French Polymath Henri Poincaré on How Creativity Works

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/08/15/henri-poincare-on-how-creativity-works/

Passion and constance in your research will improve creativity

Daily meditation practice will improve creativity.

Daily physical exercise will improve creativity

Manual work will improve creativity

Playing music will improve creativity

Walking in nature will improve creativity

Yes, we can. In fact this is happen to many people, involve me. Perhaps, it is a kind of brainstorming. One story, I tried to write a paper, and want to submit it. I am lucky, because the Internet Connection has failed. I try to solve the Internet problem (took 3 days). Next, I re-read the paper before submission, and disagree on its presentation! I re-write it and then submit. I is accepted. The moral of this story , is to give some time to the Conscious/Motor to rest and/or help you for an alternative solutions. The Quality of the work will be increased significantly. I try to practice this with my MSc students during reviewing their writing. After 7-10 days, I ask them to re-read some paragraphs, and immediately, the students give me a very nice alternatives.

Yes Tolga, my dad used to advise me 'sleep on it, sleep on the problem'.

I have been teaching students about how our DNA repairs itself, but it needs a lot of energy for this process. So DNA repairs its errors by itself during sleep. DNA replication makes mistakes, about 500 nucleotides are added per second in some organisms.

Sometimes we are most creative and productive under stress, but this cannot go on for too long. So you see the result when you have been refreshed by sleep. [But in this college, I am not allowed to carry out research on sleep nor on cholesterol regulation. It's the 'rules' of this place, I can research certain areas only.]

French Polymath Henri Poincaré on How Creativity Works

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/08/15/henri-poincare-on-how-creativity-works/

Passion and constance in your research will improve creativity

Daily meditation practice will improve creativity.

Daily physical exercise will improve creativity

Manual work will improve creativity

Playing music will improve creativity

Walking in nature will improve creativity

First Practice and Creativity:

**Practice makes Perfect, Perfection attracts Admiration, Admiration feeds Creativity.

and the 'other' thing-

I happened many times, we are working on something, but not satisfied with going. Then we take a break (either a nap or just a coffee) and that 'ALIEN CLICK' happens.

The great Indian Mathematician Ramanujan was known to solve complex theorems only while he was sleeping.

Have you ever listened, Tolga, to those musical compositions that suggest perpetual motion? One example: Debussy´s "Mouvement," which has inspired perpetual motion pieces of other composers (Ernesto Halffter) and even poetry of perpetual motion. That to me is creativity. It is a self-renewing effort, taking "self" in the strong sense of being a subject and its own object. Sometimes it goes underwater like part of a waterwheel, but be assured that it will emerge once again. I find that sometimes a vigorous interruption of research for but a short time causes creativity to reemerge with greater force than ever. At midday I invariably take a vigorous, 5-mile swim at an indoor pool, and while I think I have cleared my mind of research, suddenly when I am halfway through my laps, I get a new idea, and I swim faster than ever to finish my laps and get home to put that idea on the computer. So I agree with Patrick Low: take a break and pow! the Muse visits again!

Louis,

Great post! You have hit the nail on the head with your reference to Poincare and your list of ways to improve creativity.

Trying to identify the neural correlate of the ever-so-important stage of incubation in Wallas' model is fascinating. Some research on insight problem solving (very different from creativity though) has also suggested that once the problem is outside of conscious deliberation, the answer will just "come to you." Some of the research that I've read has also suggested that the less lingual RH (in most humans) allows for these far-fetched connections to be made, that the LH may generally censor (shall try and recall the article where I came across this though). In any case, brilliant question :)

Only a long time practice in fewer cases improved the level of creativity.

To me it is the mind. It has enormous powers. Mind can do anything.It can traverse the whole universe. It can substract from the abstracts.Milton was blind ,when he was writing ,paradise lost . His mind was able to see the earth as saphire which we see from the photographs of NASA .Indian astronomy, long before the advent of telescopes ,[to say prehistoric era],was able to define the solar system,the properties of each planet,their duration of movement around the sun,etc,etc,etc .When properly fed ,mind, can do anything .'Hone the skills of the mind.Tame it.Empower it ' These are the essence of ancient Indian litrrature ,that people, all over the world ,now practice it as 'meditation'.One aspect of mind is intuition.Dreams are another aspect.While we sleep, the mind sythesizes ,solutions, for complex problems.One such example is the structure of benzene. The minds of sages and saints, scientists, poets, have enormous creative potential . They use it for the welfare of humanity, and live for ever even after death.

Definitely Yes it strngthens the person and get him create more and more

yeah definitely.!!!

you can see a trait " most of the creative people are also the hard working one"

I found this useful link related to the post

http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/6451.aspx

Excellent idea Tolga. it is indeed amazing where the ides come from.

