Wired To Create

Wired To Create Plot Summary

Introduction

Throughout history, our most celebrated creative geniuses have exhibited seemingly contradictory traits and behaviors. Einstein was both methodical and wildly imaginative. Picasso could be playfully childlike yet intensely disciplined. Mozart balanced technical precision with emotional abandon. What if these paradoxes weren't exceptions but actually essential components of creativity itself? The science of creativity reveals something fascinating: creative minds aren't just different - they're messy. The creative brain thrives on contradiction, maintaining a delicate balance between seemingly opposing forces: structure and spontaneity, solitude and collaboration, joy and suffering, mindfulness and mind-wandering. This messiness isn't a bug but a feature, allowing creators to access multiple ways of seeing and experiencing the world. Through decades of psychological and neuroscientific research, we now understand that creativity isn't a single trait or ability, but rather a dynamic constellation of habits, mindsets, and practices that anyone can cultivate. By examining how creative geniuses operate, we gain insight into specific mental habits that we can develop ourselves - from embracing playfulness and passion to harnessing solitude and adversity - ultimately revealing creativity as not just a rare gift, but a distinctly human capacity that all of us can nurture.

Chapter 1: The Paradox of the Creative Mind

The creative mind exists in a state of fascinating contradiction. Research by psychologist Frank Barron in the 1960s discovered that highly creative people score high on seemingly opposing traits. Creative individuals were simultaneously more primitive and more cultured, more destructive and more constructive, occasionally crazier and yet adamantly saner than the average person. This paradoxical nature appears not as a flaw but as the very essence of creativity. This messiness extends into the creative process itself. While popular models suggest creativity follows a neat, linear path - preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification - the reality is far more chaotic. Studies of artists at work reveal they engage in rapid switching between thought processes: generating ideas, expanding concepts, critical reflection, and audience consideration. Creativity involves a dance between seemingly contradictory mental states - order and chaos, focus and daydreaming, emotion and logic. The neuroscience confirms this complexity. Creative thought doesn't emerge from a single brain region or even one side of the brain. Instead, creativity draws on the whole brain, involving multiple interacting networks. The "imagination network" (default mode network) handles personal meaning-making, mental simulation, and perspective-taking. Meanwhile, the "executive attention network" helps direct attention, evaluate ideas, and inhibit obvious solutions. When generating ideas, creative people show stronger connections between these normally opposing networks. What makes creative people distinct is their ability to access and integrate multiple ways of thinking. They can deliberately activate different brain networks as needed, juggling analytical and intuitive modes of thought. They can focus intensely on one moment and let their minds wander freely the next. This capacity for cognitive flexibility allows them to both generate novel ideas and refine them into something valuable - embodying what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi observed: "Instead of being an individual, each of them is a multitude." Throughout history, our greatest innovators weren't confined by conventional thinking or singular approaches. Instead, they embraced paradox and complexity, remaining comfortable with uncertainty and contradictions. The creative mind thrives not on consistency, but on its remarkable ability to contain multitudes - to be both disciplined and playful, sensitive and resilient, rational and intuitive. This cognitive and emotional flexibility is what allows creative people to see connections where others see only disparate elements.

