I am familiar with the story of David Reimer and it is such an unusual one as I read his autobiography which he wrote some time before his suicide. Thinking about it now, the idea of raising a child who had lost his penis, in a circumcision accident, as a girl seems atrocious. But, for many years the case was important in sociology to show that gender can be learned socially. Money's work with Reiner was considered to be a great success.

It was only later that it was known that Reimer suffered so terribly. Even though he had been given surgery and hormones he still was extremely masculine and got made fun of for being so hairy. He did transition to male and I believe that he was going to have a phalloplasty and he struggled with depression. I knew that his brother had schizophrenia but I didn't know that he died of an overdose. It is not surprising that the twin suffered with all that had happened, especially the suicide of his brother.

I read an article in the news recently in which there is some possibility that the male chromosome may become extinct. This has led to some speculation that men may die out. However, there are some species in which the male chromosome has faded away but what happened was not a disappearance of males but the evolution of a new species.

Gender in its various forms may be part of evolutionary pathways. The various differences, including intersex and gender dysphoria are aspects of nature, just as homosexuality is, so independent of how people choose to act, including transitioning or not, it may all just be seen as diversity in the spectrum of evolutionary possibilities.

The idea of cause as being chance would imply no direct line of action and consequences. It is questionable whether the idea of chance is more a reflection of theism or atheism because some theists have believed in predestination and some atheists have maintained materialistic determinism.

Darwin's idea of natural selection in itself is not random entirely because the survival of the fittest is like an inherent biological imperative within nature. And, in connection with God, Darwin was not necessarily an atheist even though his ideas may have influenced others to become atheist.

It is hard to know how to see the specific roots of causation. Aristotle saw God as the first mover. However, it would also be possible to ask what caused God to exist in the first place? To some extent it may come down to whether mind or matter are primary. Many Eastern thinkers, especially the Buddhists, see causality a little differently because they don't see the material as being the primary force, even though they don't believe in a specific deity. In Hinduism and Buddhism there is the idea of karma, which is fairly complex involving both inner and outer sources of causation, although the idea is, 'As you sow, so shall you reap' which would imply chain reactions as opposed to chance.

It is good to see you again on the forum and I think that many have missed you. As for the fields, my interpretation is that they have wide reaching implications for the understanding of the way in which consciousness evolves. The fields are like memories in nature and about links between minds. It may be about patterns which exist in nature, as opposed to being 'supernatural'. Sheldrake's ideas which he is continuing to develop are fairly radical, with some support for aspects of extrasensory perception and even a leaning towards panpsychism.

You seem to class surgery and suicide together, as if they are similar when they are not. Surgery may be the healthy alternative to suicide for many. There is such a tendency especially in social media to focus on those who are unhappy with their gender transitions rather than having regrets. Also, some people just get on with their lives afterwards and don't make a big thing out of it. Many pass as their chosen gender and don't even need to tell people most of the time, except for intimate relationships or in a medical context.

Also, from what I have read about detransitioning, except in cases like Kiera Bell in England, who changed too early in adolescence, many who do go back to their natal gender do so on account of the social intolerance which they experience

I am not sure if you are trying to advocate moral anarchy. If you are, that is in itself prescriptive to some extent.

As far as chaos is concerned that may be the general background from which all development emerges, but even chaos theory points to patterns of order. Human beings develop moral ideas, which are different from the instinctual behaviour of animals. This involved the evolution of language in culture and is the basis of conceptual thinking and rationality. So, to say that morality is ignorance is contradictory because to cast morality aside would be the abandonment of reason in favour of irrationality.

It is interesting to think would the AI beings and even the transhuman beings of the future be binary beings or androgynous? The further one goes beyond the basics of biology the more likelihood of beings beyond stereotypical gender. Some of the fantasy/science fiction authors, including that written by females, including Marion Zimmer Bradley and Ursula L Gun, create characters who incorporate characteristics of both gender, which include physical androgyny. This may be an echo to the archetypal or mythical hermaphrodite. The prefix trans is involved in transgender, transhumanism and may correspond with the idea of transformation as well.

