C=ME2
A Creative Application of Einstein’s
Formula to Experience and Knowledge
“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on treating oneself endlessly”—Henri Bergson
A fascinating example of Abraham Maslow’s observation that “almost all creativity involves purposeful play” is found in the story of how author Gene D. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D. came up with a formula for describing the effects of experience and knowledge on creativity.
Dr. Cohen was influenced by the work of Howard Gardner, the prolific author and learning expert at Harvard University. Gardner came up with the big “C” for creativity that applies to the extraordinary accomplishments of composers, authors, artists, etc. and the little “c” that is grounded in the diversity of everyday creation. Everyone, wrote Dr. Gardner, “has certain areas in which he or she has a special interest. It could be something they do at work...the way they write memos...the way they teach a lesson or sell something. After working at it for a while they can get to be pretty good—as good as anybody they know in their immediate world.”
Dr. Cohen was interested in creativity and was fascinated by the creative genius of Albert Einstein. Einstein is famous for what Dr. Cohen considered his “elegant equation” of energy equivalence which is E (energy) = MC2 where m is mass and c is the speed of light.
Dr. Cohen had a dream in which the equation rearranged itself into a creativity formula: C=ME2
The big “C” in this formula stands for Creativity. The “M” stands for a person’s mass of knowledge and “E” represents that individual’s experience, which Dr. Cohen felt should be reflected in two dimensions: inner and outer. The inner dimension would be the psychological and emotional experiences. The outer dimension would be one’s accumulated life experiences, understanding and perspectives. Dr. Cohen’s C=ME2 formula suggests that creativity is a function of both knowledge and experience. The hopeful news for those of us who are passing through the second half of life is that the older we get the more knowledge and experience we have. In fact Dr. Cohen suggests that the first time many adults tap deeply into their creative potential occurs around age 65.
In his study of creativity and aging Dr. Cohen found that creativity in the second half of life follows three basic patterns:
- Commencing creativity
- Continuing or changing creativity
- Creativity connected with loss
Frank Lloyd Wright observed, “in much of our preparation we don’t really know what we are preparing for.” Do you realize that you may have been preparing for the most creative period in your life? Do you invite creativity to be part of your life every day?
The Best is Yet to Come!!!
“There’s always a clean slate, a fresh sheet of paper, a waiting space, a chance to have a shot at it tomorrow”—Herbert Block, a nationally syndicated cartoonist who was still publishing his cartoons up until two months before his death at age 91
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