The Shakespeared Brain

The Shakespeared Brain by Philip Davis, The Economists' moreintelligentlife.com: ​

We decided to try to see what happens inside us when the brain comes upon sentences like "The dancers foot it with grace", or "We waited for disclose of news", or "Strong wines thick my thoughts", or "I could out-tongue your griefs" or "Fall down and knee/The way into his mercy". For research suggests that there is one specific part of the brain that processes nouns and another part that processes verbs: but what happens when for a micro-second there is a serious hesitation between whether, in context, this is noun or verb?

Turns out the way something is written can alter our brains and change our minds. ​

Thomas Pynchon's E-Book Novels Trailer

Thomas Pynchon’s novels will finally be released as e-books - latimes.com:

For the first time, Thomas Pynchon’s back catalog will be available as e-books starting Wednesday. Pynchon was a major writer whose absence from the e-book canon was notable — particularly since his most avid readers tend to be intellectually curious, the kind of people who are often technology’s early adopters.

The Penguin Press asked Pentagram to create a trailer to promote the release of the complete collection of Thomas Pynchon’s ebooks. 

Trailer for the e-book release of Thomas Pynchon's complete backlist from the Penguin Press. Design direction by Michael Bierut/Pentagram, motion design and original music by Teddy Blanks/CHIPS.

New at Pentagram: Thomas Pynchon:

Partner Michael Bierut, a longtime Pynchon fan, worked with animator and musician Teddy Blanks of CHIPS to create a 64-second tribute to a body of work that has enthralled readers for years, and which will now reach millions more in the digital realm. The author himself, however, is unlikely to be among that number. According to the publisher, “He likes to read in print.”

The Path To Smarter Creativity

Did you know that the most creative companies have centralized bathrooms? That brainstorming meetings are a terrible idea? That the color blue can help you double your creative output? From the New York Times best-selling author of How We Decide comes a sparkling and revelatory look at the new science of creativity. Shattering the myth of muses, higher powers, even creative “types,” Jonah Lehrer demonstrates that creativity is not a single gift possessed by the lucky few. It’s a variety of distinct thought processes that we can all learn to use more effectively. Lehrer reveals the importance of embracing the rut, thinking like a child, daydreaming productively, and adopting an outsider’s perspective (travel helps). He unveils the optimal mix of old and new partners in any creative collaboration, and explains why criticism is essential to the process. Then he zooms out to show how we can make our neighborhoods more vibrant, our companies more productive, and our schools more effective. You’ll learn about Bob Dylan’s writing habits and the drug addictions of poets. You’ll meet a Manhattan bartender who thinks like a chemist, and an autistic surfer who invented an entirely new surfing move. You’ll see why Elizabethan England experienced a creative explosion, and how Pixar’s office space is designed to spark the next big leap in animation. Collapsing the layers separating the neuron from the finished symphony, Imagine reveals the deep inventiveness of the human mind, and its essential role in our increasingly complex world. www.jonahlehrer.com Directed & Edited: Adam McClelland Produced: Rachel Lehrer Music: Michael Maurice

Last week I talked about Jonah Lehrer’s new book Imagine: How Creativity Works and shared some interviews he had done in anticipation of the release of the book. Having finished it I think it is worth revisiting the book and share another interview. If you are interested in learning how the brain works, how creativity happens, and want to learn how to recognize creatively productive behaviors you really should read this book. 

WHERE do good ideas come from? For centuries, all credit for these mysterious gifts went to faith, fortune and some fair muses. But to assume creativity is some lofty trait enjoyed by the few is both foolish and unproductive, argues Jonah Lehrer in “Imagine”, a smart new book about “how creativity works”. Drawing from a wide array of scientific and sociological research - and everything from the poetry of W.H. Auden to the films of Pixar - he makes a convincing case that innovation cannot only be studied and measured, but also nurtured and encouraged. 

The roots of creativity: Throwing muses | The Economist

 (via NPR’s Fresh Air)

Your Brain On Fiction

Brain scans are revealing what happens in our heads when we read a detailed description, an evocative metaphor or an emotional exchange between characters. Stories, this research is showing, stimulate the brain and even change how we act in life.

Researchers have long known that the “classical” language regions, like Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area, are involved in how the brain interprets written words. What scientists have come to realize in the last few years is that narratives activate many other parts of our brains as well, suggesting why the experience of reading can feel so alive. Words like “lavender,” “cinnamon” and “soap,” for example, elicit a response not only from the language-processing areas of our brains, but also those devoted to dealing with smells.

The Neuroscience of Your Brain on Fiction by Annie Murphy Paul, NYTimes.com

The more we study the brain the more we realize that it does not make distinctions between reading and watching, between thinking an experience and having it in real life. The same parts of the brain are stimulated. The same has been discovered about empathy, when we see others in pain, the areas of the brain that would be active if we were suffering from the pain become active as well.

The more we study the brain the more obvious it becomes that the role of art, written or otherwise, is to educate us on how to handle experiences that we would not normally encounter. To educate us by allowing us to see the world from someone else’s point of view. 

Elizabeth Gilbert on creativity and saying no: The Paul Holdengraber Show

Bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert - "Eat, Pray, Love" and other works - on THE PAUL HOLDENGRABER SHOW

I discovered Elizabeth Gilbert not through her best seller Eat, Pray, Love but through her TED Talk featured in our How Do You Create? TED Remix. Today we get to experience her wit and charm in a wonderful interview on The Paul Holdengraber Show, part of YouTube’s recently launched Intelligence Channel.