Anne Murphy Paul: Lessons on Creativity from Jazz Greats The improvisational flights of jazz greats like Louis Armstrong and John Coltrane are so transporting that they can seem almost otherworldly — especially when the listener is aware that these musicians weren’t following any score, but were making up their riffs in the moment. New research on what happens in the brain when we improvise, however, is showing that it is very much an earthbound activity, grounded in the same neural processes at play in every one of us when we engage in spontaneous self-expression, like a conversation with a friend. “Creativity is far from a magical event of unexpected random inspiration,” wrote researchers Charles Limb and Mónica López-González in an article published in the journal Cerebrum last month. “Instead, it is a mental occurrence that results from the application of ordinary cognitive processes.” (MORE: Paul: Why Morning Routines Are Creativity Killers) (MORE: Paul: Speaking Thark: What Invented Languages Can Teach Us) MORE: Forgetful?
Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D.: Why Weird Experiences Boost Creativity Creative people think differently. But why? There is no magic bullet or single pill. We all have the potential for creativity, but there are so many different triggers that can broaden our minds, inspire, and motivate. Of course, there are just as many triggers that can shut down our minds. Since creativity is so important for individual well-being and societal innovation, it's important that we systematically pull the right triggers. A crucial trigger is the experience of unusual and unexpected events. To test their idea, the researchers put people in a virtual reality world where participants took a virtual three-minute stroll through the university cafeteria, and during the course of their walk experienced weird events that violated the laws of physics. They also had people take a test of cognitive flexibility where they were required to come up with as many ideas as possible to the question "What makes sound?" These results are provocative and have some important implications.
Visual Thinking « The Multidisciplinarian Do you think in words – or in pictures? Various communities use the term visual thinking in different but related ways. Thinking about pictures, communicating with pictures, advertisement and propaganda, visualization of data, and storyboarding share this concept. Football coaches, branding experts, math gurus and choreographers think and communicate in pictures. Do a web search on visual thinking and you’ll find that most of the results apply to visual learning, a closely related concept. The term visual thinking appears often in the study of art – particularly ancient art. Art historians observe that what we see – or how we interpret what we see – is controlled by our culture. Most of us consider seeing an essentially biological and “natural” process. More education in visual thought and analysis of imagery could help us lift this cultural veil from our eyes and eliminate the distrust we have for what we see. Alex Osterwalder conducting a business model innovation session. Like this:
How To Stay Cool Under Pressure Tuesday, May 29, 2012 Cognitive scientist Sian Beilock writes: “Our performance is often linked to financial incentives. But not everyone responds to financial incentives in the same way. While some thrive when the proverbial carrot is dangling out in front of them, others choke. A group of researchers at Cal Tech invited people to their lab to have their brains scanned while they performed a tricky exercise in exchange for a monetary reward. To figure out what was going on, the researchers next peered inside people’s heads. Why? Interestingly, those people who tend to be most loss-adverse (those people who really hate losing something they have) were the ones who showed the least activity in the ventral striatum when the stakes were high and the ones who choked the most. I like that last bit of advice: focus on the reasons you are likely to succeed.
Let's save millions: What's your 100 hour challenge? {*style:<b> Changes happen all the time in schools. But, in the same way as it’s hard to realise that the flight you’re on is moving swiftly through the air until either all 24,000 kms are up, I think change in education often goes unseen. And those iterative changes cost a lot of dosh . Why is marking time on our learning important? Research proves that most professional development does very little developing at all, since we rarely do anything significant with the input and conversations we have: Professional Development - A great way to avoid change is a pretty seminal paper in that respect (pdf). This is serious. I had thought years ago that all schools, once a year, could aspire to achieve 100 innovations in 100 days . However, if instead of trying to organise the effort, and instead allow the forces of our ‘education market’ within the school community to take hold, we might see something different. {*style:<i><b>. </i>*} Killer Marathon Lifestreaming teaching
Ray Bradbury on Space, Education, and Our Obligation to Future Generations: A Rare 2003 Interview by Maria Popova “Anything that puts a sense of the miraculous in you… Anything that makes you feel alive is good.” After this morning’s remembrance of Ray Bradbury through 11 of his most memorable quotes, here comes a rare archival gem: On August 22, 2003, SCVTV news man Leon Worden conducted a short but wide-ranging interview with the beloved author, in which he discusses such timely subjects as future of space exploration, what’s wrong with the education system, and where technology is taking us, exploring ideas as broad and abstract as the possibility of alien life and as specific and concrete as tackling the 40,000 highway deaths that take place every year. The interview is now available online, mashed up with images from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory — highlights below. In commenting on the cultural impact of mainstream media, Bradbury echoes David Foster Wallace’s lament: Maybe we can get rid of a lot of lousy TV, I hope. Anything except what’s on there! Donating = Loving
Our Manifesto Education is what someone tells you to do. Learning is what you do for yourself. The traditional way of education forces square pegs into round holes. It's a one-size-fits-all solution that forces people down a predetermined path. Our mission is simple. Learning has no roadblocks, prescribed paths, tests, quizzes, or outdated majors and degrees. Teachers are passionate. Learn by Doing Rather than memorize equations for a test, learn by taking action. Your statement of accomplishment no longer needs to be a degree, certificate, or stamp of approval. Proof of learning is in progress and action. Everyone is a Teacher You can learn from anyone – which means we’re all teachers. Why teach? Learning Can Happen Anywhere Our cities are our best and biggest campuses, and any address can be a classroom. We Can Change Education The world’s most abundant resources are excess knowledge and skills. Learning and teaching are essential to keep the world spinning.
