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The Focused Arrogance of the Highly Creative
Creative geniuses have long had a reputation for arrogance. “When I paint, the ocean roars,” proclaimed the self-satisfied surrealist Salvador Dali. “Others merely paddle in their bath.” Newly...
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Portraits Can Get Your Pulse Pounding
Art exhibits are not generally thought of as opportunities to get our pulses racing and skin tingling. But newly published research suggests aesthetic appreciation is, in fact, a full-body experience....
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How the Unconscious Mind Boosts Creative Output
Truly creative ideas are both highly prized and, for most of us, maddeningly elusive. If our best efforts produce nothing brilliant, we’re often advised to put aside the issue at hand and give our...
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Morning People May Be More Creative in the Afternoon
Are you struggling with a problem that requires a creative solution? If so, your impulse might be to attack it during that time of the day when you feel fresh, rested and alert. New research suggests...
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Pressure to Conform Can Inspire Creativity
Do you think of yourself as not particularly creative? Well, you might have more innovative ideas than you realize. To access them, you just need to feel some pressure to conform. Admittedly, that...
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Thinking Creatively: Just Add Milk
Want to boost your creativity? Tomorrow morning, pour some milk into an empty bowl, and then add the cereal. That may sound, well, flaky. But according to a newly published study, preparing a common...
View ArticleA Flash of Green Enhances Creativity
Want to be more creative? You might want to take a stroll through the park, eat a spinach salad, or catch a few minutes of the Muppets — keeping your eye on Kermit the Frog. According to newly...
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Book Review: Practical Ways to Become More Creative
“Innovation Generation: How to produce creative and useful scientific ideas” By Roberta Ness (Oxford University Press) $29.95 Reviewed by Paul Silvia, associate professor of psychology, University of...
View ArticleTo Boost Creativity, Study Abroad
Looking to hire someone who will make a creative contribution to your organization? Here’s a tip: When checking applicants’ college transcripts, don’t focus exclusively on their grades or honors. Take...
View ArticleThe Creativity of the Wandering Mind
Do you have a numbingly dull job, one so monotonous that you frequently find your mind wandering? Well, congratulations: without realizing it, you have boosted your creative potential. Mindless tasks...
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Hip-Hop on the Brain
My hometown, Minneapolis, may not have been the cradle of hip-hop, but by the late 90s, when I hit high school, it was a Mecca for indie rappers and DJs. More than a few of my friends kept “rhyme...
View ArticleFurther Evidence Links Creativity, Dishonesty
The Dark Side of Creativity: Original Thinkers Can Be More Dishonest is the title of a provocative paper published precisely one year ago. Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School and Dan Ariely of...
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Creativity Blocked? Try a Common Scents Solution
“Sleep on it” is a traditional piece of advice for puzzled people in need of an innovative solution. In recent years, the wisdom of this approach has been validated by science, with one study linking...
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The City of the Future: Can Los Angeles Reinvent Itself All Over Again?
This post originally appeared on OnEarth, a Pacific Standard partner site. In the summer of 1998, my wife and I left Brooklyn and gamely headed west to Los Angeles, as disaffected New Yorkers are wont...
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Dim Lighting Sparks Creativity
There are certain times when you want the lights turned way down low. One such time, according to recent research, is when you need to think creatively. “Darkness increases freedom from constraints,...
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Turning Repressed Emotions Into Great Art
It has long been theorized that repressed anger or forbidden sexual desire can be a creative catalyst. After all, one way to exorcise internal tensions is to channel them into art. Provocative new...
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The Muse: True Inspiration or Total Nonsense?
The Muse, that which whispers forth ideas and inspiration into the hearts and souls of the creative, is divine, is total bull, and is everything in between. I’ve made most of my living the past few...
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Can a Messy Desk Make You More Creative?
In recent years, researchers have identified many ways to spark creativity, from studying abroad to dimming the lights. A newly published study reveals yet another method, one many of us have already...
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Narcissism Breeds Belief in One’s Own Creativity
Have you ever taken a drawing seminar or a creative writing class, looked around at your fellow students and thought, “There sure are a lot of narcissists in here”? Recently published research suggests...
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Abuse Inspires Creativity, You Moron!
When you’re trying to be creative, the last thing you need is some sharp-tongued supervisor demeaning your efforts, right? Actually, that may be just the thing you need. Recently published research...
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