Isaac Asimov on creativity

[Vince W]

An essay from Isaac Asimov, written in 1959, was recently discovered and now available to read:

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/531911/isaac-asimov-mulls-how-do-people-get-new-ideas/

 

[J-Sun]

Not only one of my favorite authors but one of my favorite people. Thanks for that - very interesting.

 

[Vince W]

Asimov was one of the most interesting authors ever. I've never heard a bad word said about him. His books maybe, but never him personally.

 

[Bick]

Many thanks for the link.

I've never heard a bad word said about him. His books maybe, but never him personally.

Perhaps his first wife might have had a thing or two to say though .

 

[Sancho]

I love the irony of this. Firstly that the military would ask Asimov (A pacifist) to help come up with ideas for a miliatary defence system and secondly that he essentially told the US military to get creative by joking around over a glass of vino. I bet that put a dnt in their think tanks! ;-)

 

[Vince W]

I think having a pacifist think about military defence is a good idea. It would provide a very unique perspective. If it weren't for the restrictions on his writing, I think Asimov would have had some truly unique things to offer.

 

[Sancho]

I agree and how much more creative can you get than the author of the Foundation series. I wonder if they ever actually used any of his ideas? For example, using his ideas to create of a Prime Radiant that used Psycho-historical equations to predict the future!

 

[ParallaxBrew]

This is a great read, thanks. I didn't know that "gadget" was in the vernacular back then.