Universe theories of Genius

Universal bases and dimensions of genius

The universal approach to genius assumes that it is based on transcendent generating and meaning-making primordial essences, which are metatheoretical and supercultural explications of the Absolute.
The creativity of a genius is not just the creation of new and useful products, not also the process of effective problem-solving and creative self-actualization. It necessarily includes the assumption of new meanings, the affirmation of a new vision, the discovery of fundamentally new realities, the realization of transcendent breakthroughs, spiritual discoveries and deeds of universal scale.
The creativity of genius is determined not only by its socio-cultural nature but also by its universal, cosmic essence, manifested in the embodiment of ultimate universals, unconditional initial principles and higher, concentrated meanings of existence.

N. Berdyaev believed that the concept of culture and its most important spheres – science and art, can not serve as an explanatory principle of true, substantive creativity. The creativity of genius is rather a daring impulse, transcendence, and victory over the weight of the objectified world, while the product of creativity in culture is a downward pull, submission to necessity.
“Creativity can be called only that which is generated by an original substance with the power of incremental power in the world… And every creative act is essentially a creation out of nothing, i.e., the creation of a new power, not a change and redistribution of the old. In every creative act, there is absolute gain, increment.”
“In the creativity of ‘culture’ only the tragic duality of human nature, torn from the fetters of necessity, is reflected, but a different being is not achieved. …Creativity in art, philosophy, morality, in society overflows beyond the boundaries of its sphere, does not fit into any classical norms, and reveals the impulse to the transcendent. The same transition beyond the boundaries of art, – wrote N.A. Berdyaev, – the impulse to the ultimate and other being was in the great Russian writers, in Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy”.

Genius from the master, makes the saturation of his life, creativity and works of the highest ultimate meanings, his aspiration to the absolute beginnings. Schelling argued that the foundations of genius are in the sphere of the Absolute, and genius is a creator in whom the highest spiritual beginning is embodied. As a consequence, the work of genius brings an element of infinity, eternity, and absoluteness into finite, real existence. Thomas Mann wrote: “It is not the gift of creative fiction that gives birth to the poet, but the gift of spiritualization”.
The creativity of genius is embedded in the flow of creative evolution, it is a co-creation with the Universe and manifests itself as a way of existence of the Absolute or as theurgy, “the action of man together with God, – godhood, god-human creativity” (N.A. Berdyaev), “substantive unity of creativity”, “integral creativity”, uniting the earthly and heavenly beginning in sacred creativity (B.C. Solovyov). Without theurgic aspiration, the nature of human creativity remains incomprehensible (P.A. Florensky).
The universal essence of genius is revealed through the procedure of semantic, metaphysical localization, which consists of correlating it with primordial essences and, most importantly, its correlation with the Absolute.
The transcendental structures and schemes drawn out by the map of essences define the boundaries of different spheres of meaningful reality, reveal the hidden dialectics and mutual overflows of ultimate essences, and define the system of meaning coordinates and the horizons of life activity and creativity.

The harmonizing, coordinating and structuring function of the metaphysical “map of essences” consists of superimposing the drawn schemes on the real reality, determining the gaps and empty places, and highlighting the new possibilities and tendencies of its development.
First essences are self-sufficient and autonomous, they reflect different ontological and semantic spheres of the human universe, indissolubly connected, but not intermingled in reality. These primordial essences, as the ultimate foundations of being, are not self-contained absolutes, but concrete substantive moments of living wholeness.
The ultimate essences themselves are self-generated within the turbulent condensations of meanings caused by two counter-currents: the upward one, representing the process of creative imaginative transformation of extremely generalized philosophical categories, and the downward one, manifested in the chain of revelations, intuitive grasping and discernment of absolute meanings, ultimate grounds and purposes of being.
Created by the act of pure creativity, the primordial essences are themselves the intensional matrices and generators of creativity. Constructing a harmonious semantic framework of being, they do not draw impassable boundaries but rather create tantalizing limits that urge their overcoming, representing a special freedom-generating order.

The primordial and original, absolute universals are:
1. Metaphysical archetectonics of Being, its universal framework and “universal pillars”. They contain universal archetypes, eternal meanings and truths, are “initial coordinates”, a system of ideals and powerful regulative principles of life activity and creativity
2. Ultimate living schemas, close, warm, pulsating, breathing and intimately experienced realities.
3. Instrumental, action universals, understood as actionable, super-efficient techniques that set the creative matrix of action. For example: Freedom as a technique and even the Absolute as a technique.

The reality of the primordial essences generating, constituting, organizing and determining objects and phenomena appears as a harmonious structure of invisible forces permeating the universe. If in ordinary life one can see only their faint reflections, in genius these forces manifest themselves in all their obvious brightness and authenticity.
Genius itself, understood as an active, creative, developing substance, constituting the essential content and driving force of the world process, can be revealed and understood only with the help of the system of primordial essences, which are the most powerful explanatory and regulative principles.
Genius is an original individuality and at the same time a spiritual field, a unique aura, a creationological space saturated with higher meanings, structured by invisible force lines of the first essences according to the laws of pre-established harmony and ultimate beauty. These lines are highlighted in a certain order in the meaningful space of genius, just as magnetic force lines are drawn by small iron filings scattered on a sheet of paper, closing from pole to pole.

Concerning the phenomenon of genius, the ultimate foundations and primordial essences:
1. Define, constitute and structure the universal essence of genius.
2. They appear as regulative and prescriptive principles that determine the methodological efficiency and even prescriptiveness of creative actions and efforts of genius.