In some ways you frame the idea of morality within the Christian mythic assumptions. This has an underlying Nietzschian stance, with the idea of 'going beyond good and evil. He was speaking mainly of the customary expectations of so-called 'virtues'. However, if the idea of going beyond morality was taken to the extreme it would be ethical chaos. The underlying premises of morality are based on social factors, such as the principle of the golden rule of treating others as one would wish to be treated, as well as morality existing socially as a form of social contract.

I see someone like Judith Butler as being a person living out the existential dramas of conflicting ideas and stereotypes. It is so easy for people to criticise trans people for what they are doing. After the times of liberation there is a backlash against transgender people. The thing is that in previous times, especially in the Christian church there was so much hostility towards gay people. Even now, in some cultural groups there is still extreme hostility towards gay people.

In many ways it is about the construction of 'otherness'. In the first post reply to me you mention women bearing children. Of course, that is true and it would be foolish to dismiss biology. However, all these aspects are about political power and the women's liberation movement is also about addressing sexism. Addressing sexism and racism are important political realities. History is about dominance and even this thread could be seen as sexist because it is largely men talking about women.

If anything, it would be interesting if women wrote on the the thread as opposed to being written about, in order to bring balance. Sometimes, the gender threads on this forum become popular with all kinds of hostile views about gender, almost as dumping grounds. This may because the issues arise emerge as a form of cultural wars, from the midst of individual and group dynamics of projection.

Men and women project so much onto each other and there are so many cultural aspects of gender. For this reason, Judith Butler, spoke of gender as performance. Stereotypes come into this, including ideas of psychology and ideals of the perfect body. It is likely that the media and popular culture feed into this and it may contribute to the rise of gender dysphoria.

The emphasis of a binary of gender divisions goes back throughout history but it may be that freedom from stereotypes may create greater creative expression of uniqueness beyond the confines of biological attributes. It is hard to think completely beyond gender and those who are seen as gender deviants and outlaws may be those who experience the harshest negative cultural treatment.

Historically, women were treated as inferior and there was such vast changes, especially with feminism, in the twentieth first century. There was postmodernism, with the idea of deconstruction of gender. In the twentieth first century there are probably remnants of all previous forms of prejudice and homophobia, and many individuals are struggling to make sense of the nature of difference, especially in its most basic division of males and females, as well as all binary distinctions, including the negative and positive, like the interplay between the yin and the yang.

I am not opposed to statistics and evidence based research on creativity. It is simply that it can sometimes be so reductive and the spark of creativity and its depths may be beyond empirical investigations. Statistical analysis may have some importance but the aesthetic embodiment of creativity and numinous experiences may be important in the arts, and even in science. Even though science may be based on the empirical it also incorporates metaphorical thinking.

Gender? It may be that the issue is not simply about this division and all aspects of difference. I know an art therapist, Vicky Barber, who has written on art therapy and race. In thinking about all experiences in daily life, as well in aesthetics and reasoning, culture and difference have such an impact. This may involve the various cultural meanings and backgrounds which shape our own symbolic worlds, alongside the political aspects of equality and inequalities which come into play in the realisation of creative expression in social life.

I am replying mainly to your reply saying that you always wish to help people from committing suicide. I come from that angle too, because apart working with suicidal people in mental health care I have experienced suicidal ideas and known people who committed suicide. It was while I was a student that I knew 3 people who committed suicide when I was a student that led me to train in mental health care.

In ethics, there is the ongoing issue of autonomy of choice and this may be related to the legal issues surrounding capacity to consent which is often seen as the benchmark of the ethics involved in psychiatry. Critical psychiatry may have taken over in the aftermath of the decline of the antipsychiatry movement.

On the subject of suicide, one book which I found useful is, ' Suicide and the Soul", by James Hillman. What he looks at is the way in which while suicide comes amidst despair it may also contain a hope or wish for transformation. To some this may appear as idealism but it may also involve the tightrope of the suicidal person's existential predicament as a search for choices which may go deeper than the surface of autonomy as theory bringing it more in line with the quest for authenticity.

I am not sure that the statistical analysis of creativity would be particularly worthwhile. It would probably involve as much bias as IQ tests. Creativity is subjective to some extent. The one gender issue which might be relevant is the question of technical vs emotional intelligence within the creativity equation.

