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Authors:Tim Elmo Feiten, Zachary Peck, Kristopher Holland, Anthony Chemero Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Ahead of Print. Creativity is sometimes understood as the individual, mental creation of novelty which is then imposed as form onto a material substrate. On this view, constraints would feature only as obstacles in the creative process. In contrast, we support the view that creativity emerges from the interactions between human agents and the material, cultural, and social constraints that comprise a particular situation. In this account, constraints play a key enabling role, scaffolding the space of possibilities in which improvisation and chance give rise to novelty. In this paper, we review experimental work on interpersonal synergies between jazz pianists, which provides a scientific framework from which to approach the complex relationship between chance, constraints, and creativity. We also explore two case studies from the science of complexity and the creative arts in order to substantiate this notion of creative constraints: Anthony Braxton’s musical innovation at the intersection between composition and improvisation, and Marcel Duchamp’s radical interventions in the fields of sculpture and conceptual art. Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2023-08-12T06:08:03Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699231193539
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Authors:Hallgeir Sjåstad, Simen Bø Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Ahead of Print. In this paper, we propose a dual-motive theory of how future possibilities are typically simulated and evaluated. According to this framework, people attempt to strike a balance between preparing for action (approach-based expansion) and protecting the self against threat (avoidance-based narrowing), in which the main function of future thinking is to prepare the person for action. As suggestive empirical basis, we review selected findings from psychology and social science—including cognitive sampling of alternative possibilities, prediction, planning, moral judgment, experienced and anticipated emotion, and mental health research. Across these diverse domains, approach-based expansion can lead to agentic optimism, constructing a wide space of positive possibilities to pursue and choose from, whereas avoidance-based narrowing can lead to defensive pessimism, reducing the attentional perspective to a risk-minimizing exit strategy. The overarching goal with proposing this simplified framework is to help organize research on possibility-generation through a motivational lens, focusing on context-dependent changes in the two modes of prospective motivation: approach-based expansion versus avoidance-based narrowing. Hopefully, the proposed dual-motive framework can serve as a guide for new directions in future research, exploring how alternative possibilities are created, realized, and sometimes neglected in human life. Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2023-07-27T12:25:25Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699231187617
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Authors:Matthew J. Worwood, James C. Kaufman Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Ahead of Print. There are many approaches to understanding how creativity is manifested, from the influence of the context or environment to understanding differences in processes or domains. However, less work has focused on a creator’s instinctual reaction to external stimuli and how it shapes the creative activities that follow. This paper proposes the CAUSE Model of Creativity Languages: Connect, Apply, Understand, Share, and Express. The authors consider how an individual’s varying levels across these five Creativity Languages (innate, proficient, independent, basic, or dormant) may influence creative behavior, choice of domains to pursue, and potential eventual success. The model is also discussed in terms of potential measurement as well as how it could intersect with the Four C’s Model of creativity, including how Pro-c creators would benefit from understanding all five Creativity Languages. Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2023-06-30T10:40:03Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699231182879
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Authors:Ronald A. Beghetto Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Ahead of Print. The social project of education always and already has a future orientation, which is filled with unrealized possibilities. In this way, educational settings serve as sites of promise and hope. This promise and hope, however, is riddled with a paradox: If the future is unknowable—and education can only occur in the known present—then how can the social project of education fulfill the promise and hope of preparing young people to realize the possibilities of an unknowable future' The purpose of this paper is to explore how educators have attempted to resolve this educating for unknown futures paradox (EUF-paradox) and push beyond it by considering whether a more expansive approach to education can broaden the horizon of what is possible in education. Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2023-06-23T11:17:50Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699231182014
