  Simonton is attempting to salvage the Blind Variation Selective Retention
theory of creativity (often referred to as the Darwinian theory of creativity)
by dissociating it from Darwinism. This is a necessary move for complex reasons
outlined in detail elsewhere. However, whether or not one calls BVSR a
Darwinian theory, it is still a variation-and-selection theory.
Variation-and-selection was put forward to solve a certain kind of paradox,
that of how biological change accumulates (that is, over generations, species
become more adapted to their environment) despite being discarded at the end of
each generation (that is, parents don't transmit to offspring knowledge or
bodily changes acquired during their lifetimes, e.g., you don't inherit your
mother's ear piercings). This paradox does not exist with respect to creative
thought. There is no discarding of acquired change when ideas are transmitted
amongst individuals; we share with others modified versions of the ideas we
were exposed to on a regular basis.
