Can science explain creativity? Does the theory of evolution account for the enduring value people place on literature? Is the brain of a "genius" different in some empirically measurable way from "normal" people's brains?
There is a small, but growing, tendency in the humanities to use certain branches of science, particularly neuroscience and biological evolution, to explain why people create art and why societies value it. This brief article in The Guardian outlines new theories which suggest that creative genius and clinical psychosis have much in common, and that many famous thinkers were troubled by what we call mental illness. More controversially, it floats the idea that psychosis itself might be a factor in natural selection--that is, the fact that we can trace psychotic behaviour throughout history suggests that it is an evolutionary adaptation that enhances survival.
The idea of a link between madness and genius is not a new one. The article cites Seneca as making the observation and the poet John Dryden, writing in the 1700's observed that:
Great wits are sure to madness near allied,
And thin partitions do their bounds divide.
(from Absolom and Achitophel)
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