Studying the Brain Can Help Us Understand Our Unscientific Beliefs Editors’ Note: Portions of this post appeared in similar form in a December, 2009, piece by Jonah Lehrer for Wired magazine. We regret the duplication of material. Last week, Gallup announced the results of their latest survey on Americans and evolution. What’s most remarkable about these numbers is their stability: these percentages have remained virtually unchanged since Gallup began asking the question, thirty years ago. Such poll data raises questions: Why are some scientific ideas hard to believe in? A new study in Cognition, led by Andrew Shtulman at Occidental College, helps explain the stubbornness of our ignorance. This means that science education is not simply a matter of learning new theories. To document the tension between new scientific concepts and our pre-scientific hunches, Shtulman invented a simple test. As expected, it took students much longer to assess the veracity of true scientific statements that cut against our instincts.
how to turn your creative online platform into an art* Art isn’t only a painting. Art is anything that’s creative, passionate, and personal. And great art resonates with the viewer, not only with the creator. What makes someone an artist? Strange concept, developing an audience before you have something to sell. Maybe it makes perfect sense, if you tilt your head and shift your angle. When you’re randomly shoving your book in people’s faces, what are the odds that that particular reader is going to be your right reader? There’s an element of subjectivity to art. Maybe you can’t truly sell or market your work online. You create, online, a sense of who you are and what you stand for as an artist. You put yourself out there to be found. You cast your signal into the strange endless void of the Internet, and you wait for your people to hear it, and recognize it, and follow it back to you. You see yourself reflected back in them. This is known as a bond. This is known as a sense of authenticity. You fashion your own point of view. Or not.
Weighing the words of our different inner voices Excuse me while I try to get a word in edgewise. I have someone in my head at the moment, and she’s talking very loudly. It’s Wobbly Wendy doing her thing in my left lobe. Oh phew, she is wearing herself out now, as she always does, which is a relief. I much prefer to listen to Cheerleading Cindy, who tells me things I like to hear – that everything is possible, the credit card will be paid off, a holiday is deserved, and, sure, go ahead and book yourself a massage because you’ve worked hard. And then there’s my mother, of course. Listen for a moment, and you’ll hear your own voices. Some experts argue that unhappiness is caused when we passively listen to those voices rather than pro-actively talk to ourselves. Personally, I find that the sort of people who wake up every morning, gaze at themselves in the mirror and profess self-love, often look as though they like themselves too much, which is a bit off-putting. Researchers suggest a far more nuanced approach to self-talk.
What Improv Teaches Us About Creativity | Moments of Genius The most important rule in improvisation comedy is the idea of agreement, the notion that a scene flourishes when all the players accept anything that happens to them. Improv isn’t about wisecracks and one-liners. It’s about creating a structure where characters and narratives are quickly created, developed, sometimes forgotten and other times resolved. With just a tip-bit – usually a one-word suggestion at the beginning of the show - good improvisers generate compelling and captivating stories that engage the audience. Comedy is the natural byproduct. The question, of course, is how do they do it? Consider a study conducted several years ago out of Johns Hopkins University by neuroscientist Charles Limb. The key finding involved the DLPFC. In a study with similar implications, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago examined the relationship between alcohol and creativity. Crab Sauce Pine The answer, if you don’t have it already, is “Apple.” Why?
Molecular Gastronomy in Aisle 6: Kits for the Modern Cook | Wired Design Equal parts periodic table and Gourmet Magazine, Molecule-R has an Apple-like flair for design. Photo: Molecule-R “Where can I find the maltodextrin?” It’s a question that’s likely to result in a blank stare from your local grocer’s stock boy. The technique was popularized by chefs like Wylie Dufresne of WD-50, Ferran Adria of elBulli, and former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold, who wrote the magnum opus in the field, Modernist Cooking. Until now. Molecule-R was founded by college friends Jonathan Coutu and Jerome De Champlain after Jean bought a couple of disappointing molecular gastronomy kits. The components of a Molecule-R kit. Molecule-R provides a fully contained, elegantly designed, high-end system (kits start at $59). If Molecule-R has the sleek packaging and ease of an Apple product, Modernist Pantry is the Android equivalent. “When I did find them, I had to buy them in Costco-sized bulk packages that were expensive and took up a lot of space,” Anderson says.