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Authors:Tamar Kushnir Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Ahead of Print. This review presents a theoretical account of the development of possibility beliefs in childhood through two developmental pathways, centered around the experience and understanding of our intentional, goal-directed actions. Pathway 1 (Naïve Optimism to Calibrated Realism) can be seen as early as the first year, as increased coordination of action through motor experience leads infants to a graded notion of what is possible and how much effort is required to achieve goals. Infants also incorporate social information into their earliest possibility beliefs, referencing caregivers to guide them in uncertain situations and learning from role models to effectively calibrate effort. Pathway 2 (Naïve Pessimism to Creative Transcendence) emerges from ages 4 to 7. At first, preschoolers correctly distinguish possible and impossible actions but are overly pessimistic about limits on possibility. With age, children use their imaginations to overcome hypothetical limits. This account suggests that realistic beliefs about what we can possibly do are in place in early childhood, preceding later developmental milestones in self-concept, identity, self-efficacy, achievement-orientation, and self-goals. This leaves open questions about mechanisms of change, how possibility beliefs contribute to later self-beliefs, and whether interventions that combine action experience with creative idea generation can increase the sense of the possible in children and adults. Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2023-06-19T06:33:11Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699231182371
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Authors:Lambros Malafouris Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Ahead of Print. This paper reflects on the meaning of chance and the impact that the occurrence of ‘accidents’ have in the creative process. I draw insights from two main sources: material engagement theory and the art of ceramics. In particular, based on observations from my comparative anthropological study of creativity in pottery making I present a process-oriented enactivist vision of chance as a meaningful coincidence where flow and form diverge from the norm and give rise to creative gesture. First, I introduce the notion of enactychism (blending ‘enactivism’ and the Peircean concept of ‘tychism’ from the Greek word ‘tyche’ for ‘chance’) as a means to conceptualise the relationship between chance, agency and materiality. Then, I explore the relationship between chance and creative gesture and propose ways for tracking the operation of chance in action. Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2023-06-10T05:06:06Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699231178170
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Authors:Ryszard Praszkier Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Ahead of Print. This article advances the psychological knowledge on the phenomenon of Changers-for-Good (C4Gs), that is, individuals who extend the range of the possible, addressing pressing and often insurmountable social problems and achieving durable and systemic social change. C4Gs are presented from both conceptual and practical perspectives. It is documented, through the presented examples and literature review, that their approach could be perceived on three axes: Conceptual, performative, and ethical. Each of these dimensions can be broken down into components: Conceptual: Perceiving challenges as doable, divergent thinking, embracing contradictions, and the cognitive part of the Peace-Oriented Mindset (POM); Performative: Entrepreneurial qualities, propensity for building social capital, and action-oriented POM; Ethical: Empathy, compassion, and—possibly—a blend of the two: Empassion. Moreover, assessment methods for each of these components are presented. It is concluded that the C4G model may be a gateway for educating and training future social sector leaders. Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2023-06-09T07:14:15Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699231177149
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Authors:Roy F Baumeister Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Ahead of Print. The human agent exists in a world consisting not only of facts and stimuli but also of possibilities. The multiplicity of possibilities is most readily apparent in the future. Pragmatic prospection theory proposes that people think about the future to predict possibilities (e.g. choice points requiring decision) rather than final outcomes. This process can be analyzed into two heuristic steps. The first one envisions a desirable outcome and therefore is optimistically biased. The second step considers how to reach that outcome, including noting obstacles and difficulties, and is therefore less subject to optimistic bias. Many psychological processes are adapted for an environment in which uncertainty is a frequent aspect, and the psychology of dealing with uncertainty mixes simple, crude responses (e.g. conserve resources, be alert to all information) with complex and sometimes irrational ones. The advanced human form of agency, sometimes called free will, involves complex processes including mental simulation of future alternatives, integration across time, and application of meaningful categories and principles to the causation of behavior. Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2023-06-08T08:49:26Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699231178180