Chapter 2: Imaginative Play and Creative Thought

Imaginative play represents one of the most foundational elements of creative thinking. Consider Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of iconic video games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. As a child growing up in rural Japan, Miyamoto created his own toys from wood and string, drew cartoons, and explored the mountains and river valleys surrounding his village. One summer, he discovered a hidden cave that became his secret playground. These childhood adventures later inspired his most influential games, where players explore mysterious worlds filled with hidden passages and unexpected discoveries. Imaginative play serves as a cognitive incubator where creativity first develops. During play, children experiment with possibilities, take on different perspectives, and manipulate reality according to their own rules. When a child turns a cardboard box into a spaceship or a stick into a magic wand, they're engaging in symbolic thinking - the same mental process that allows adults to envision new possibilities and make metaphorical connections. Research by the LEGO Foundation has shown that children at play are actively engaged in searching for personal meaning, using their innate curiosity to transform the unfamiliar into something familiar. The relationship between childhood play and adult creativity is well-documented. Studies of eminent creators across fields reveal that most engaged in rich imaginative play as children. Stephen King imagined himself as a circus strongman, while artist Claes Oldenburg invented "Neubern," an imaginary island between Africa and South America when he was seven. This early play laid the foundation for their later creative achievements. Psychologist Sandra Russ explains that "pretend play in childhood is where many of the cognitive and affective processes important in creativity occur" - including the ability to generate ideas, make connections, and experiment with emotions. Unfortunately, modern culture often devalues play. Children's free time has declined steadily since 1955, replaced by structured activities and screen time. This shift threatens to undermine the development of crucial creative capacities. Research suggests that direct instruction in early childhood can actually decrease curiosity and discovery. In contrast, environments that encourage free play foster imagination, problem-solving, cognitive flexibility, and emotional regulation - all essential components of creative thinking. For adults, maintaining a playful approach to work can revolutionize creativity. Creative people learn to balance seriousness with playfulness, effort with ease. Experimenting with ideas becomes a form of play that generates both enjoyment and novel insights. One study found that simply asking adults to imagine themselves as excited seven-year-olds led to more creative responses on subsequent tests. As George Bernard Shaw noted, "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." By preserving this spirit of exploration and wonder, we keep our creative capacities alive throughout our lives.

Chapter 3: Passion and Inspiration

When four-year-old Jacqueline du Pré first heard the cello on the radio, she immediately told her mother, "That is the sound I want to make." Similarly, chess champion Josh Waitzkin was mesmerized as a six-year-old watching chess players in Washington Square Park: "I was pulled into the battlefield, enraptured; something felt familiar about this game, it made sense." These stories exemplify what psychologists call "crystallizing experiences" – pivotal moments when individuals discover something that profoundly resonates with their authentic self and ignites a lifelong passion. These crystallizing experiences serve as powerful catalysts for creative development. Psychologist Howard Gardner found that many highly creative people can vividly recall the moment when an activity or subject matter spoke to them so deeply that they knew it was their path forward. This passionate connection provides the intrinsic motivation necessary to sustain the long journey toward creative mastery. Ellen Winner's research on prodigies revealed what she termed a "rage to master" – an intense, self-directed drive to engage in an activity for long periods, often entering a state of flow where time disappears and self-consciousness fades away. However, not all passion fuels creativity equally. Psychologist Robert Vallerand distinguishes between "harmonious passion" and "obsessive passion." Harmoniously passionate people feel in control of their activities, experiencing them as authentic expressions of their identity that complement other aspects of their lives. They create because they love the process itself. In contrast, obsessively passionate people feel compelled by external pressures like status or approval, leading to anxiety, rigidity, and diminished creativity. Research shows that harmonious passion creates a more direct path to creative achievement, characterized by joy, vitality, and a focus on mastery rather than validation. Closely related to passion is inspiration – those electrifying moments when new possibilities suddenly become apparent. Todd Thrash and Andrew Elliot identify three key elements of inspiration: evocation (being inspired by something), transcendence (experiencing an awakening to new possibilities), and motivation (feeling compelled to bring an idea to life). Their research shows that inspired people are more open to experience, intrinsically motivated, and able to enter flow states more easily. Contrary to the myth that inspiration is entirely mysterious and uncontrollable, it favors the prepared mind – those who actively cultivate expertise and remain receptive to new ideas. The relationship between passion, hard work, and inspiration is bidirectional. Thomas Edison's claim that genius is "1% inspiration and 99% perspiration" creates a false dichotomy – in reality, they feed each other. Inspired people work harder, and hard work can lead to greater passion. James Clear suggests that sustainable creative achievement requires not just falling in love with a dream but also "falling in love with the process of becoming" someone who can realize that dream. By balancing passionate vision with practical strategies for overcoming obstacles, creative people transform fleeting inspiration into enduring creative accomplishment.