"According to cognitive psychologist Robert J. Sternberg, creativity can be broadly defined as "...the process of producing something that is both original and worthwhile." Creativity is all about finding new ways of solving problems and approaching situations. This isn't a skill restricted to artists, musicians or writers; it is a useful skill for people from all walks of life." The link below give you ten tips If you ever wanted to boost your creativity:

http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/tp/how-to-boost-creativity.htm

I think that stop working on a certain problem does not necessarily mean stop processing it, they are sent back, minimized, but are still running as a background service/process. We all had dreams and I believe that these dreams are a continuation of what we work on. I think many of us had the opportunity of going through daily complex math or else during our dreams. This used to happen to me frequently during my undergraduate. Hence, I believe that there should be methods to train our brains to restore this property later on when we become more engrossed with other life and family issues. Thanks. @Aldmour

From experience I came to know that the act of improving creativity can be creative one in itself!

Here it is my creative process.

I relentlessly read everything I can, from essays, academic papers, to magazines, novels, poems; also, I listen to some music.

This strange process helps me in accumulating small pieces of ideas, putting them together in a paper. I never experienced the 'aha' moment.

And studying the history of scientific discoveries (mainly in biological fields) I can still maintain the position that 'aha' moments do not exist. It is only dealing with 'strange' practices, it is only breaking routines and following completely invented protocols, it is only cross-pollinating with different sources that someone can get interesting (small pieces of insights).

Yes. Creativity is the bridge for new developments in any field. Also it creates specific identity to the individual

Yes it gets improved with practice.

It is not a Mars abduction... This is a subconscious abduction, (using all the brain and accomodating thoughts and ideas for an effective exit).

as a complex person, we want to give a complex look at our work, so no one can dismiss the creativity in some cases. personally I got bored and I use the philosophy of OCKHAM (Ockham's razor).

Creativity is perhaps inborn. It can not perhaps be cultured.

Dear Tolga

The creativity my be improved with practice.

For an explanation of what is creativity converge cognitive factors associated with the ability, skills, thinking styles and knowledge in a given field; motivational factors associated with intrinsic motivation and task orientation, personality factors, and in particular sense of self-efficacy and ability to risk and challenge, and also environmental factors that support and reward the efforts criativos.A practice is a key factor in the improvement of our goals.

Dear Tolga,

unfortunately

creativity must be improved by practice

because practice can make man perfect to solve any realistic problem

Hi everyone, I am glad that, everyone agrees (except the Alien Abduction situation) :)

My theory on this is as follows (of course, from a computer engineer's eye) :) :) :)

*** The unconscious and conscious processes in the brain evolved completely separately and according to different time frames during the human evolution

*** They somehow work in an UNCOORDINATED manner

*** They both have enormous processing power, however, in completely different formats. TOLGA-C requires attention to be focused on the problem and requires short term memory resources. TOLGA-M does not require this, and is only good for massively parallel problems.

*** So, TOLGA-M is not capable of solving problems that require a lot of short term memory, however, it is EXCELLENT (and better) at solving things that require ROUTINE and parallel processing. Ironically, the music composing Nelson mentioned is one of those ...

*** Paul McCartney woke up one day humming "Yesterday" . I guess, he composed it in his sleep !

*** It is as if, nature gave us a super fast CPU with RAM, and an unconscious many-core GPU with little memory :)

*** When we have a very difficult problem that requires heavy-duty processing, we put this problem in the "problem solving queue" in the brain

*** If the TOLGA-C (conscious portion) can solve it earlier, it DELETES it from the queue :) sorry, this is the best explanation you are going to get from a computer engineer guy :) :) :)

*** If the problem ID #45 is still in the queue, and we direct our attention somewhere else, it stays in the queue ... The motor part still continues to solve it, and it is completely UNaware of the conscious part still working on it

*** While trying to solve Problem ID #45, motor portion makes necessary neural connections which are useful for the solution (or, may be they ARE the solution)

*** When the attention gets placed on Problem ID #45 back again, the problem gets deQUEUE'd and put back on the WORKING QUEUE ...

*** only this time, significant neuro-computational progress has been made, and the conscious portion (TOLGA-C) gets the added neural connections for FREE (i.e., a partial or full solution)

Makes sense ?

What is meant by practice? is it activity of TOLGA-C or TOLGA-M?

Jalal, I mean, "learning what THINK/STOP" time intervals to utilize to take maximum advantage of TOLGA-M ... I have a feeling that, if we force TOLGA-C a lot, he will eventually solve it, and TOLGA-M will never get involved. We will be missing out on a great computational resource that we could, otherwise, use ...

