Beautiful Minds

Musings on Intelligence and Creativity in Society

Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D. is a Visiting Scholar at NYU. His latest book is The Psychology of Creative Writing. See full bio

November 27, 2008, Child Development

Comments on "Conversations on Creativity with Repeat Bloomer Joshua Waitzkin"

Conversations on Creativity with Repeat Bloomer Joshua Waitzkin

By Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D. on November 27, 2008 in Beautiful Minds

Remember Joshua Waitzkin, whose early chess successes were depicted in the 1993 Paramount film Searching for Bobby Fischer? What has he been up to since then? How did the movie affect his life? What was the impact of being labelled a "child prodigy"? What are his thoughts on creativity and the learning process? I recently had a conversation with Waitzkin where we discussed these questions and more. I found his answers provocative and illuminating. Read More

Love of the process, not just the payoff

Submitted by Douglas Eby on January 12, 2009 - 7:54pm.

In the Introduction to his book, Josh Waitzkin declares his appreciation for the journey, the process:

"A lifetime of competition has not cooled my ardor to win, but I have grown to love the study and training above all else...

"Presence under fire hardly feels different from the presence I feel sitting at my computer, typing these sentences. What I have realized is that what I am best at is not Tai Chi, and it is not chess -- what I am best at is the art of learning."

From his article The Art of Learning: In Pursuit of Excellence.