The selective retention mechanism is built through the creative process itself. Each attempt — including the failures, including the mediocre ones, including the works no one remembers — deposits a thin layer of evaluative understanding. The creator learns, through cumulative practice, which combinations feel right before analysis confirms the feeling, which directions are worth pursuing, which outputs should be discarded. This accumulated judgment is what Simonton's career trajectory research shows continuing to develop even as raw productivity declines.
The mechanism has two components: internal (the creator's