Table 10. Essential Theories of Genius (Universal Approach)

Whole


Theory of Universality 
Possibility
Metapotention theory
          Absolute

 Universe-personalist theory

Interaction

 

Congregative theory

Freedom

 

Heroic Theory


Authors of the paintings: 
Rafal Olbinski, Evelyn Taylor, Jim Warren

 

Universe Approach to Genius

The universe approach to genius assumes that it is based on universal generating and sense formatting primal essences which are metatheoretical and supercultural explications of the Absolute.
1. The Heroic Theory of Genius considers that a genius is a hero possessing spiritual greatness, a magic talent, boundless courage, fearlessness of mind, demonic power and absolute and unlimited free will.
1.1. Demonic (from Greek diamond – demon, demigod ) theory of genius considers genius to be a rebel and destroyer who overturns concepts, values and bases. The absolutization of ideas of total freedom, self-induced activity, struggle and force transform a genius hero into a genius rebel and great destroyer.

2. Metapotention theory (from Greek meta – through, from Lat. potentia – force, possibility) sees the essence of genius in his aspiration, talent and ability to expand the horizons and to gain new substantial spaces, to construct new worlds and integrities, to create new concepts, paradigms and directions in art, to open new semantic dimensions and widen the borders of possibilities.

3. The Theory of Universality (from Lat. universalis – universal, global, referring to the universe) states that a genius has a unique blend of creative talents and a special psychic organization which reflects the invariant structure of the universe. At this, the essential feature of a genius is his universality which includes broad-mindedness, the versatility of talent, diversity of interests, extraordinary erudition and the ability to achieve outstanding results in various branches of human activity.

4. Congregative theory (from Lat. congregatio – integration) of genius suggests that the essence of the nature of a genius is manifested in his willingness and ability to unite various layers and spheres of reality, in binding, converging and collecting the world, in a productive combination of different directions, forms and genres of art.

5. Universe-personalist theory (from Lat. universum – a single  Universe, Latin unio – unity, versum – towards … or verso-twist, rotate, and from lat. persona – person, separate entity)  of genius maintains that a genius has a universal gift to capture, experience, transmit and embody in his work the spirit of the Universe and Eternity, to fill his works with the highest human values and ultimate meaning as well as the ability to reach the state of creative consciousness,  to acquire a vision of reality from the standpoint of the Absolute, to translate this vision into reality and transmit it to other people.
The theory of embodiment and personification of the Absolute and the co-creation with Universe evolution considers that a genius is the incarnation of the Absolute, a personal manifestation of super-consciousness and a Higher Mind which obeys the categorical imperative of creativity and generates new meanings.
5.1 Imperative – Substantial theory (from Lat. imperium – order, command, prescription; from Lat. substantial-essential, which has an independent existence, ) of genius says that a genius is determined by universe-and-personality determinants which represent a stable resonant interaction of awakening creative structures with isomorphic creative plans of the Universe, fusion and solidification of the energy of a creative instinct and internalized socio-cultural creative imperative. In this case, deploying of internal and universal creative structures which is a realization of a creative impulse, brings a deep inner satisfaction and a genuine supreme joy.
5.2. The Transpersonal theory (from Lat. trans – through, over and persona – person) states that the condition of genius is the experience of identity with the “Cosmic Mind” and “World Soul”, the ability to achieve and maintain the state of superpersonal, transpersonal consciousness, creative illumination and ecstasy, Samadhi, Satori or their psychological correlate – the highest creative inspiration.
Genius is considered as the ability to enter into a new supreme and creative state of consciousness, to obtain hypersensitivity to the effects of information and semantic fields, to awaken in himself dormant creative abilities and to use internal and external opportunities in a highly efficient way.
 5.3. The Visionary theory (from Lat. visio –vision, seeing, idea) claims that the basis of genius is the aptitude for the universe, holistic, planetary and creative vision of the world, ability to perceive reality in all its newness, freshness, topicality and inexhaustibility, and also the ability to mental manipulation with its forms, entities and time, and art to generate from within, by means of the gift of inner vision and foresight, a self-sufficient, self-sustaining, unconditional novelty, independent of the old.
5.3.1. Universe Vision theory asserts that genius is understood as the realization of a universe spectral, multi-layered, integrated,  all-inclusive vision based on a combination of different types of visions, generated by universal primal essences.
It is a holistic spectrum of qualitatively distinctive unmixed visions, a strong laminar flow including absolute, spiritual and transformative, eidetic, liberating, potential, integral and immediate, as well as own, original, individual, unique in the history of the universe, vision of the reality. At that the multi-dimensional, total, all-including vision of the world is understood as simultaneous activation of all types of vision, as well as flexible changing between them, the implementation of each level in turn, creation of patterns of perception lights, depending on the intent, purpose or characteristics of the situation.
5.3.2. Creative Vision Theory claims that the fundamental basis of genius, and its source and body is a Creative Vision, which can be easily and naturally acquired by everyone through taking a Creative position, correlated with the Absolute, over Achieving a creative mental state and implementation of a universal Creative method.
Thus a genius is considered a person with a universal creative vision which manifests itself not only as an impartial witness hovering over the world and not even as eidetic, heartfelt, spiritual contemplation but also as a spontaneous, powerful and shattering into many different levels thin and flexible efforts of mental activities, as directed manipulation and free play with the images and models of reality.
A creative vision of a genius is a creative synthesis of a higher mental state and a creative method which is complete, isomorphic to a universe generative matrix, a system of creative techniques.