Creativity Training

https://www.greaterwrong.com/posts/R5yL6oZxqJfmqnuje/cultivating-a-state-of-mind-where-new-ideas-are-born

There are no famous success stories.

They employed shared-culture pageantry without addressing the substance of shared culture, i.e. having a responsible Pope. Very American.

all the best ideas when I first heard them sound bad

Very flattering. That must be why all my ideas sound bad.

And all of us, myself included, are much more affected by what other people think of us and our ideas than we like to admit.

Um...I have a counterexample...
That is, I know what went wrong there and how to fix it. Coachable.

If you’re in a coworking space, people laugh at you, and no one wants to be the kid picked last at recess.

Why are you asking "people" about your idea instead of your Pope? Egalitarian Americanism? Vox populi, lol.

So you change your idea to something that sounds plausible but is never going to matter.

Vox populi vox populi lmao

Pablo Picasso: “Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.”

Distraction, not relevant to how shared spaces work. They were in solitude when they went home for the day, for example. At some point someone else has to hear your idea - it has to come out of solitude.

In practice, however, what they are referring to as solitude is rather something like “a state of mind.” They are putting themselves in a state where the opinions of others do not bother them and where they reach a heightened sensitivity for the larval ideas and vague questions that arise within them.

Yeah, there you go.

To counteract this, Grothendieck in the 1980s has decided to write in a new way, detailing how the “work is carried day after day [. . .] including all the mistakes and mess-ups

Superficially good idea, but Revenge is Sour. If they can't work out the lunar path on their own, they cannot hear it from someone else, either. 

Grothendieck is convinced that the mathematical community is morally degraded and intent on burying his work, and aligns himself with a series of saints (and the mathematician Riemann) whom he calls les mutants.

Yeah, you can do it that way. Ooooor, you can get a Pope. Or you can do what I do, and recognize in your bones that the overt opinions of the mob are totally meaningless or actively perverse. When they say they hate your idea, it's because it's good and they like it. (See also: Stoicism.) 

You can prune obviously bad ideas yourself. When the mob hates your idea and you like it, it's because it makes them feel inferior to you. If it made them feel superior to you, they would encourage you to pursue it, so as to hinder a possible competitor. 

Bertrand Russell remarked, the development of gifted and creative individuals, such as Newton or Whitehead, seems to require a period in which there is little or no pressure for conformity, a time in which they can develop and pursue their interests no matter how unusual or bizarre\

Or you can be autistic and simply ignore the pressure. Pretend you're not pursuing your interests, because the outside world is inferior and has no moral authority over you. Secure your mind.

In so doing, there is often an element of reinventing the already known.

How else are you supposed to practice? See also: apprentice, master.

People show much more originality in solving problems than in deciding which problems to solve.

Trainable. Set 2, set 4.

Grothendieck had a talent to notice (and admit!) that he was subtly bewildered and intrigued by things that for others seemed self-evident

Basic Socratism. Question everything.

must [...] find collaborators

No, not really. Helpful, sure.

Grothendieck knew what he found interesting and productively confusing because he had spent three years observing his thought and tracing where it wanted to go.

In other words he also invented some of the sets and did lots of reps of them, plus some meditation for mindfulness. Sounds like set 0 and 1.

I would have chosen another profession, where I could give my whole strength without having to face scorn.

Weak. Sure, avoid the scornful, but don't let them change your fascination.
Especially important at this state of decay.

They keep coming up with techniques, rituals, and narratives to block off and protect the mental space they need.

Try not letting liars lie to you. It helps. Kinda. A bit. Try it.