FROM BLIND TO CREATIVE - IN DEFENSE OF CAMPBELL,DONALD SELECTIONIST THEORY OF HUMAN CREATIVITY

Both Perkins and Sternberg recognize Campbell's selectionist theory of knowledge generation as accounting for certain types of learning and human creativity. However, they argue that his theory cannot account f or the full spectrum of human creativity, with Sternberg having more s erious reservations than Perkins. I argue in this commentary that whil e blind variation and selective retention (BVSR) may not be involved i n all forms of human behavior and thought, Campbell has made a compell ing (if often misunderstood) case that all genuine forms of human crea tivity and invention involve BVSR. To support this bread application o f Campbell's theory, I argue for the complementarity of among-organism and within-organism BVSR as well as for the complementarity of prior and current BVSR in all forms of creative human endeavor.