Thks Tolga. Are you sure that TOLGA-C and TOLGA-M are uncoordinated? are they parallel or serial?

Jalal, excellent question !! This has been bothering me a lot.

*** ATTENTION is definitely a one-at-a-time entity. Why do we get in an accident when we are texting and driving ? We cannot focus on more than one thing ... I am sure that, this has something to do with short term memory (STM) ... There is only one STM, and deliberate processing needs it ... However, the resources it uses are definitely massively parallel. In other words, we cannot work on more than one ATTENTION-BASED problem, however, we have very computationally powerful resources to solve that ONE problem.

*** UNCONSCIOUS processing is processing-without-memory, although, it might be somehow using the STM if the conscious part doesn't need it. I am not clear on this.

*** UNCONSCIOUS portions evolved to coordinate chewing, respiration, etc. However, nature added the capability of problem-solving, so, animals without so powerful attention-based-focusing can solve the simple problems without needing consciousness ... Example : A deer AVOIDING to be CAUGHT by a lion by considering different escape paths unconsciously.

*** The human unconscious processing part (like many other parts) improved so much that, it started participating in significantly more powerful processing ...

*** Are they totally UNcoordinated ? I think they definitely know the PROBLEM QUEUE/REMOVE/DELETE instructions, but, they are, otherwise, unaware of each other ...

*** In other words, TOLGA-M is unaccessible to TOLGA-C, unless we use techniques like MEDITATION, which allows us to access the difficult-to-access neural paths

Makes sense ?

Dear Mr.Tolga, Trust the God! Almighty .....!!!!! Greatest Creater....!!! Ohm ....!!!

If two things are unaware of each other, and there is no third thing that affects both in a correlated manner, it means that they are working independently. And if they work independently, forcing THINK/STOP sequence on TOLGA-C does not necessarily affects the work of TOLGA-M. Practice is forcing TOLGA-C and logically should not improve performance of TOLGA-M.

Our mind is the wonderful instruments.It take decission,make plans and create blueprints for the future.Mind Maps are the ideal tool for effectively accessing natural creativity and harnessing that creativity for effective problem solving.The creative process is an ongoing exercise. Everything you do that is not habit is creative. We combine humor, inspiration and special techniques to enhance creativity.

Jalal, my idea is : if you don't "demand work" from TOLGA-M, you certainly won't get it. So, if you keep trying very hard with the TOLGA-C (conscious part), you are not really putting TOLGA-M to work ... If you STOP, the TOLGA-M will continue working on it.

The question is : what is the right sequence of THINK/STOP timing ? so that, the idea is "incubated" sufficiently by TOLGA-C and TOLGA-M can take over and IS CAPABLE of contributing to the solution ...

If you STOP too early, TOLGA-M might not be capable of contributing anything.

If you STOP too late, well, you practically didn't even use TOLGA-M ...

Tks again Tolga. My suggestion is to consider TOLGA-C as a processor-without-memory and TOLGA-M as with memory. In one-at-a-time tasks TOLGA-C has to be inductive and TOLGA-M has a memory of PATTERNS which makes it capable of finding a deductive solution. this way one can argue that switching from inductive to deductive processing brings TOLGA to innovative solutions. Does it makes any sense?

Damien, I like the "lighten up" approach :) Here is my theory about how the brain solves problems: Solution starts at LINE 1 (the START label):

LINE 1: START: Is the deadline tomorrow ?

................If YES, goto PANIC ... if NO, go to IGNORE

LINE 2: IGNORE: has the motor (TOLGA-M) solved the problem yet ?

................If YES, goto DONE ... if NO, go to START

LINE 3: PANIC: can you solve the problem consciously ? (TOLGA-C) ?

................If YES, solve it and goto EXIT ... if NO, go to IGNORE

LINE 4: DONE: Act cool, as if you solved the problem totally consciously

LINE 5: EXIT: all set. Phew !

I think that creativity is part of our nature. When we look at children games at their earlier age, they are full of creative attempts. Childs at that age haven't sufficient knowledge and sufficient cognitive process, but they are able to perform for examples many assemblage or dis-assemblage focusing their attention on the object they want to produce or transform. So sure that creativity will increase with knowledge and cognitive practice. However I'm not sure that our mind operates as a computer do. Maybe our brain continue functioning for the unsolved problems that he faced consciously and unconsciously (as an idle for computers)

If there are multiple dependencies, it is preferred to run sequential task with step wise refinement (Synchronized). Give priority and scheduling till some or all dependencies are removed (i.e., leave the critical section). There is some degree of interleaving with Many cores. i.e., Heterogeneous Computing Model (Host Code + Device Kernel).

