CONCEPT
P-Creativity and H-Creativity
Boden's essential distinction between <em>psychological</em> creativity (new to the individual) and <em>historical</em> creativity (new to the entire culture) — the framework that rescues ordinary creative experience from dismissal while maintaining standards for genuine cultural novelty.
An idea is P-creative (psychologically creative) if it is new to the individual who has it, regardless of whether anyone else has had the same idea before. An idea is H-creative (historically creative) if it is new to the entire cultural history of the species. The vast majority of human creative experience is P-creative: the student who discovers a mathematical relationship for herself is being genuinely creative even though the relationship was known to Euler. The artist who develops a personal style is creating even if similar styles existed before. H-creativity is much rarer — the genuine production of something the culture has never seen. The distinction matters acutely in the AI age because AI dramatically expands P-creativity (anyone can now discover possibilities new to them) while its contribution to H-creativity remains contested.
In The You On AI Field Guide
Boden introduced the distinction to resolve a persistent confusion in creativity research. If creativity required absolute novelty — ideas no one
Keep reading with YOU ON AI
Unlock the full book, 10,000+ field-guide entries, and a 1000+ thinker library. If you have a book code, register now — it takes a minute.