Science, Order, and Creativity (Routledge Classics) [Kindle Edition]

David Bohm ignores the "usual" approaches to the investigation of fundamental questions in science, in fact in human life in general, and always provides a fresh and creative perspective. In this book he looks at the idea of order in the universe and the mind as well as the basis of creativity in human thought. Instead of assuming that order has already been understood as it is often portrayed in the popular science press he unveils the ideas of degree and levels of order and sidesteps the seemingly antagonistic concepts of order and disorder (the approach used by a mind whose thinking is habitualised by anaytical thinking of the world into separate and distinct pieces). He avoids this routine type of thinking and draws forth fascinating concepts giving a basis for a new science of order and a whole new way of "seeing" the creative mind. It is unfortunate that Bohm's thinking is generally ignored by mainstream scientists who could gain astonishing insight from such new ideas about creativity, the mind and order. As the new science of chaos has shown it is possible to engender a whole new science using a fresh approach, Bohm once again demonstrates this ability whole heartedly.

This book is written in a clear and straightforward way, but I found it challenging and it took me a while to finish, mainly because many of the ideas Bohm and Peat advance are unorthodox and subtle. In other words, this is a book about creativity and the authors are themselves quite creative.

You need to read the book in full to follow the lines of reasoning and engage with the many rich examples, but let me try to provide a summary of what I took to be the key ideas:
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Rigidly inflexibility in our thinking and interaction leads to fragmentation, maladaptiveness, and destructive tendencies in our individual and social lives, including in science. This inflexibility is perpetuated by tendencies to specialize (thus ignoring wider contexts), denial of the existence of problems, ignoring implicit assumptions, ignoring and downplaying important questions, holding out unwarranted hope for failing paradigms, selective use of evidence, and forcefully imposing inaccurate ideas (reinforced by social consensus).

Creativity is a proper means to overcome inflexibility and its consequences, and is a natural need of humans and a natural expression of the universe. Creativity can be achieved through a variety of approaches: free and open-ended play of the mind, willingness to ask questions and challenge assumptions, use of metaphors, avoidance of inflexible reification of categories, working with a simultaneous plurality of hypotheses and allowing them to dynamically interact and evolve, sincere and respectful dialogue, giving ideas and theories gestation time before judging them, interdisciplinary coordination, interpreting theories (ascribing meaning to them) within broader contexts, sensitivity to the artistic (not just aesthetic) aspects of theories, appreciation of different levels of order and unfolding of extrinsic order from "hidden" generative and implicate orders, and engagement with other cultures and subcultures. To be effective, creativity must also be sustained, rather than intermittent or limited to paradigm shifts, and creativity must be applied to the whole of life, not just specialized areas such as the arts and sciences.
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I find the ideas advanced in this book to be very sensible, and I think the need to adopt a creative attitude and approach is even more pressing today than when this book was written more than two decades ago. I therefore highly recommend this book to anyone who senses the need for genuine creativity in science as well as the rest of personal and social life. David Bohm was highly accomplished as both a scientist and a philosopher, and was surely one of the great thinkers of the 20th century, so his books are not to be missed (no offense to Peat, but it's hard not to be overshadowed by Bohm).

Up front, I believe David Bohm was one of the most outstanding thinkers of the 20th century, if not the whole of human existence. Like removing the layers of an onion, he peels away the often faulty assumptions we all live with and quickly gets to the heart of the matter. WHY and HOW we think the way we do are indeed more vital to understand than WHAT we think. Rational thought and creativity are two of mankind's most valuable traits, and these are explored in detail between the pages of this book. For any student of Postmodernist thinking Bohm is a "must read", and in fact his writings are the centerpoint of Postmodernist Philosophy in my opinion. If everyone took the time to read Bohm they would understand themselves and our world much better.