There is a shift from theories which prioritise creativity as an individual psychological property to those which, in addition to cognitive development, pay attention to the social and contextual environment in which creativity can flourish.

The UK National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCE, 1999;) suggest four characteristics of creative processes. First, that they always involve thinking or behaving imaginatively. Second, that this imaginative activity is, overall, purposeful: that is, it is directed to achieving an objective. Third, that creative processes must generate something original. Fourth, that the outcome must be of value in relation to the objective. An important element of this definition is that it anchors creativity within purposeful activity.

Ergo, if it is an activity there could be a social dimension to creativity and therefore it is susceptible to being improved by practice.

Within this definition, creativity cannot occur without some form of content. Indeed, creativity requires content – in terms of knowledge and skills – to provide it with a purpose or challenge, and to add or to gain value. It can be learnt so can it be taught?

In "Creativity: Find it, Promote it", the defunct English QCA(Qualifications & Curriculum Authority) (2005) suggested that it is possible to identify when learners are thinking and behaving creatively by using the following framework:

(i) questioning and challenging;

(ii) making connections and seeing relationships;

(iii) envisaging what might be;

(iv) exploring ideas, keeping options open;

(v) reflecting critically on ideas, actions and outcomes.

Neuroscientists might was to have brain imaging of these processes to define them but I can assure you that most teachers and researchers can be trained to recognise these behaviours with a serviceable degree of consistency.

If one takes into account the culture of the settings that support creativity it is possible to locate some enablers of creativity:

The EU review of theories of creativity by Ferrari, et al. (2009: 2) proposes a series of requisites for creativity and innovation in schools. These factors have been called enablers and are the circumstances or support mechanisms that make creativity and innovation more likely to thrive. These are: ‘assessment; culture; curriculum; individual skills; teaching and learning format; teachers; technology, tools’.

Although, the questioner did not frame their question in terms of schools, some of these environmental / contextual factors may be relevant to other educational institions such as universities.

* Assessment activities that are not stressful ( I accept writing a bid can be very stressful)

* The creation of a democratic culture, where ideas, interests and opinions are welcome.’

* A curriculum which places an emphasis on the need for creativity without imposing another task (perhaps a work environment that is sympathetic to one's own research and scholarship?)

* The development of individual skills in a way which recognises that there is a minimum threshold of knowledge needed to be creative in any field.

* The harnessing of technology in order that it can offer many opportunities for change

* They need to be able to identify opportunities for creativity as well as be aware of the myths about creativity.

* The employment of necessary tools, including space, resources and networks,

It may well be that, if you develop these ways of working with others, the neuroscience system of TOLGAs will look after themselves and you will write better bids.

Some of these quotes and examples are taken from my work with Andrew Peterson on 'Can creativity be assessed? Towards an evidence informed framework for assessing and planning progress in creativity' Camb J. of Ed 2014

I hope this example from education is relevant to this question/discussion.

According to me, creativity can be improved with practice.

If we do some creative works regularly then we learn from our success and failure. Also it encourages us to try something more and more creative thus bring our inside creativity to outside world and thus increases our creativity.

Regards,

Nitish

Tolga,

Our unconscious is our DEEP SELF. It does not obey our SURFACE SELF if our SURFACE SELF is not aligned with it. In other words, we have to be consistent with ourself like children are. Yes we are more educated that when we were a child, but the child was intrinsically united and passionate. Inculturation is a process of integration of cultural knowledge itself not fully integrated and it intrinsically fragment our adult mind. By being honest , sensitive to what we really matter for us, what is truly meaningfull for us, and not only of what is demand from us, by truly being true as much as we can to our deep self, we become passionate and these are the requirement for our deep self, our unconscious self to work towards our objective and being creative. We cannot be creative otherwise. Only if we serve our deep self that the deep self will serv us and only then we are moving towards integration and are as creative as we can be.

Great challenge Tolga and all. Would you be Ok with a wide angle view from my integrated studies of how creative brains work well? If so, I'd love to share my 2-bits as I thought deeply about this question:-) Thanks for this discussion and that opportunity - I now plan to write a blog on the topic:-)

Here's my big picture look:-)

You cannot learn to create if you …

1. Say you can’t. The brain creates when you tell it to do something original. Ford was right when he said: “If you say you can or you say you can’t you are right.”

2. Focus on perfect. A brain needs wiggle room to build stepping stones forward on mistakes. The Wright Brothers remind us that these steps may even become successful flights.

3. Whine over problems. To create is to look past a problem and see a possibility. It’s much the way Edison failed dozens of times and before the light bulb lit up his determination for possibilities.

