Imagine: How Creativity Works

by Jonah Lehrer

In this groundbreaking book, best-selling author

Jonah Lehrer reveals the science behind the
creative process, lending transparency to “our
most important mental talent: the ability to
imagine what never existed.” Calling for us to
reconsider everything that we thought we knew
about creativity, Lehrer unravels the myth that
creativity is something bestowed by outside
sources or bequeathed on a lucky few. We are
all, he says, hard-wired for creativity. With
cutting-edge scientific research and observations
drawn from popular culture, he presents
surprising insights about the necessity of failure,
the benefits of criticism, the stunning influence
of our surroundings, and the even greater impact that we have on one
another. “Once we know how creativity works, we can make it work for us,”
he says, offering practical advice for the ways we can effectively foster our
creativity in order to participate in our greatest collaborative project as
human beings: using our imaginations to create a better world.

Praise for Imagine:

“Jonah Lehrer’s new book confirms what his fans have known all along—that
he knows more about science than a lot of scientists and more about writing
than a lot of writers.” —Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and
Outliers

“Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve
got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of creativity and its
sources. Imagine is his best book yet.” —Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking
With Einstein

Discussion Questions

1. What does every creative journey begin with according to Lehrer?

What phase, which precedes a breakthrough, do we tend to overlook
when we speak of the creative process?

2. What is the major function of each hemisphere of the brain? What role
does each side play in the creative process? Which hemisphere is a
“connection machine”? What are the three general phases of the
creative process?
3. The first chapter of Imagine is entitled “Bob Dylan’s Brain,” but what is
so significant about Bob Dylan’s brain? What is important about
Dylan’s composition of his hit “Like a Rolling Stone” in particular? What
does it reveal about creative blocks and the role of the right
hemisphere?

4. What lessons can we learn about creativity from Dick Drew’s invention
of masking tape? What does it tell us about the impact of interrupting
one’s thought process or having a relaxed state of mind? How do these
relaxed conditions affect the activity of the right hemisphere and the
rhythm of alpha waves in our brain, and how does this ultimately
influence our creative output?

5. How does mood affect our ability to have insights? Why does there
seem to be a link between major depressive orders and artistic
achievement? What scientific explanation does Lehrer give for the
close association of bipolar disorder and creativity?

6. What is horizontal sharing and conceptual blending? How does the

latter correspond with philosopher David Hume’s thoughts on the
essence of imagination? How can we get better at conceptual
blending?

7. Discuss the varied effects of alcohol, stimulants, and amphetamines on

the creative process, and, more specifically, their impact with respect
to our ability to generate insights. What are the effects of color? Of
light or time of day? Of architecture? What effect does daydreaming
have on our creative process?

8. What is “working memory” and how large of a role does it play in our
creative process? What is the major function of the prefrontal cortex?
What other parts of the brain does the prefrontal cortex work with
most closely? What does Earl Miller’s experiment reveal, however,
about the importance of the primitive mid-brain?

9. What are the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s two archetypes of

creativity? What does Lehrer say they are called in modern science?

10. The artist Milton Glaser says that “we’re always looking, but we never
really see.” What does he mean by this? What does the slogan of
Glaser’s studio tell us about creativity? What does he mean when he
says that “creativity is a verb”? What does Glaser’s most famous
design project reveal about creativity, perseverance, and the
refinement of ideas?

11. What is “the unconcealing”? Why is this such an important part of the
creative process?

12. What is Lehrer speaking about when he references “letting go”? Which
part of our brain is responsible for hindering this? What does this tell
 us about the constraints that we place on our own creativity? Can
these restraints be overcome? What can we learn about this concept
from the musician Yo Yo Ma, jazz improvisation, the surfer Clay Marzo,
or comedy powerhouse Second City?

13. Are we “biologically destined” to get less creative as we age? What

practical advice does mathematician Paul Erdos offer to maximize our
creativity? What effect does being an outsider or thinking like an
outsider have on our creative development? How can travel influence
our creative output? Why does Lehrer say that we “must constantly
forget what [we] already know”?