Chapter 4: Solitude, Mindfulness, and Daydreaming

Creative minds navigate a delicate balance between three distinct mental states: solitude, mindfulness, and daydreaming. While seemingly contradictory, these states work together to fuel the creative process. Consider filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, who sought isolation in a remote cabin on the Swedish island of Faro. There, he wrote in his diaries about both the necessity of solitude for his work and its challenges: "Here, in my solitude, I have the feeling that I contain too much humanity." This intimate connection with his own thoughts allowed him to transform raw emotional experience into cinematic art. Solitude provides the psychological space necessary for creative thinking. Writers like Zadie Smith describe it as an absolute necessity: "Protect the time and space in which you write," she advises. Neuroscience explains why: solitary reflection activates the brain's "imagination network" – regions associated with self-reflection, memory, and mental simulation. When external distractions fade away, this network can more freely generate novel ideas and connections. Importantly, solitude doesn't necessarily mean physical isolation. Psychologist D.W. Winnicott describes the "capacity to be alone" as a psychological state – the ability to retreat into one's inner world even when physically surrounded by others. This capacity represents emotional maturity and creative potential. While solitude creates space for the mind to wander, mindfulness allows for a different kind of creative engagement – focused, present-moment awareness. Georgia O'Keeffe demonstrated this quality in her meticulous attention to flowers: "Nobody sees a flower – really – it is so small – we haven't time – and to see takes time." Mindfulness enables creators to notice subtle details and patterns that others miss. Recent research shows that specific mindfulness skills, particularly observation – the ability to notice and attend to both internal and external phenomena – consistently predict creative achievement. This observational quality allows artists to capture what Henry James called "the unseen from the seen," discerning deeper meanings in ordinary experience. Daydreaming, the third essential mental state, occurs when attention drifts away from external tasks and toward internal thoughts, memories, and fantasies. Despite being often dismissed as wasteful mind wandering, research shows that positive-constructive daydreaming fuels creative incubation. Scientist Jerome Singer found that "happy daydreamers" use their inner imagery not to escape reality but to process experiences, make novel connections, and imagine new possibilities. This explains why our best ideas often arrive during activities that occupy the body while freeing the mind – showering, walking, or doing dishes. Woody Allen notes, "In the shower, with the hot water coming down, you've left the real world behind, and very frequently things open up for you." The most creative minds develop the ability to move fluidly between these three states – focusing intensely when needed, allowing the mind to wander freely for incubation, and returning to mindful observation to capture insights. Rather than seeing these states as competing, they can be understood as complementary phases in the creative process. Solitude creates the space, daydreaming generates possibilities, and mindfulness allows us to notice and develop the most promising ideas. By cultivating all three capacities, we access the full spectrum of our creative potential.

Chapter 5: Turning Adversity into Creative Growth

Frida Kahlo's striking self-portrait "Henry Ford Hospital" depicts her naked and bleeding in a hospital bed, connected by red veins to floating objects that include a snail, a flower, bones, and a fetus – powerful symbols of her second miscarriage. This 1932 painting exemplifies how profound suffering can be transformed into extraordinary art. Kahlo, who began painting at eighteen after a near-fatal bus accident left her with lifelong pain, channeled her trauma into creative expression. "Painting became my way of flying," she wrote. Through art, she made meaning from seemingly senseless suffering. This pattern of creative growth following adversity appears repeatedly among eminent creators. Psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun coined the term "posttraumatic growth" to describe the positive psychological transformation that can occur after traumatic experiences. Their research found that up to 70 percent of trauma survivors report some positive growth, including greater appreciation for life, identification of new possibilities, deeper relationships, enhanced spirituality, and increased personal strength. For many creative individuals, this growth manifests specifically in heightened creative expression. The mechanism behind this transformation resembles an earthquake and rebuilding process. Traumatic events shatter our fundamental assumptions about ourselves and the world, forcing us to reconstruct our beliefs and identity. Psychologist Marie Forgeard's research discovered that people who experienced more distressing life events often reported enhanced creativity as part of their growth. The very process of making sense of adversity – searching for meaning in seemingly random suffering – exercises the same cognitive muscles used in creative work: questioning assumptions, exploring new perspectives, and making novel connections. Importantly, creativity itself can become a powerful tool for healing. Art therapy and expressive writing help individuals process traumatic experiences by providing a safe container for difficult emotions and a means to construct coherent narratives. Research on expressive writing shows that the use of cognitive words like "understand" and "realize" correlates with improved psychological outcomes, suggesting that meaning-making is central to the healing process. For many artists, the creative act serves dual purposes – transforming personal pain into universal meaning while facilitating their own recovery. This relationship between suffering and creativity extends beyond psychological trauma to physical illness. Many painters experienced periods of extraordinary creative productivity following debilitating health issues. Paul Klee, facing a fatal autoimmune disease that crippled his hands, created over twelve hundred works in the year after his diagnosis, including some of his largest and most innovative pieces. "I create – in order not to cry," he said. Claude Monet's cataracts changed his color perception, leading to a more abstract, emotionally expressive late style. These examples illustrate how constraints and challenges can spark innovative approaches and deeper emotional expression. While we should never glorify suffering or suggest that trauma is necessary for creativity, understanding the connection between adversity and creative growth offers a powerful perspective on human resilience. By approaching difficult experiences as potential catalysts for new insight and expression, we can find meaning in our struggles and transform our wounds into windows of understanding for ourselves and others.

