It is difficult for us to determine whether this applies to everyone or only to those with creative talents. We should at least believe that all normal people have creative potential, and the difference is only in the size of quantity.
Generally speaking, human nature is unwilling to endure long-term loneliness, which is often forced. However, it is in the forced loneliness that some people's creativity unexpectedly gets the opportunity to develop.
One case is the prison, where many famous works handed down from ancient times in cultural history were born. For example, Boytius's Comfort of Philosophy, Moore's Dialogue to Remove Sadness, and Raleigh's World History were all written by the author before he was sentenced to death. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and Dostoevsky's Notes on the Dead House were also brewed in prison.
Another situation is disease. Stoll gave an example of loneliness caused by deafness, which inspired the artistic imagination of Beethoven and Goya.
In terms of disease promoting creation, we can continue to list a long list, including Nietzsche and Proust.
Tai Shigong said that "Zuo Qiu was blind, his Mandarin was lost, Sun Tzu's foot was bent, and Sun Tzu's art of war was also revised", and so on, which also involved the relationship between prison and illness and creation, although he paid more attention to anger in suffering.
Forced loneliness not only creates a necessity, but also forces people to devote their pent-up energy to creation. Moreover, I believe that people will separate themselves from the complicated secular life because of prison or illness, so as to gain a new perspective on the world and life, which is a necessary condition for breeding great works.
For most geniuses, their loneliness is not because of external compulsion, but because of their own temperament. Generally speaking, artistic geniuses, such as Kafka and Kipling quoted by the author, are mostly melancholy, and writing in loneliness is a way of self-treatment. As one writer said, "I write melancholy to keep myself too busy to be melancholy."
It was only as compensation writing at first, but later it gained independent value and became a way of life they enjoyed.
There is no doubt that the creative process can resist depression. Therefore, according to psychiatrists, only those writers who fail in creativity will seek treatment from them. But as far as I know, depression at this time is often an incurable disease, and the ending of such writers is either poverty or suicide.
The other is the genius of thought, such as Newton and Kant mentioned by the author. In order to protect their inner world, they concentrated on seeking meaning and order without interference from others and consciously chose arc independence. This concentration is similar to the state of Qigong, so it may not be accidental that many philosophers, including these three people, live long.
For spiritual creators, if they can live to old age, the loneliness of old age will not only help them reconcile with death, but also bring their creation into a new realm.
Stoll listed the good sons of Beethoven, Liszt, Bach, Brahms and other composers. It proves that their works in their later years have the characteristics of going deeper into the spiritual field and being less accepted by the public.
Generally speaking, the works of genius in his later years are more ethereal, detached and metaphysical. At that time, their souls had reached the gate of heaven, and the likes and dislikes of the world had nothing to do with them. Goethe began to write Faust at the age of 38 and didn't finish it until he was 82 years old on the eve of his death. It shouldn't be accidental.