14. What do Professor Ben Jones’s analyses reveal about trends in

scientific teamwork? How should we work together, and what are the
ideal strategies for group creativity? What does sociologist Brian Uzzi’s
study of musicals tell us about teamwork and group creativity?

15. What is the power of Q? How do levels of “social intimacy” affect

levels of creative success?

16. What lessons can we learn from Pixar? Consider their refusal to form
an independent production company, the architecture of their
workspace, and their creative methods. What accounts for their
unlikely, repeated success?

17. Although advertising firm partner Alex Osborn’s technique of positive

brainstorming is perhaps the most popular creative method, is it the
most effective means of fostering creativity? What problems are
associated with this method? What does the research of psychologists
Keith Sawyer and Charlan Nemeth reveal about the effectiveness of
brainstorming? What does it tell us about the effects of debate and
criticism on innovation, imagination, and the generation of ideas?
What is “plussing,” and why should this be incorporated in critical
discussions?

18. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “third places.” What are
“third places,” and what role have they played in the history of new
ideas?

19. What is urban friction and how does it affect our creativity? What can
we learn from the research of author and urban activist Jane Jacobs
and her ideas about “knowledge spill-overs”? What does physicist
Geoffrey West’s research reveal about urban patterns of productivity?
What does West say is “the single most important invention in human
history”?

20. Lehrer speaks about the development of the Route 128 area in
Massachusetts versus the development of Silicon Valley in California.
What can be learned about creativity, exchange, and innovation from a
comparison of the two?
21. What accounts for the Israeli technology boom? What does this
example tell us about the importance of social circles, information
sharing, and face-to-face interaction?

22. According to the research presented in Lehrer’s book, how important

is physical proximity between collaborators? What does Lehrer say,
then, is the job of the internet and technology?

23. Statistician David Banks says that geniuses arrive in tight, local
clusters, but why is this the case?

24. What is the Shakespeare paradox? What can we learn about genius
from a consideration of Shakespeare’s background? What cultural
factors played the biggest role in facilitating his success, and what can
we conclude about the role of culture and external factors in
determining creative output?

25. Lehrer says, “For Shakespeare, the act of creation was inseparable
from the act of connection.” There are many other examples, however,
of this concept of the link between creation and connection provided in
the text. Discuss this concept. What kinds of connections are useful or
necessary in fostering our creativity?

26. Discuss economist Paul Romer’s claim that ideas are an inexhaustible
resource—a “nonrival good.” While ideas may be an inexhaustible
resource, Lehrer calls for us to consider how we can “create a
multiplier culture.” Is a dense population or geographic area sufficient
to multiply our creative output? If not, what else is required?

27. What are meta-ideas and what role do they play in influencing
creativity? Discuss some of the examples of important meta-ideas
offered in Lehrer’s book. What were the most important meta-ideas of
sixteenth-century England, for instance, and how did they influence
levels of creative or artistic achievement? What four meta-ideas does
Lehrer say we need to embrace today? In the Coda to his book, what
does Lehrer claim is the most important meta-idea of all?

28. What does Lehrer’s book reveal about traditional methods of

education and their effect on creativity? What lessons are offered
through a consideration of schools like the New Orleans Center for the
Creative Arts and High Tech High? Can creativity be taught? If so,
what tactics or methods can schools implement in order to cultivate
and support the creativity of their students?

29. Lehrer says that “[w]e need to innovate innovation.” Considering the
many lessons and observations offered in this book, what are some of
the steps that we can take to accomplish this?
Additional Resources

Other books by Jonah Lehrer:

How We Decide (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009)

Proust Was a Neuroscientist (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007)

Additional writings:

The New Yorker

www.thenewyorker.com

Wired Magazine, Frontal Cortex blog

www.wired.com/wiredscience/frontal-cortex/

Wall Street Journal, Head Case column

online.wsj.com

Jonah Lehrer on Radiolab

www.radiolab.org/people/jonah-lehrer/

Author website

www.jonahlehrer.com

Discussion guide written by Je Banach.

© 2012 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt