Imagine: How Creativity Works, by Jonah Lehrer
Shattering the myth of muses, higher powers, even creative “types,”
in his book "Imagine: How Creativity Works" Jonah Lehrer demonstrates that creativity is not a single gift possessed by the lucky few. It’s a variety of distinct thought
processes that we can all learn to use more effectively.
He talks about how relaxation fuels our imagination:
"Although we live in an age that worships focus—we are always forcing
ourselves to concentrate, chugging caffeine—this approach can inhibit
the imagination. We might be focused, but we're probably focused on
the wrong answer. And this is why relaxation helps: It isn't until
we're soothed in the shower or distracted by the stand-up comic that
we're able to turn the spotlight of attention inward, eavesdropping on
all those random associations unfolding in the far reaches of the
brain's right hemisphere. When we need an insight, those associations
are often the source of the answer.
After all, when we’re bored we begin to daydream, and studies suggest
that people who daydream more score higher on tests of creativity.
This is why I now force myself to leave my phone behind a few times a
week. When I have my phone, I check my email or twitter or the WSJ the
second I get bored – the daydream is always being interrupted. So I’ve
learned to embrace the possibilities of boredom."
Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.
Shattering the myth of muses, higher powers, even creative “types,”
in his book "Imagine: How Creativity Works" Jonah Lehrer demonstrates that creativity is not a single gift possessed by the lucky few. It’s a variety of distinct thought
processes that we can all learn to use more effectively.
He talks about how relaxation fuels our imagination:
"Although we live in an age that worships focus—we are always forcing
ourselves to concentrate, chugging caffeine—this approach can inhibit
the imagination. We might be focused, but we're probably focused on
the wrong answer. And this is why relaxation helps: It isn't until
we're soothed in the shower or distracted by the stand-up comic that
we're able to turn the spotlight of attention inward, eavesdropping on
all those random associations unfolding in the far reaches of the
brain's right hemisphere. When we need an insight, those associations
are often the source of the answer.
After all, when we’re bored we begin to daydream, and studies suggest
that people who daydream more score higher on tests of creativity.
This is why I now force myself to leave my phone behind a few times a
week. When I have my phone, I check my email or twitter or the WSJ the
second I get bored – the daydream is always being interrupted. So I’ve
learned to embrace the possibilities of boredom."
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