There is also a risk of stereotyping and, as far as gendered aspects of creativity are understood, there is the question about how much is innate and how much is dependent upon social learning and cultural expectations. Some people who have been creative, ranging from Virginia Wolf, Oscar Wilde, to some of the flamboyant pop singers, may have been gender outlaws.

There is also the possibility that creativity may be about the yin and yang as the integration of the anima and animus. However, as June Singer argued in her book, 'Androgyny', this does not have to include physical gender ambiguity and may be about going beyond the psychological aspects of the self stemming from stereotypes.

I am not sure that creative people are more 'messed up' than others. It may be more of a myth and a not particularly helpful one. It is associated with the products of creativity, such as the masterpiece and the notion of genius. In reality many would like to reach such heights but many seek it and only a minority achieve it. But for most of us as 'ordinary' people wishing to be creative it would probably be rather foolish to think about creativity simply as works rather than a creative approach to living.

You cannot possibly generalise whether men or women are more creative. Historically, women may have been given less opportunity, just as other socially disadvantaged groups were. Also, I remember a history teacher saying that at one point it was believed that men have souls and women don't...

It definitely seems that many creative people aren't happy. Colin Wilson's, 'The Outsider' is filled with the stories of the torments of the unhappy creatives, including Van Gogh, Camus and Nietzsche. The singer, Todd Rundegrun, made an album called, 'The Ever Popular Tortured Art Effect'. There is decadent glamour of the sufferings of the creative bohemians. Sufferings come in the form of many troubled creatives, including the trials of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll and some philosophy thrown in. Tbe philosophy is not a mere afterthought because it may be that is what is needed to balance all the fire of the creativity before it explodes or implodes.

I do have an book called, 'The Book of Destiny' by Barbara Meiklejohn-Peters and Flavia Kate Peters. I have consulted a couple of times and found it helpful psychologically. I decided to consult it earlier today because I was feeling low in mood and despondent. This involved opening a page at random and the one I got was titled 'Doors'. It seemed particularly relevant because it was about seeing open doors rather than closed ones. I have felt as if I am at a deadend recently and it may that I need to see new opportunities rather than dwell on things which have ended badly.

Connecting this to the idea of the Tarot and other oracles, what may be important is intuitive guidance or wisdom. In my own example that doesn't mean that I wait for doors and complain if none appear as such. It may be more about framing and the need to approach the future with a positive attitude and intent, probably as a basis for navigating new possibilities.

This is a particularly unusual story because it involves a transgender person and assisted suicide. I am startled that the person was given an assisted suicide, unless it was the mother. Assisted suicide is particularly complex and controversial, just as euthanasia is. Part of this may be because people may be pushed into it with others as a way of rejection, especially the elderly and people who unable to look after themselves. In this particular case it seems like there were critical family dynamics which needed experience and, perhaps, some professional family therapy interventions could have been offered to work with the various family members as opposed to the focus being on the one individual in isolation. I am not sure where this took place because it seems an extreme story.

Suicide itself is a very tricky area. I have worked in psychiatric nursing and it is often the opposite to this scenario. People are often wishing to kill themselves and if a person is viewed as a suicide risk they are often placed on close levels of observation, such as having a member of staff at arms length 24/7. I have known people being nursed in this way for over a year. Of course, it is not as if anyone can be on such observations permanently and often the people who do kill themselves don't tell anyone their intent and plans.

As far as needing assistance, some people try to kill themselves and don't succeed, and may even end up disabled in the process. Others may make what is believed to have been most likely a gesture for help, such as an overdose, and die accidentally.

To be able to be creative 24/7 is something which may be possible but is not easy to achieve. I certainly don't find that I can be. I get stuck so often, end up sitting at the bottom of my bed, staring into space, as well as meandering around the charity shops. I know some people who watch so much television and I don't do that. But, I definitely need wind down time, lying down listening to music. Some people go as far as reading about and trying to use time management, which I find to be too regimented.

But, I would like to be able to get down to more creative tasks. Also, unfortunately I sometimes spend too much time reading, and writing on this site instead of vacuuming my room, and doing basic chores and this can be counterproductive as my jumbled chaos doesn't create an environment conducive to creativity. But, I guess on a deeper level creativity is also a wider perspective on how we cope with life experiences, decisions and, even then, while these may involve regrets, the mistakes may be part of the experiential learning process and the raw material for creative changes.

