The Origin of Inspiration

Where does inspiration come from? Secular scientists have tried to deal with metaphysical questions based on their materialistic philosophies (such as free will, ethics, and so on) as if such things were a physical part of the brain. Not much success. Searching for naturalistic origins of imagination, inspiration, and so on are not exactly in their areas of expertise.

Image credit: Freeimages / Keith Syvinski

There are different kinds of inspiration that people get, such as music, poetry, prose, the desire to get something accomplished, communicating a message, architecture, and so on. People have different motives, too, whether it's to impress others, problem solving, to give glory to God, and other possibilities. But getting an inspiration and using imagination involves knowledge as well. The design of life, the universe, and everything testifies to the brilliance of our Creator. So, how do we come into this? Ain't no way such things could have evolved, they are gifts from God.

The implications of the non-material inspiration and imagination of a design process are, arguably, a neglected area for theoretical science, though experimental scientists themselves exercise a similar process. This paper will by necessity examine only some aspects of inspirational and imaginative design, the sources for it and possible implications, due to the complex and subjective nature of human thought. Also to be explored is why designers’ thought processes are hard to quantify due to the irreducibly complex role of creativity-intelligence in design outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to explore the design process: creativity and in particular inspiration ‘leaps’ compared to imagination ‘steps’ in design. The existence of inspirational capacity poses a challenge to explanations regarding the origins of life that do not include a Creator. In the present observable world mere analogy does not explain why it is that designers who take inspiration from nature are seen as inventive and why, conversely, acts of inventive creation open new ways to understand the natural world.

I hope this inspires you to read the rest, just click on "The role of inspiration and imagination in design". You may also want to read about the "Golden Ratio".