Contesting (Simonton's) Blind Variation, Selective Retention Theory of Creativity

Debating the BVSR Theory of Creativity: Comments on Dasgupta (2011) and Gabora (2011)

“…Before Dasgupta (2011) executes the thorough historiometric study just suggested-and I wholeheartedly hope he does so-he also needs to understand BVSR theory, whether in Campbell's (1960) earlier version or in my far more elaborate and formal renditions (Simonton, 2010a(Simonton, , 2011a(Simonton, , 2011b. After all, no theory can be given a fair test if its basic assumptions or predictions are misunderstood.…”

“…Although the 2010 target article was quite long-more than 18,000 words!-all of the comments (and my reply) were obliged to be rather short. Hence, it does not surprise me that the two commentators who voiced the most adamant criticisms in 2010 published much longer, back-to-back critiques in this journal just one year later (Dasgupta, 2011;Gabora, 2011). I had originally nominated them both to comment on my 2010 essay precisely because I knew of their staunch opposition expressed in past publications (e.g., Dasgupta, 2004;Gabora, 2005; cf.…”

“…Third, Dasgupta (2011) talks about ''the Campbellian sense of random'' (p. 175) when ''Popper regarded Campbell's (1960) ''idea of the 'blindness' of trials in a trial-and-error movement as an important step beyond the mistaken idea of random trials'' (quoted in Kim, 2001, p. 103). That was a major point in Campbell (1960): All random variations are blind but not all blind variations are random (see also Simonton, 2011b).…”

“…Right now, this makes BVSR theory something of a moving target. Indeed, I currently have three more works-in-progress on the subject, including a cognitive-historical case study like Dasgupta (2004Dasgupta ( , 2011 favors, but concentrating on Galileo's telescopic discoveries. Therefore, it would seem that the optimal way to respond to Gabora is to simply say, Please read Damian and Simonton (2011) as well as Simonton (2011aSimonton ( , 2011b)-and look out for additional papers and chapters, too!…”

“…It is in that spirit that I submit this reply to Dasgupta (2011) and Gabora (2011). If researchers are going to continue to debate BVSR's merits, they need to agree regarding the exact nature of the disagreements.…”