The process of bringing forth creative ideas may be like digging in the ground. But some seem to have got it down to a fine art. To some extent it may be possible to improve by practice but it does seem that some are so much better naturally, just as some have natural ability at football and cooking. There are many books on creative writing but this can also be procrastination about writing. Even my thread may be so, but I do find it helpful to discuss the creative process and it seems that so many people on this forum are so creative and probably a lot of untapped potential.There are some that take up a task like watercolour painting or poetry much later on and discover an entire side to themselves when was undiscovered previously.

The seeds of creative expression most probably stem from childhood. Apart from being an actress my mother went through a stage of writing song lyrics. It started when she used to read the lyrics to songs with me, and she began replying to ads in the NME and had many of her lyrics put to music. My dad used to get really cross about it, but I thought the songs were good and remember some, ' Paper Boats', 'The Waves Roll On', and so many more.

My dad did work in construction and he would have liked me to go down a Maths direction. I didn't like Maths at all. The arts, especially drawing was what I found to be an interest. However, visual art can be about performance. I remember how stressed out I got a few times when I couldn't get my art as people expected me to be able to. The painting I did of a playground for my art GCSE didn't turn out as I wished. I think that I rushed it and then overpainted it in the exam conditions.

Being watched performing can also be stressful. One thing which I learned in art therapy was that aiming for excellence can be a stumbling block. However, it is complicated because as human beings performance is measured according to standards and is also an act of communication. Even on this forum, writing philosophy is done as an act of public performance and goes online which makes it rather different from the way ideas are jotted down in a private diary or journal.

I have read some writing by Stravinsky and it is probably useful to think about the processes of performance and acting. At age 10 or 11, I was due to take part in a school drama and got so hung up getting on the stage, which involved crossing a gap across the floor. This may have been the end of my acting career, possibly a disappointment for my mum who acted in many plays. But, she was pleased by the way I pursued drawing and painting.

Reflecting on my fear of going on stage in relation to creative performance it leads me to ponder the nature of creative blocks. Many be afraid to draw, paint and there is also the issue of writers' block. Even when I used to write essays I have often had to psyche myself up. There is the fear of the blank page, and the fear of performance, especially in relation to the ideals of perfection of being a failure or success, in other people's estimation and in in one's own. This may hold back experimentation and spontaneity.

To be too creative, or not creative enough may be the question.. How may this fine tightrope walk be trodden cautiously, bravely and safely?

I think that we need to keep a sense of humour to survive and as a source of creativity. Yes, I am still looking for somewhere to live but it may not happen until after Christmas. In the meantime, I will try to plod on leaning on the broken bed and my chaotic room, as my underlying chaotic demiuurge, as a source of potential creativity, as Nietzsche said : 'Chaos gives birth to a dancing star'.

Generally, I think that this forum is a great interactive way of learning. Of course, there are times when the threads going are of lesser personal interest than others and there is so much scope for creating threads. I discovered this forum over 2 years ago, and when I look back on it I think that I have done as much reading, writing and thinking as I did on my undergraduate course.

And, there is some fun as well. When the Shoutbox moved onto the front page I wondered what it was. But, now, I see it as a lighter side and more informal, and with the story threads as being complementary. There are also so many different voices from people of all kinds of backgrounds, so I find it to be such a useful learning resource and enjoyable too.

The idea of the Hindu trinity is interesting. Personally, what I find most interesting is the fantastic imagery of Hindu art more than simply the specific concepts. The various images represented by the different deities are so powerful.

An interesting comparison- creativity being like pornography. There is also the question as to what extent is pornography creative? Here, it could be argued that pornography reduces bodies to being sex objects for display. However, what about erotic art and the potentials of the erotic imagination in creativity? Colin Wilson, most famous for 'The Outsider' looked at the sexual impulse in relation to transcendent states of consciousness in some of his writings.

I have always loved the yin and yang symbol. I once had a hoodie displaying it. The idea of repetition being ugly is important because it does seem that monotony is problematic. We even need the swings to the poles to make life interesting, although I often feel that I don't get enough in between times. Often, there are more downs than ups. Also, I find that so often after a positive comes a down, almost leading me to fear what comes next after an up. But, it may be that creativity and aesthetics is about arranging all the patterns in one's mind eye.