Chapter 6: Intuition and the Unconscious Mind

In 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann made one of the most significant discoveries in psychopharmacology through what appeared to be pure intuition. Five years earlier, he had synthesized a compound called LSD-25 that was deemed uninteresting and shelved. Yet something about this "uninteresting" substance kept nagging at him. "A peculiar presentiment induced me to produce LSD-25 once again," he wrote. This intuitive hunch led him to re-synthesize the compound, accidentally absorb a small amount through his skin, and discover its powerful psychedelic properties – changing the course of psychiatric research and cultural history. Hofmann's story exemplifies the power of intuition – knowledge that arises without conscious reasoning. Throughout history, eminent creators have described intuitive flashes as essential to their work. Einstein claimed that intuition was a "sacred gift" while reason was merely its "faithful servant." Painter Pablo Picasso said, "What I capture in spite of myself interests me more than my own ideas." Writer Ray Bradbury kept a sign above his typewriter reading "Don't think!" explaining that overthinking could crush creative impulses. These anecdotes suggest that creativity often emerges from beyond our conscious awareness. Modern cognitive science confirms this intuitive wisdom through dual-process theories of cognition. Our minds operate through two complementary systems: Type 1 processes (intuitive, automatic, effortless) and Type 2 processes (analytical, deliberate, effortful). While Western education and business culture often privilege analytical thinking, research shows that creative breakthroughs frequently originate in unconscious Type 1 processes. The unconscious mind excels at recognizing complex patterns, making remote associations, and generating novel combinations – precisely the mental operations that drive creative insight. Neuroscientists John Kounios and Mark Beeman have mapped the brain activity associated with "Aha!" moments. Using brain imaging, they discovered that right before an insight occurs, activity in the visual cortex dramatically decreases – we literally shut our eyes to external stimulation – while the right anterior temporal lobe shows a sharp spike in activity. This brain region specializes in integrating distantly related concepts, allowing us to see connections that previously eluded us. In that moment of insight, the brain briefly reconfigures itself to facilitate a new way of understanding. Yet intuition isn't magic – it's the product of expertise processed unconsciously. As Louis Pasteur noted, "Chance favors the prepared mind." Intuition works best when built upon deep knowledge and experience in a domain. Chess grandmasters can instantly recognize promising moves not through calculation but through pattern recognition developed over thousands of hours of practice. Similarly, scientific intuition arises from extensive knowledge combined with openness to unexpected connections. The key distinction from mere expertise is flexibility – being able to break free from conventional assumptions when intuition suggests an alternative path. The creative process thrives when both systems work in harmony. Intuition generates novel ideas and unexpected connections, while analytical thinking evaluates, refines, and implements those ideas. Creative people learn to trust their intuitive hunches enough to pursue them, yet remain analytical enough to develop them into something valuable. They cultivate a cognitive flexibility that allows them to move between these modes as needed – embracing structure without becoming rigid, welcoming spontaneity without becoming chaotic. This balance between intuition and analysis may be the defining characteristic of the creative mind.