4. Downplay your talents. Refuse to take a shot at things because others seem more talented or compare yourself to those who developed skills that wait in your garden to be picked.

5. Wait for resources. When mother Teresa taught one teacher at a time, under a tree, some people told her to use her time to organize big groups and rally for more support. She did not.

6. Blame others. The brain's cortisol and stress chemicals for blame – differ from its well-being chemicals (such as serotonin and dopamine) needed to create, and imagine and wonder.

7. Refuse to risk. The brain increases dopamine needed to take risks and create – with each risk to create that one takes. Take no risks and dopamine takes no boost to help you.

8. Take yourself too seriously. Unless you can laugh at yourself – your brain remains unprepared to move you forward into original places that may get back a laugh (or even a sneer) from others.

9. Cannot collaborate. None of us can possess multiple intelligences at the highest levels. We need to learn how to join forces with other creative people – for mutual benefits as we create.

10. Lack ethics. Play against your moral compass and that moral compass will block you from the hot mental equipment you need to build trust with others in ways that prosper creativity.

Thoughts?

Ellen

Dear Tolga,

Just like you, I often spend much time bumping on a difficulty that seemed unsolvable, and the solution finally appear very clearly to me after a break and/or a break. In such case, when the solution doesn't come quickly, I find it more effective to stay backward in order to take a wider view of the situation and reappraise it. Very often, things appear clearer after a good night, because our brain functions differently at this time and connections can be made between ideas hidden in different parts of our memory. In that, probably sleep may favour creativity, whenever creativity consists in taking the problem from a different angle. In fact, my best ideas, if I had any, came early in the morning right after waking up. That said, to answer to your question, I don't know if creativity can be improved with practice. In a way, maybe... The thing is that if you don't learn during the day and store data in your mind, you may be as creative as you wish, but you won't have the necessary background to get the flash. In a way, the most creative people would be the ones who could spontaneously think and see differently even without the need to have a good rest. I don't know if it's very clear. Perhaps, I should sleep on it and come back tomorrow.

Sébastien

@Ellen, I think your list confirms everything that has been said so far ...

@Sebastian, in response to your posting, the creativity looks like it comes in two phases : 1) IDEA INCUBATION, 2) SOLUTION ... Obviously, if you do not put the idea in your mind (i.e., incubate), no part of your brain is processing it. So, you have no chance of solving it.

The trick is to find out WHEN the motor vs. conscious part work on the solution ...

Thanks Tolga, this compelling question and challenge needs to be raised up as a target for our creative day -- and in my crazy busy we -- you and this thread did just that for me. Thanks for the window into which to look again at what inspires me to create:-) Best, Ellen

Ellen, thank you for the reminder of the impact of negative thought as I fight through "writer's block' in my grant application. The "incubation period" referred to in several different ways across posts, can be missing in our "hyper-linked, omnipresent digital world." There is little time to "reflect" on any learning before we are bombarded with the next great thought, video, text, tweet, etc. Another question thread in my Research Gate account was asking for the "negative results" of technology integration. The impact of "multi-tasking" and constant "access" is something that needs to be considered when we are trying to improve and develop these higher order cognitive skills. Building the "pause" into instruction and your own learning/writing is so important.

@Julie, the "higher order thought" you are mentioning ...

Are you implying TOLGA-C or the unconscious processing (TOLGA-M) ?

Depends on how you define "higher" ...

*** To me, TOLGA-M is "lower" order thought, i.e., DEEP DOWN ...

*** Of course, if you define "higher order" as "using difficult-to-reach parts of

the brain", then , it is higher ... Could you clarify ?

@Tolga, I was referring to creativity as a higher order thinking skill.

@Julie, Ok. I'm with you ...

SKILL ? So, you are agreeing to the fact that, it CAN be practiced ...

I mean, it is not a "born with" feature ?

If it is a SKILL, it can be acquired, practiced, and improved ... Agreed ?

I certainly agree that creativity as defined as providing an original, purposeful solution is a skill. My background is developmental psychology and I teach pre-service teachers. We spend a good deal of time discussing whether or not creativity can be assessed. We generally come to agreement that, yes, it can, once we distinguish "artistic" from "creative". If it can be assessed and we can delineate the key aspects to be measured, we can address those aspects and teach them, and children can practice them.

Instructional strategies that support and encourage creativity include, writing for an audience, accepting multiple answers, displaying an answer and having students come up with the question, uninterrupted writes (set a time limit and continue writing until the time is up even if you just repeat what you are writing, etc.

In relation to the catalyst for this discussion thread--that is more about "recharging" the brain I believe and I would highly recommend a long run outside!