Your discussion of the Tarot is interesting because it includes the symbolic meanings. In thinking about the Tarot both this and the idea of divination are involved. Of course it is possible to see the symbolic aspects and intuition of life as being involved as opposed to literal fortune telling.

I have never used the Tarot but I once had a girl do a reading for me when I was living in a student hall of residence. The thing was she did the reading and was so stressed out because she said it was the most disturbing spread of cards she had ever seen. I wasn't that surprised because I knew that I had a rather upside down life!

While I haven't consulted Tarot cards, I did go through a phase of using the I Ching. I found it fairly helpful for decision making although it became a bit addictive. It may be that the oracles can give intuition about future dangers but there is a danger of literalism. I have known people who have gone to fortune tellers and getting really freaked out. For example, I knew someone who was told that her father was going to die and was so stressed for many years about this and the warning was not true, other than probably showing how how much about how important her father was to her.

I guess it does depend on what one understands opposites to be. It is a fuzzy concept because they are not aspects with clear distinct boundaries. That is because to some extent they are socially constructed rather than 'out there' metaphysics. This applies to concepts like good and evil, masculine and feminine as well as love and hate. It may be that Jung himself ignores the social construction of ideas with a tendency to treat the ideas as actual metaphysics. This probably stems from how he blends so many ideas together and this may limit the scope of his arguments from a critical philosophy perspective.

The Greeks don't discuss yin and yang as such but Heraclitus's ideas of opposites are fairly parallel.
As far as my own understanding of yin and yang is connected to my own grasping of creativity is in thinking about destruction as the opposite process. I am aware of having an inner saboteur and see myself as my own worst enemy at times. For example, I am rather chaotic. I often get my room so messed up that I hate being in it. I also do get into negative states of mind.

In thinking about the battle between destruction and creativity it connects with Jung's idea of the integration of the shadow. I read about this in Jung's book, ' Answer to Job' which I am sure I have spoken about in other threads. It does look at the collective shadow but is also relevant for thinking about the personal issues with the shadow. It was in the discussion of opposites there that I read about the ideas of Heraclitus.
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I first came across the idea of the yin and the yang in Jung's writings. The idea of poles come into it and Heraclitus's concept of enantiodromia is important, with the extremes having been reached leading to the opposite. I am not sure how this would follow with beauty because what is seen as ugly doesn't necessarily become beautiful. However, familiarity may be important and taste being acquired. There have been songs which I hated on first listen but over a time grew to love.

I haven't read much on advaita but I may try to do so at some point. Some philosophies seem so dualistic, including Christianity. As far as beauty is seen there are some contrasts such as the gargoyles in churches and the Gothic.

Many don't appreciate creative people and have the attitude that they should get a 'proper job'. It is also difficult to make money out of creativity although people who are creative in science and technology probably manage to do so much more than in the arts. I do have a couple of friends who try to make money out of art and painting. However, they do struggle to do this, and have to teach classes as well as do their art. Apart from people who are really successful in the arts, and get to the top, the majority don't make much money from it and do it more az a hobby. Some have day jobs and a lot of arty people are a bit bohemian and find it hard to fit to fit in to the point of holding down a job, Even with scientists there is the archetypal picture of the eccentric professor, although that may be a bit of a stereotype.

I was surprised to discover that in spite of his emphasis on objectivity in general, Kant, in his discussion of aesthetic judgment places a large emphasis on its subjectivity.

Do you see the yin and yang as representing "ugly disfigurement'. I see it as being about the essential nature of opposites. Without the interplay of opposites there would be no good, heaven or happiness. Of course, there are shades in between the two.

Even with intersubjective aspects of consensus there is a lot of variation in aesthetic tastes. Even with physical appearance of people, and recognised standards of beauty, not everyone is attracted to the exact same people. Also, with even people who not attractive to many, they usually have some kind of beauty if people try to find it. One of the saddest stories is probably that of 'The Elephant Man', John Merrick. One thing which I read about him though was that he had beautiful hands.

Art therapy is the practice of art expression as a way of facilitating therapy, which may be done individually with a therapist or in a group. There are various approaches to it, and the one which I am familiar with is that the psychoanalytic based one. That is because the course, which I did, but did not complete due to personal circumstances was art psychotherapy at Goldsmiths College, in South East London.

