Imagine: How Creativity Works

By Jonah Lehrer

Favorite Quotes

Captured By Josh Duncanwww.arandomjog.com

Every creative journey begins with a problem

It’s often only at this point, after we’ve stopped

searching for the answer, that the answer arrives

The hardest work always comes after, when you’re trying to make the idea real

We do some of our best thinking when we’re half asleep

it inhibits the sort of creative connections that lead to breakthroughs

While it’s commonly assumed that the best way to solve a difficult problem is to relentlessly focus, this clenched

state of mind comes with a hidden cost:

The normal person classifies an object, and then forgets about it. The creative person,

by contrast, is always open to new possibilities.

And that’s always going to be a long and difficult process.

I think people need to be reminded that creativity is a verb, a very time-consuming verb. It’s about taking an idea in your head, and

transforming that idea into something real.

There’s just one problem with brainstorming: it doesn’t work

Knowledge can be a subtle curse. When we learn about the world, we also learn all the reasons why the world cannot be

changed.

Our findings show that debate and criticism do not inhibit ideas but, rather, stimulate them relative to

every other condition.

Photo Credits• Sleep -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mad_wraith/6328078372/sizes/l/in/photostream/

• Hammer - http://www.flickr.com/photos/m2w2/191545978/sizes/o/in/photostream/

• Shower - http://www.flickr.com/photos/loop_oh/4739656352/sizes/o/in/photostream/

• Chicago - http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/217440037/sizes/l/in/photostream/

• Legos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ogimogi/2253657555/sizes/l/in/photostream/• Notes - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/2542450115/sizes/l/in/photostream/• Note pad - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeoliveri/685358132/