Dear Tolga,

This is my theory. Left and right side of the brain are meant for rational thinking and creative and ludic thinking, respectively (I can't remember which is which). So when you concentrate in something like writing a research proposal or a scientific paper you're working your facts and literature and statistics and so on. So your 'rational brain' is working full mode. And we engineers tend to be really rationals. And the creative side of your brain is kind of asleep, letting the other guy do it's thing. So you go to sleep (time when your brain kind of set the record straight over what you've learned and done during the day) or maybe you go for a walk or meditate or do something relaxing. So both sides of your brain kind of evens out on work, and the creative side kicks in, and boom! you got your answer!!

I think creative processes can be learned, practiced and improved.. but only because human beings are creative by nature, and in this fast-life we're living we have so many things solved that our brains became lazy, we don't need to figure out where to get food or to find a place to sleep that will be safe and everything. So we choose not to think that much because we don't need to.

So I guess that's why relaxing works, cause the brain also relaxes, but already has all the information it needs to solve the problem.

Thank you for making me think of a creative answer today :D

Cinthya, attached is a wonderful paper somebody gave me the other day. It explains everything you are talking about ! The rational part (left hemisphere -LH-) and the emotional part (right hemisphere -RH-) both participate deliberate processing in different ways, but the "motor processing" is different ...

Tolga, thank you for the paper. I get that you're talking about something different with the motor processing, but I still think that you can practice creativity being creative, and that's hemispheres. So, what am I saying? When you do something artistic (dance, sing, paint, draw) you can improve even if you're not gifted, not that you'll be Miguel Angello, but you know what I mean.. With a creative process, like designing an algorithm or looking for an impact opening sentence, is the same thing... when you think outside the box, ideas just flow, and I think that's creativity, and that's your creative side letting you dance however and wherever you want to go...

Dear Cinthya,

Very nice explanation. It is pleasure to have read this discussion. I am working on improving performance by different training methods and now I am thinking of designing an experiment to find the impact of training on creativity in a quantitative way.

My best regards,

Salman

Different sorts of creativity?:

horizontal creativity = tying together, relating several points of view on the same level but in different knowledge domains, like interdisciplinarity

vertical creativity = seeing, digging below the surface of established wisdom, finding causal structures in explanation of surface phenomena, like reductionsm of the good type

Hi Tolga:

I am not a neuroscientist nor a psychologist.However I have been deealing and reading a lot about brain functions recently to prepare my gard.paper which would be about the eefects of humor on human cognition (even animals!) Yesterday,after long pondering about your question, I zapped to Discover Science Channel and watched 'Future scapes with James Woods" which was covering the robot technology, questioning how 'brain power' could be possibly enhanced by adding 'microchips'. The program was indicating not only that humans could be 'robotiaclly' improved but also, one day, robots could even take our place by many means. I suddenly started to think. "Can creativity be also

obtained by "adding microchips" then? If so, your TOLGA E (electronic addition) would do this creative job alone. without needing the other TOLGA's ? Quite intriguing I guess.

Hi!

I guess, one thing that is missing in - or simply adds to - your considerations (and the model and modularization of TOLGA) is that creativity seems to be a) closely related to dopamine signaling/autoregulation b) especially in the prefrontal brain, and this c) includes the involvement of 'inner spontaneity' and 'uncertainty' (or challenge), which are enhanced, e.g., when the working memory is able to take in and process new stuff, which it normally does when it is NOT overwhelmed by stressful or threatening encounters, annyoing or absorbing inner dialogue or being 'over-focused', e.g., by writing on a proposal four hours... thereby entering into a possibly non-creative infinite loop; for preparing the working memory - or dorsolateral prefrontal brain (cortex) - to be ready for this, d) sleep is a very good thing to do, or e) activating the resting state network (RSN), i.e., the default mode network to clean-up and empty 'memory'.

Thus, it may not be a miracle that after detaching and distancing from the 'over-focused' and exhausting, and maybe non-prioritizing, cognitive 'engorgement', e.g., by having some rest, or siesta, or sleep, creativity just kicks-in and the relevant stuff - or a solution - just demasks...

Tobias

HI Tobias:

I have been writing songs/jingles, creating TV shows, and advertising campaigns for years in my former career. Especially in advertising, the due date is "to yesterday"! I remember my adrenaline rush upon receiving the brief and the message we should be conveying. I could not "rest" until I found the gimmick, slogan or the melody/lyrics/punchline. The only thing though ( I certainly don't know how to explain this) I had to "sleep it over" to check the memorability/effect of the music I came up with, to present it to the creative director. However,, until I find the 'creation" it was exactly like a birth process, having pain until it is out!

If you need creativity - ask a child or try to think like a child.... ;-) They look at things/problems from another viewpoint.