In art psychotherapy the relationship between the therapist and the patient is a central focus. Individual sessions also adopt the 50 minute hour. Throughout training all students are required to be in personal therapy and for almost a year I had therapy lying down on the couch, which I found to be an extremely unusual experience.

All art therapists, trained at the various institutions are on a register of the British Association of Art Therapists and if someone runs groups as an art therapist without undertaking the training it is actually illegal, because it is a recognised profession. So, when I was running art groups in my nursing jobs I called them 'Creative art', as opposed to calling it art therapy. Nevertheless, the term art therapy is sometimes used in a very casual way, which I am sure is frowned upon by professionals. In particular, there are various colouring books for adults which have the words 'art therapy' in the title.

It is just so hard finding somewhere in London. The reason why I have to find somewhere (and the others here) is because the landlord, who was subletting, has gone missing in Pakistan. The owner is repossesing. Mind you, I do want to move anyway because the bed here is so broken i that I slide into the base. I try to keep some humour over my bed. When I try going to the top it is like climbing up a hill. It is also such a gigantic bed that it is hard to find sheets which will fit.

I hope that you are able to read fully again and don't strain your eyes reading on a computer. Even though the stories are short there are a lot of entries and reading on screen is a strain on the eyes. Reading and writing are such a main part of your life, but music can help. it is amazing how many people have participated, and@Amity is doing so much reviewing again. At some point, it would be great if we see a story from her as well.

I did wonder if there was some reason why you had not been involved in the micro fiction because you are usually present. So, I hope that the medical interventions improve. I have been less involved because I have been trying to find somewhere to live for over 3 months and it is not easy to find anywhere, so I am still looking. At the moment in England it is colder than it has been in years and I am finding it hard to do most things.

As far as creativity is concerned it is most definitely not exclusive to the arts. Sometimes, people do see it that way and so many scientists and inventors are astoundingly creative. In some cases the creativity can encompass the whole spectrum, with individuals like Leonardo de Vinci. It is probably the situation that disciplines have become so specialised that it hard to be an all rounder. The one advantage of all the information on the internet is that it makes it so much easier to read around such a vast amount of literature on many topics allowing for a general background knowledge, as a starting point for unique innovation.

You query what I am getting at, probably in the idea for the thread. I am interested in art,including aesthetic taste. There is the question whether such taste is objective or subjective, or intersubjective. This goes back to discussion by Kant to the ideas of the phenomenological tradition. I find the approach of the phenomenologist thinkers particularly useful in this respect in relation to the experiential aspects of sensory perception. It also relates to qualia and how perception arises.

However, my main interest in the philosophy of creativity is in connection with the creative process. The understanding of the process may be so important for fine tuning one's own creativity rather than just as a theoretical discussion. I would like to become more creative, in writing and art, and all aspects of life.

I haven't interacted with you before, so I am glad to do so. I really like the name, 'Magic triangle'. It does seem that you describe the creative processes so well.

The people who stand out as geniuses are such a phenomena. It is one of the reasons why I do wonder about the possibility of reincarnation because some of the greatest writers and thinkers develop so beyond the realms of others that it makes me wonder if this development could have been achieved in one lifetime.

Of course, on the other hand it is likely that most people develop such a fraction of their potential. The 'tweaks' which some develop may bypass others habitual patterns, possible at the level of cognitive wiring. Also, with some of the geniuses it is as like they have a distinct way of seeing, like Salvador Dali. One interesting example may have been Stephen Hawking who developed such understanding, especially with his debilitating physical health issues.

Some people seem to have more interest in imaginary friends than others. Even as an adult I often find that fantasised romances are often more helpful than the real ones. This may even relate to the concept of the 'muse'. As a child I used to pretend to be various pop and rock stars and play all kinds of fantasy games. It was such fun and all this may be the essential aspect of fantasy and its role in imagination.

On the topic of autism, I have done art groups with people on the autistic spectrum. They are often very concrete in thinking and have difficulty understanding other minds. This is not just based on my experience of working with them, but important areas of research. They also benefit a lot from art therapy, often finding it easier to express themselves through art than verbally.