Which Kind of Genius Are You?

Posted by ashleyb on
Sunday, October 19th, 2008 at 7:26 pm

Here’s a research problem for you: How do you quantify creativity?

Economist David Galenson used statistics, biography and history to create what Wired writer Daniel Pink calls a “unified theory of creativity.” He hypothesizes two types of genius. The conceptual innovator  – think Picasso — typically succeeds early in life. The experimental innovator — Cezanne – is often a late bloomer.

Here’s the link to the quiz on Galenson’s site, which gives advice for both types on realizing your potential.

Which is interesting, but apropos of our class, I was more intrigued with the research. To measure each artist’s career peak, Galenson looked at artists’ auction prices through the years, and at which of their paintings were included in art history textbooks and museum retrospectives. Paintings chosen for inclusion tended to be from the period of time when the artist brought the highest price at auction. Galenson identified this period as the artist’s peak.

After finding peak ages for hundreds of artists, Galenson saw a pattern. Artists were falling in two camps: Young Geniuses (early success) versus Old Masters (late success). He then examined their biographies to see if each camp had defining characteristics – and that’s how he came to his theory.

In the end, is it valid research? I’d say yes. Galenson used statistics to determine the career peaks, and then he let the data guide him. When he saw two overwhelming patterns, he asked “why?” again. Eventually he developed a hypothesis that fit.

Others – those in the art world in particular – think Galenson is out of his depth. They cite the inevitable exceptions to the theory, and say he’s using statistics in an unquantifiable realm.

What do you think?