What’s behind those Captivating Masterpieces?
Creativity is a mystery - and one that's been the subject of debate for centuries. For example, Sir Francis Bacon believed that divine intervention is the only way to create a masterpiece. On the other hand, Leonardo da Vinci believed in natural causes such as genius triggering innovation and intelligence.
In recent years, there has been an explosion in creativity research by cognitive psychologists and artists alike who have discovered interesting insights into how human creativity works.
Brains are mysterious things. Only a small percentage of what goes on inside the head of an individual is visible to the world around him or her. One's personal thoughts and feelings, while they often remain private, are nevertheless strongly associated with personality traits and behavioral patterns like risk-taking behavior, social skills and intelligence.
So can we truly understand creativity? I believe that we can, but it will take some time. In the meantime, the best one can do is look for correlations between brain function and creativity in order to give us an idea of what's going on inside those brains.
One such correlation is the novelty-seeking personality trait. The trait has been found to be associated with several aspects of human behavior including personality, intelligence, motivation and health. One of the related functions is the drive for novelty which is the desire for new experiences, information and insights even if it involves danger or discomfort.
The higher one scores on this trait, the greater his or her tendency to take risks in order to obtain new and exciting experiences. Later, he or she will remember these experiences with a greater amount of detail, as well as being more creative in their ideas when asked to solve problems or find creative solutions to problems.
Does this mean that all geniuses are high on novelty-seeking? No, of course not. For instance, consider Picasso who was not particularly fond of taking risks in his life and was seen as having a rather conservative personality. Or maybe Stanley Kubrick who lived a largely boring life - he would have been the antithesis of an eccentric genius as well.
It has been found that there are certain ways in which people with high scores on novelty-seeking tend to behave. Usually they get bored easily and want to seek out new experiences constantly. They typically feel uneasy when they are not trying to obtain new information or experience out of curiosity. They also tend to be motivated by the desire to test themselves and their abilities, which leads them to take risks that others might avoid.
It is also worth noting that people with high scores on this trait are more resilient when facing challenging situations. They are also more willing to do whatever it takes in order to achieve their goals.
These traits of novelty-seeking personality have been found to be strongly associated with creativity - the drive for new ideas and experiences can actually improve creativity levels in a person.
But there's one more aspect that adds fuel to the fire of creativity - the way in which people score on Neuroticism (the propensity to experience negative emotions like anxiety and worry). In fact, it has been found that high levels of neuroticism (as well as low levels of extraversion) are associated with lower creativity.
The reason for this is that people with lower levels of neuroticism tend to be more experimental, creative and innovative. Their ideas and perspectives tend to be more diverse, colorful and creative. They are also less likely to be worried about what others will think of them or their work if they introduce new ideas or concepts.
It has been found that having low levels of neuroticism has been shown to lead to a great deal of positive creativity in different fields including advertising and fashion design for instance.
In order to be truly innovative, one must be able to overcome the fear of being wrong or making mistakes and also the fear of what people will think. After all, if every new idea or concept had to go through a thorough process of market research before it could be released into the world, then there wouldn't be many innovations released today.
These are only some of the factors that contribute to the creative process. As you can see, there's more going on in your head than you may have thought before! All this information goes to show that it is never too late for anyone to discover their inner artist and start seeking out new creative ideas and possibilities through experimentation.
So here's the final challenge - take the test at https://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/noveltysearch.aspx to see how you score on novelty-seeking personality and what your creativity level is!
Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/brains-behind-those-masterpieces-728500?AP
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Conclusion: We don't need to be as eccentric as Lady Gaga to be creative, but we must have an open-minded and uncomplicated personality in order to be truly innovative. Have a nice day, everyone!
Moreover, check out our latest book that is available on Amazon about the brain and cognitive science: How to Solve for XX: Hollywood Reporter Creativity Guide (How to solve for XX Book 1) .
References :
Costa Jr., P.T., and McCrae, R.R. (1992). NEO PI-R professional manual . Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources Inc. Kovalik-Walker, R.C., Goldberg, T.E., Gartstein, M.