D&D General Is there any link between chaos and creativity

[Lyxen]

One of my favourite quotes of all times, Friedrich Nietzsche: "One must have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star."

 

[Paul Farquhar]

One of my favourite quotes of all times, Friedrich Nietzsche: "One must have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star."

What is that even supposed to mean?!

If he is talking about the twinkle effect, then that is caused by the random motion of particles in the atmosphere, so in a sense is caused by chaos. But it's also a bloody nuisance, hardly a positive thing.

 

[le Redoutable]

I write this way using my priest skills to ponder the sad reputations of CN, CE and the like

 

[Blue Orange]

What is that even supposed to mean?!

If he is talking about the twinkle effect, then that is caused by the random motion of particles in the atmosphere, so in a sense is caused by chaos. But it's also a bloody nuisance, hardly a positive thing.

Technically, it's Man muss noch Chaos in sich haben, um einen tanzenden Stern gebären zu können, since Nietzsche was of course German. "Man must still have Chaos in himself, to be capable of giving birth to a dancing star." I think it's the old 'you can't be creative by following all the rules'.

I do think there are interesting possibilities in exploring the positive side of Chaos, from paladins of freedom who fight oppressive tyrannies and have abilities centering around releasing others from magical control to chaotic creatures who inspire poetry spontaneously in anyone with a two-digit INT or CHA. The game started with Lawful=good and Chaotic=evil, but while we can all imagine Lawful Evil (Hitler, Stalin, etc.) Chaotic Good is a little trickier as anarchy tends to be bad for people in general.