Chapter 7: Breaking Convention and Thinking Differently

In 1997, Apple launched its iconic "Think Different" campaign featuring black-and-white portraits of revolutionary thinkers from Gandhi to Einstein. More than brilliant marketing, the campaign captured a fundamental truth about creativity: it requires breaking from conventional thinking. Creative achievement, by definition, involves rejecting standard approaches and imagining new possibilities that others can't see. As photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, whose controversial work challenged social taboos, put it: "I'm looking for the unexpected. I'm looking for things I've never seen before." This willingness to defy convention comes with significant risks. Throughout history, those who proposed radical ideas were often ridiculed, rejected, or worse. Galileo faced house arrest for supporting Copernican astronomy. Ignaz Semmelweis was dismissed from his hospital position for suggesting doctors should wash their hands between patients. Even Nobel Prize-winning discoveries frequently faced initial rejection from scientific journals. A Cornell University study revealed a pervasive "bias against creativity" – while people claim to value innovation, they unconsciously prefer familiar ideas that don't challenge their assumptions. This bias creates what organizational psychologist Jennifer Mueller calls a "concealed barrier" that innovators must overcome. Creative achievement requires not just generating different ideas but persisting despite inevitable rejection. Research by Johns Hopkins University found that people with independent mindsets actually produced more original work after being socially rejected. This "differentiation mind-set" – comfort with standing apart from others – allows creative individuals to use rejection as fuel rather than discouragement. Dean Keith Simonton's extensive studies of creative geniuses reveal that their success often comes through sheer productivity. Thomas Edison had approximately one-third of his patent applications rejected, and even his accepted patents included many commercial failures. Shakespeare's plays varied dramatically in quality, with masterpieces like "Hamlet" appearing alongside relative duds. As Simonton explains, creative achievement is essentially a numbers game – the more ideas you generate, the greater your chances of producing something extraordinary. This pattern suggests that creative failure isn't just inevitable – it's necessary. Innovation requires experimentation, and experimentation guarantees failure along the way. The difference is that highly creative people view these failures as stepping stones rather than roadblocks. They maintain what Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck calls a "growth mindset," seeing setbacks as opportunities to learn rather than judgments of their abilities. J.K. Rowling, whose first Harry Potter manuscript was rejected by twelve publishers, embraces this perspective: "It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default." Cultivating creative thinking doesn't require extraordinary talent, but it does demand courage to question assumptions, challenge conventions, and risk being wrong. Simple practices can help develop this mindset: exposing yourself to unfamiliar ideas and cultures, deliberately taking different routes to familiar destinations, or engaging with fields outside your expertise. Most importantly, it requires embracing the discomfort of uncertainty. As educator Sir Ken Robinson observed, "If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original." By learning to welcome this discomfort, we open ourselves to the unexpected connections and insights that drive true innovation.

Summary

At its heart, creativity emerges from embracing paradox. The creative mind doesn't function through singular, linear processes but through a dynamic interplay of seemingly contradictory states – playfulness and discipline, solitude and connection, intuition and analysis, suffering and joy. The most significant revelation from creativity research is that these tensions aren't obstacles to overcome but the very engine of creative thought. Creative individuals don't eliminate these contradictions; they harness them, developing the cognitive flexibility to move between different modes of thinking as their work requires. This explains why the creative process often feels messy and unpredictable – it's meant to be. This understanding transforms how we might approach cultivating creativity in ourselves and others. Rather than seeking a singular "creative personality" or perfect environment, we can focus on developing specific habits and mindsets: protecting time for both focused work and mind-wandering; nurturing passionate engagement with our interests; creating space for solitude and reflection; cultivating mindful observation of our world; embracing the growth that can come from adversity; trusting our intuitions while honing our analytical skills; and maintaining the courage to think differently despite inevitable resistance. The most fascinating question isn't whether creativity can be developed – clearly it can – but rather how our schools, workplaces, and cultural institutions might better nurture these creative capacities in everyone. What might our world look like if we valued messiness as much as mastery, questions as much as answers, exploration as much as efficiency? How might we redesign our environments to honor not just the finished creative product, but the beautiful chaos of the creative process itself?

About Author

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Scott Barry Kaufman

Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., is a humanistic psychologist exploring the depths of human potential. He has taught courses on intelligence, creativity, and well-being at Columbia University, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. In addition to writing the column Beautiful Minds for Scientific American, he also hosts The Psychology Podcast, and is author and/or editor of 9 books, including Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, Wired to Create: Unravelling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (with Carolyn Gregoire), and Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined. In 2015, he was named one of "50 Groundbreaking Scientists who are changing the way we see the world" by Business Insider. Find out more at http://ScottBarryKaufman.com.

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