Take a Nap, be More Creative
This article has been taken from Fast Company's March 2012 issue. BY Rachael Z. Arndt | 01-27-2012 An exploration both artistic and scientific, Jonah Lehrer's Imagine: How Creativity Works tells us why a walk can lead to a big idea and how brainstorming dulls imagination. FC: How does creativity work? Lehrer: The word itself is a misnomer. We use creativity in the singular, as if there's one way the brain generates new connections. But there are probably three neurologically distinct forms of creativity. One is when you have these moments of insight that come out of the blue--when you have epiphanies in the shower. Those seem to come from the part of the brain that's involved in things like the interpretation of metaphors and the processing of jokes. Another form is really working hard at solving a problem--it's not nearly as fun as having an epiphany, but it's just as important. The last form is spontaneous improvisation--what Miles ...