“Once dismissed as imagination or delusion, metaphor or drug-induced hallucination, the experience of synesthesia has now been documented by scans of synesthetes’ brains…”
The author of this book “reports that some studies define synesthesia as a brain impairment, a short circuit between two different areas. But synesthetes cannot imagine perceiving in any other way; many claim that synesthesia helps them in daily life.”
From MIT Press page for the book “The Hidden Sense: Synesthesia in Art and Science” by Cretien van Campen.
The image above is from the cover. See more in article Magenta Tuesdays, tastes that have shapes – The experience of synesthesia.
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In a Creativity Post article, science writer Sam McNerney says that “Cognitive flexibility, the ability to switch between thinking about two concepts or consider multiple perspectives simultaneously” is a “popular topic in the neuroscience world.”
He provides a stimulating and encouraging overview of a “renaissance in creativity in both the lab and the pages of popular books and magazines.”
Read more in The Science of Creativity in 2013: Looking Back to Look Forward, By Sam McNerney.
Darya Zabelina, a creativity researcher at Northwestern University told him “a lot of people are studying cognitive flexibility from a lot of different perspectives.”
In her article “Are You a Synesthete?,” she says “Four percent of the population, when seeing number 5, also see color red. Or hear a C-sharp when seeing blue. Or even associate orange with Tuesdays.
“And among artists, the number goes to 20-25%!”
[Here is more on synesthesia from Wikipedia.]
McNerney quotes Paul Silvia “who researches creativity and aesthetics, among other topics” that “film and creativity is going to become popular; maybe music and creativity as well.” McNerney adds that Silvia “is currently working on a paper co-authored with Emily Nusbaum that looks at unusual aesthetic states such as awe, the chills, and crying.”
[Paul J. Silvia is author of How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing.]
In my post “More Intelligence, More Creative?”, I quote researcher Jonathan Wai on their studies:
“The authors point out that all of the major creativity textbooks contend that intelligence and creativity are essentially unrelated abilities. However, Nusbaum and Silvia conclude based on their studies that ‘fluid and executive cognition is in fact central to creative thought.’
“Certainly there are facets of creativity that are different from intelligence and I am not saying creativity and intelligence are synonymous.
“Yet I think what these studies suggest is that there is probably more overlap between intelligence and creativity than we realize.”
Books
McNerney goes on to point out, “Countless popular psychology books that either focused on or mentioned creativity were published in 2012.
“Susan Cain lambasted brainstorming and ‘GroupThink’ in her bestseller and introvert manifesto Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Drawing on a wide body of robust research she reminded our hyper social world that working alone is usually better than working in groups in terms of productivity and creativity.
“Dan Ariely’s book The Honest Truth About Dishonesty contains a chapter on the relationship between dishonesty and creativity – honesty might not be good for creativity.
“The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg made some important suggestions for creativity: if you’re in a rut, try changing your routine.
“The elephant in the room is Jonah Lehrer’s Imagine: The Science of Creativity, which the public gobbled up.”
[Also see my post Jonah Lehrer on the Science of Creativity & Innovation.]
You might also like posts on my main site in the category Creative inspiration – Muse.
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Douglas Eby (M.A./Psychology) is author of the The Creative Mind series of sites which provide “Information and inspiration to help creative people thrive.”
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