Dear Tolga, thanks for (over this) interesting question. I believe that all those who do research at some point in life have this experience. Or several times of life ( which may explain your question: the practice can help creativity?). Well, I think there are many studies (including to prevent neuronal ailments such as Alzheimer's, dementia, etc.) that proves that exercise the brain is as good as exercising muscles. Our cognitive ability appears endless (thanks God). In my creative practice (rsrsrsrs) I have even left notepad and pen beside my bed to jot down any creative "spark" that I have in a REM sleep, aiming do not wake my wife and at same time, not lose the idea. And in clinical practice, often the limitations of materials and techniques lead us to develop alternative methods and sometimes very creative compared to a necessity not expected, as the use of cyanoacrylate adhesive for "suture" human tissues such as heart muscle itself in several blooding surgery. I think yes, we can train ourselves to be more creative, and perhaps an interesting key would be to relieve the tension, the pressure and even responsibility. How endodontist, I often removed broken instruments in root canals (teeth inner) by other colleagues who asked me: "but I tried hard, and, how do you get it? Perhaps the fact that in those cases I have not been the author of the instrument fracture (which is usually an accident) took the burden and gave me peace of mind to work without a "guilt" that could hinder my creativity and my clinical practice. By other way, when I fractured instruments in the same situation, also friends helped me in cases where I did not feel comfortable in acting.

@Leyla, there is a new TV series that just started in the USA : INTELLIGENCE. It is about a soldier whose brain includes a microchip :) I design and teach the design of microchips (ICs). The data format between neurons and transistors is not that compatible :) Neuroscience made great progress in figuring out what parts of the brain does what, but, not too much progress on the exact data storage formats of the neurons :) We are getting there :) I will let you know . Good thinking though :) :) :)

@Tobias, so, what you are suggesting is that, my theory of "two TOLGAs" is not correct. You are saying that, by resting, TOLGA-C functions better ? So, TOLGA-M has nothing to do with it ? or, may be, there is no such thing as TOLGA-M ? Am I understanding you right ? So, what your suggesting is the "resting" effect of the sleep helping TOLGA-C ?.

If that is the case, after two hours of an exhausting soccer game, TOLGA-C should be dead tired and not be able to function !! But, the same creative spark happens to me after a major exercise, since, I paid attention to something completely different, not that particular problem. In that sense, I DID REST TOLGA-C ... What am I missing ? I feel like we might be saying the same thing, but, we have to connect the two theories ...

@Tolga

Thank you for asking a very interesting question. I wish to answer your question by asking another question:

Does it take creativity to improve creativity?

Dr. Pedrazzi: I try to respond to your question by proposing another: what do you actually mean by creativity?

Issam, you are an astrophysicist, posing a question of meta-creativity. However, I know you are not out of your depth, because the sphere of your research is intergalactic.

@Issam, yours was a creative answer :)

Hi Issam, I think my answer to your nice question would be yes :) Not that I know what happens in brain, but I certainly know what happened in my 'creative' career. Like "money breeds money" , if you first "realise" that you can be creative and given the genes, environment and encouragement, you 'learn ' that you can be creative and 'imrpove' yourself in that. [Due all respect to neuroscience, I think we should not forget some social factors as well. although some creation can happen in most impossible circumstances]. Some brains "might not know" that they can be creative until they create. I also dealt with animal communication ('as lay' for sure) and realised that animals also 'discover' that they can be creative to dare one step further. Where are social scientists here, we need more of them to finally combine brain with its environment.(aka nature and nurture)

By the way thank you for the good news Tolga, :) I only hope that I can see some of the imporements in 'creative thinking' with the support of technology,if not me, maybe my grandchildren will :)

Creativity is something that we can learn. Creativity can be derived from life experiences. For example, an architect who travels a lot to different countries may have a better creativity by learning as compared to those who just stay at their home city. An author may improve his/her creativity by reading and learning other authors' writing styles.

I am sorry, this is not my area of interest.

My dear friend, Prof. Rocco, thanks for the question. Incidentally, to answer a question with another one, it is a great sign of creativity (hehehehehe) that we teachers and professors use time or another in our classes, courses, lectures. But come on, the term alone already requires a lot of creativity to answer as there are several definitions. The one I like best (as a clinician, practicing theory and not theorizing the practice, hehehehe) is: create something, an alternative on some existing thing, and that somehow can facilitate the use or make more available something that already exists. Attempts to find a solution to a known problem, or if is presented in an emergency situation, usually generate creative processes. Hummmmmm I guess it would be answered in a creative way? Big hug, miss u! (saudades)

When a sportman is good, normally uses ALL the body. When you look flying a basketball player, you know that he is playing with ALL the muscles of his body.

