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It has been determined by scientists that at the instant of creative flash (the "Eureka" event), the electrical pattern of the brain is altered, and individual neurons change the number and shape of their dendrites, dendritic spines, and synapses, thus creating new patterns of electrochemical message transmission.51 It has been said that Einstein appeared to live in a semipermanent alpha brainwave state. He could maintain continuous high-amplitude alpha waves while solving complex mathematical problems.52 In any extended creative work there appears to be a continuing interplay between the conscious and unconscious. Each step in the working out of a problem feeds new material into long-term memory that in turn leads to the emergence of new illuminations from the busy unconscious. It took Einstein ten years to work out the theoretical implications of his intuitive vision of riding a light beam.53 Through the processes of introspection, meditation and analysis of peak experience, I have concluded that a mathematical expression of Creative Potential can be formulated, which to date is incomplete but still provides useful information.
Some of the factors in the equation imply the presence and operation of intent and purpose. The attribute of creativity is the highest function of intelligence, which more than anything else separates us from other animals. It would appear that it is primarily the cerebral, cortical part of the brain which allows humans to be creative. This has not yet been conclusively established, since it has been found that hydranencephalic individuals have seemingly normal intelligence even though they have very little if any cerebral cortex. Their ability to be creative has not yet been fully evaluated. Even though it is my opinion that states of supraconsciousness are an unequivocally real phenomenon, some individuals will undoubtedly remain skeptical about such occurrences pending further scientific validation. The acknowledgement of their existence is easiest for a person who has experienced one. These states would seem to be the most important route leading to conceptual breakthroughs in our understanding of reality. It would appear to be highly probable that the Special and General theories of relativity were conceived by Einstein while in a supraconsciousness state, whether or not he recognized it as such at the time. As we begin to find ways to precipitate states of supraconsciousness at will, we can advance at an accelerated non-linear rate our understanding of the universe and of the integral part we play within it.
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