The Ages of Creativity

This chapter ends the section dedicated to the creative categories of origin. It reveals that creativity is the result of the conflict between generations, that is, childhood and youth, characterized by innovation, and old age, defined by its conservative nature. This generational clash is observed in the art and science of the first modernity, a deeply creative childhood or youth stage. On the contrary, the artistic and scientific creation of the second modernity is experiencing a generalized physical, cultural, and social decline. It is explained that youth has aged, as a result, among other causes, of the consequences of the world wars, demographic aging, the decline of the arts and sciences, and the attenuation of the generational conflict between youth and old age.