With brain is the same, if you use ALL its capabilities together is better the performance.

Another important thing is the rest of all the things (receptors, for example) ... (a neurotransmitter is not activated if it is not turned off before)... To stop all and walk around, if you are saturated... it's a goog idea.

"El hombre se olvida del descanso de las cosas" (art).

@Tolga

Thank you for sharing this interesting question. I don't think creativity may be created, trained, taught or improved. It is always there in human mind according to aptitude in some degree and this degree vary from person to person. However, you are right in asserting "there are two Tolga's in my brain: TOLGA-C (conscious TOLGA, which does its work by conscious deliberation), and TOLGA-M (motor TOLGA, which does unconscious -motor- processing)." The clicking to me is intuition. It was in always there (during thinking) in subconscious, but it comes in conscious mind latter either due to some trigger as some word, some formula or some clue in newspaper or in a related article one is reading or it is the irresistible urge that brings to the mind.

We prictice always from zero year old to infinity when we are dead.

Very nice thread my friend, as so many responses! @Tolga, are You closer to TOLGA-C or TOLGA-M ? It is an integral part of the description of your personality, right!?

@Ljubomir, you could take this to different philosophical levels, and say "are you responsible for your unconscious self ? This is TOLGA-M" ... My answer is this : It comes as a package deal. You get both or nothing. If you have no problem accepting what TOLGA-M might create as YOUR creation, then, you are also responsible for his actions too !!! If he creates something immoral, then, you have TOLGA-C to "veto" it !!!

To answer your question : TOLGA-C is "the REAL TOLGA" ... TOLGA-M is the guy that keeps coming up with stuff, and they might not always necessarily be GOOD or USEFUL or CREATIVE. But, TOLGA-C makes the final decision and acts on it.

Creativity can only be improved with an open mind and thirst of more knowledge.

Curiosity feeds creativity :)

Yes, of course the Creativty be improved with Practice for any subject.

Yes, it can be improved but not 'created' from scratch if not existing already .One must have some genetic blessings I guess. To be politically correct, especially in Canada, we tend to say, 'every child is gifted, every woman is beautiful, so shall we start to say, every homo sapiens is creative ? Well, when it comes to survive, every human might find out a way to get out of the situation , using (maybe) his/her reptilian brain :P (ouch!, I know), but to call someone creative, that someone must have 'above average' talents , imagination, intelligence and sense of.. whatever is needed (aesthetics, humour etc) Am I wrong?

I agree with all the people said above. I think the real nature of a human is a full of creativity. In our childhood a flashback of creativity can be seen within us. As we grow up lots of obstacles pull us back to that creativity. But those obstacle can be recovered with creative environment, self motivating and of coarse by practice.

I think there is no creativity without practice.

@Tolga, OK, I have understood Your point! So, @Tolga-C, wish You a good cooperation and behave well to TOLGA-M! A little joke will not hurt, right? Regards!

Where there is consciousness, there's discourse. In the circumstances of problem-orienting, creative activity, there is interpretation of polyphonic information, leading to insight, eureka. It's a work of reflective mechanism.- from a problem - to image of solution."Reflection is a means of seeing the world"(E.Husserl) Reflection, creativity, individuality are interconnected.To K.Young, there is interconnection of ego,unconscious and archetypes. Late ignition (delayed firing, late sparking) is characteristic of a personality with divergent thinking.I think, defense mechanism of psyche (to Freud,"ego defense") is a kind of "sublimation"- an energy of unconscious is becoming to another activity by means of changing its focus.

Yes, every Homo Sapiens is creative.

All we are learning to walk, every new step is better.

In depresive people you know that they don't "want" to make nothing (listless), but in psychiatry recommended "do" things first, and then return to have "forward" "ganas", to educate the desire...

Hasta las "ganas" se pueden aprender...

In teaching we use "unfinished"(interrupted) Gestalt

@Ana, I have a request regarding Your last sentence in Spanish, I suppose. Please, write Serbian so that the whole world understand You! Try some on-line dictionaries! Thanks!

Creativity generates from silent. Silent mind can generates powerful thoughts. Those thoughts are the mother of new invention, new discoveries. Most of the great man/scientists use this technique.

Serendipity creates too!

@Paul, I think serendipity can be thought of as the "accidental genetic mutation of the ideas" which ends up with an evolved (and better) idea. This is very close to the evolution theory :)

Following this philosophy, the humans on this planet are the product of nature's CREATIVITY ...

@Jolga, some times I don´t believe your last sentence with the three exclamation marks. Just look around!

@Hanno, good point. I changed it to three dots :)