A precondition for creativity, besides intelligent beings, is a certain degree of diversity. In creativity, the "and" and the "or" cooperate to increase diversity. Or we may say that diversity perpetuates itself through the "and" and the "or". In any event, creativity involves the "and" gathering the disparate other together, and the "or", which wants to escape itself, split away from itself and become other, modifying the boundaries of each individual other so that each of the separate pieces can become intertwined, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. And through sufficient work and time, the pieces become completely welded together until the separate identity of each piece is no longer recognized, and a new single piece is created. In sum, the process of the "and" gathering pieces together, the "or" modifying each piece, and the "and" taking advantage of that modification to link them together, culminates in the entire melding of these separate pieces into an entirely new piece, which the "or" separates from other pieces, ultimately increasing diversity. Of course, there is a temporary sacrifice, or murder, if you will, involved in creativity, in that the formerly separate pieces, the disparate others, who have already been assaulted, lose their identity when welded together. But not to worry, their separate identity continues to exist in memory and can be reproduced if need be.
Creativity, of course, has various degrees. Take the example of a songwriter (me). I will take various tunes I may have heard before, modify them (change their boundaries somewhat), and meld them together, using bridges between tunes when necessary, to create a song. Something with a higher degree of creativity, such as a new musical genre, occurs when the separate pieces have been so modified and so melded together that their former separateness is no longer apparent. And of course, the geniuses are few who have played significant roles in the birth of new musical genres.
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