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Authors:James C Kaufman, Vlad P Glăveanu Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Ahead of Print. Is creativity good, bad, or neutral' Although creative outcomes can serve malevolent purposes, we argue the underlying processes that support creative expression—what we call here the Creativity Ethos—lean toward the good in human nature. The dimensions of this Ethos can be metaphorically grouped under three main colors, Blue, Yellow and Red, related to cognition and personality, socioemotional interactions, and motivation, respectively. Blue processes are flexibility and openness, Yellow processes are perspective-taking and compassion, and Red processes are passion and inspiration. In the end, a well-developed Creativity Ethos can be compared to a rainbow that showcases how different colors valorize each other; further, they can all be enhanced through co-creation, leading to emergent changes in the world. However, there are also cases in which these components are underdeveloped, which may lead to less benevolent outcomes via profiles we call the “idle activist,” “selfish CEO,” and the “potential fanatic.” We end with reflections on why discussions of the Creativity Ethos are important not only for positive and humanistic psychology, but for any discipline, including Possibility Studies, interested in developing wise and humanizing forms of creativity. Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2023-06-07T06:11:59Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699231178154
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Authors:María del Rosario Martínez-Ordaz Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Ahead of Print. Here I argue that scientists can achieve some understanding of both the products of big data implementation as well as of the target phenomenon to which they are expected to refer—even when these products were obtained through essentially epistemically opaque processes. The general aim of the paper is to provide a road map for how this is done; going from the use of big data to epistemic opacity (Sec. 2), from epistemic opacity to ignorance (Sec. 3), from ignorance to insights (Sec. 4), and finally, from insights to understanding (Sec. 5, 6) Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2023-06-03T10:17:15Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699231176523
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Authors:Wendy Ross Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Ahead of Print. This article challenges the traditional view of progress as a linear trajectory from ignorance to knowledge, arguing that creative cognition involves an extended and dynamic system of non linear possibility generation. It emphasises the importance of an externalist approach which takes into account the role of objects in the environment in shaping cognition. Accidents are seen as a key trigger for creative thinking, as they disrupt planned cognitive trajectories and introduce novel elements into the cognitive ecosystem, leading to new possibilities that were previously inconceivable. However, how we filter these opportunities is rarely explored. The feeling of impasse, when problem-solvers are stuck and unable to find a solution, is also explored as an important generative state for creativity. While this state may be unpleasant, research suggests that persevering through it can lead to a sense of ‘aha’ and may be actively sought out by creatives. The article concludes that further research is needed to fully understand the relationship between aversive states, chance and human imagination in order to understand creative thinking. Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2023-06-02T11:28:18Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699231173625
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Authors:Ronald A. Beghetto Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Ahead of Print. Possibility thinking (PT) can be described as an imaginative and action-oriented process that drives movement from what is to what could be. The promise of PT is most fully realized in collaboration with others. With recent advances in AI, it can be argued that natural language models (e.g. OpenAI’s GPT models) represent a possible “other” for such collaborations. This article aims to illustrate, through a conceptual case study, how Human × AI collaboration can support PT. The article opens with a brief overview of the basic principles of PT and how those principles can be applied in Human × AI collaboration. Next, a conceptual case study will be presented, which reports on six examples of Human × AI collaborations used for PT. The article closes with a brief discussion of implications and future directions, including the importance of developing a principled approach when using AI for PT. This article likely will be of interest to broad audiences within and across domains, including readers focused on human-centered AI collaborations and anyone interested in learning more about new and emerging ways to generate possibilities in their learning, work, and lives. Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2023-04-06T05:37:46Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699231160136
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Authors:Shaun Gallagher Pages: 269 - 278 Abstract: Possibility Studies & Society, Volume 1, Issue 3, Page 269-278, September 2023. Can we explain how the various factors of knowledge, skill, habit, environmental constraints and affordances interact or integrate in improvisational performance' In attempting to explain how this integration takes place, I’ll consider two possible approaches: predictive processing (PP) and enactivism. I’ll argue that PP, which, on a neuroscientific view, conceives of the mind as set up to avoid surprise, will not be able to explain improvisation if it remains true to its own principles. In contrast, I’ll argue, enactivism, as a form of embodied cognition that takes the explanatory unit to be the brain-body environment, can offer a better explanation of improvisation. I’ll also argue that the notion of habit is central to this account. Citation: Possibility Studies & Society PubDate: 2022-12-20T01:18:45Z DOI: 10.1177/27538699221132691 Issue No:Vol. 1, No. 3 (2022)
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