space, I can’t go into the details of these essays, but from all external signs, such as public reactions and expert commentary, they seem to contain valid insights. I have used them in university commencement addresses, public lectures, and in my books. - Carl Sagan

The logical extension that Ozzy was making is that getting high is a source of inspiration. I'm not going to argue that point. There are many examples of very brilliant people doing some incredible creative work under the influence of powerful chemicals.

The logical fallacy that he presents is that drugs = creativity.  That is objectively false. Tour a homeless shelter and search for the Grand Unifying Theory and it's pretty likely you won't find it. In fact, statistically speaking it's likely that drug use stifles universal creativity in the population.

The characteristic of brilliant inspiration that is common to all great discovery is not the method by which that inspiration is derived but in the genius of the individual inspired. Carl Sagan is a genius. The combination of shower, sex, and marijuana somehow collided with all of his prior experiences and learning to produce something special.

Perhaps these were the only combination of factors that would produce those results. It could be, however, that he would have come up with these ideas independently while eating a cheeseburger.

Professionally I've written over 1.8 million words that I have been paid for. I know a little bit about creativity and my IQ score really does settle the genius question. My inspiration comes from the complex dichotomy of suffering and hope. I've never needed chemicals to influence that.

Would I be a better author if I blazed? Perhaps. But I don't think so. My particular process requires disciple and control. When I lose that then creativity leaves me.

Just some early morning ramblings. Point: don't do drugs if you're not Carl Sagan. It probably won't get you very far.