creators_name: Preti, Antonio
creators_name: Miotto, Paola
type: newsarticle
datestamp: 2002-01-10
lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:54:52
metadata_visibility: show
title: Creativity, Evolution and Mental Illnesses.
ispublished: pub
subjects: clin-psy
full_text_status: public
keywords: creativity, evolution, meme, mental representation, mental disorders, bipolar disorders,
       schizophrenia, natural selection, information processing

abstract: Mental representations, or memes, transform the space in which they evolve. Their survival is dependent on the
       survival of the individuals and the groups hosting them. Creativity - the production of new and useful ideas - is
       closely linked to the social dynamics of the individuals expressing creative ideas: without social confrontation
       new memes cannot become diffuse. Creative individuals tend to be emotionally unstable, and many are affected
       by mental disorders. Studies on the link between creativity and mental illnesses show that it is exactly the
       characteristics of the mental disorder which also confer some advantage on afflicted individuals. These
       advantages extend to the groups to which the creative, mentally ill individuals belong. The group comprising the
       most creative personalities will therefore acquire an adaptive advantage which maintains the integrity of the
       group as a whole, in spite of the vulnerability of the individual.

date: 1997
date_type: published
publication: Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
volume: 1
refereed: TRUE
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citation:   Preti, Antonio and Miotto, Paola  (1997) Creativity, Evolution and Mental Illnesses.  [Newspaper/Magazine Article]     
document_url: http://cogprints.org/2009/1/preti_a%26miotto_p.html