Review by Choice Review
For those acquainted with Lehrer's two previous books, Proust Was a Neuroscientist (2007) and How We Decide (CH, Aug'09, 46-6789), the format of the present volume will be quite familiar. The subject, in this case the creative process, is broken down into two subcategories--"Alone" and "Together"--each illumined by anecdote, case study, and scientific findings from the field and laboratory. In the course of looking at art, invention, and improvisation, the author has focused on creative works and products ranging from West Side Story, Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," and Shakespeare's Henry VI to the personal computer, Post-It notes, and Nike's "Just Do It" slogan. He explores the creative work of individuals--including Steve Jobs, Paul Erdos, Jack Kerouac, and Yo-Yo Ma--and innovative institutions such as 3-M, Google, Second City, Pixar, and Eli Lilly. Lehrer examines both standard approaches to the study of creativity and recent developments in psychology and neuroscience, for example, right-brain functioning, neuronal learning, recursive loops, semantic priming, conceptual blending, and informational entropy. This is a fitting companion to the author's earlier work and an informative introduction to one of the most elusive of human capacities, the creative imagination. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; graduate students; professionals; general readers. R. M. Davis emeritus, Albion College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by New York Times Review
HAVE you ever wondered how Nike came by its famous slogan "Just Do It"? Neither have I, but it's an interesting story. Dan Wieden was searching for a tag line to unify a series of ads his agency was making for Nike. Late one night he suddenly thought about the convicted murderer Gary Gilmore, whose last words before his execution were "Let's do it." Sitting at his desk Wieden turned that phrase over in his mind until it became "Just do it." Accolades ensued. Reflecting later, Wieden realized he'd thought of Gilmore because someone at work had mentioned Norman Mailer recently, and Wieden knew that Mailer had written a book about Gilmore. Without that serendipitous chain of associations, Nike might have wound up with a different slogan: "A sneaker is forever"? "Got kicks"? Jonah Lehrer tells many stories like this in "Imagine: How Creativity Works." Along with admen, his examples come from famous musicians and poets, obscure scientists, even large corporations like 3M and Eli Lilly. He deploys them to illustrate the science of creativity, and he derives from that science some tips for readers to become more creative and for society to promote innovative thinking. The story-study-lesson cycle is a proven formula in science writing, but in Lehrer's hands it grows formulaic. The stories too often feature clichéd piffle (a chance interaction, he says, can "change the way we think about everything") and end with treacly flourishes ("This is what we sound like when nothing is holding us back"). Conclusions appear that don't really make sense: from the intriguing fact that certain dementia patients suddenly become very creative, Lehrer deduces "an uplifting moral, which is that all of us contain a vast reservoir of untapped creativity." But the research says nothing about "all of us," nor whether and how we might access this conjectured reserve. Creativity resists easy study; to measure creative potential in individuals, psychologists still rely on tests that are more than 40 years old and far from universally admired. Lehrer elides this history in favor of more recent research in two broad categories: neuroscience (what happens in the brain around moments of insight or invention) and context (what kinds of external conditions foster creative achievement). Malcolm Gladwell says on the book's jacket that Lehrer "knows more about science than a lot of scientists." However he has determined this, it cannot be from this book, which includes many elementary errors. Visual information from the left eye does not go only to the brain's right hemisphere; information from the left visual field does. The different electrodes in an EEG don't record brain waves of different frequencies; they record from different locations on the scalp. And the enzyme COMT is not involved in producing dopamine; it breaks it down. Even simple facts are wrong. Bridgeport, Conn., is not an "abnormally wealthy" city (it is poorer than average), and the Apple I computer did not have 256 kilobytes of memory (it had 4). This may sound like nitpicking. But science writers, like teachers, have an obligation to get the facts right. When enough details are wrong, readers may lose confidence in the big picture. Even when discussing basic ideas about creativity, the book is not sure-footed. Lehrer describes a test in which subjects must guess what word is associated with three others - say, "computer," "sauce" and "crab." In Lehrer's account, the task requires divergent thinking: the kind that yields multiple good solutions, as when psychologists ask people to generate alternate uses for objects (e.g., using a brick to prop open a window or to cook a chicken rather than to build a house). But most psychologists agree the word test actually measures convergent thinking, a process that converges on a single right answer. In this case, what's interesting is that the answer (which is "apple") seems to appear in consciousness as a flash of insight. The test captures the eureka moment in a reproducible laboratory procedure - just keep changing the words and you can run it dozens of times to reveal which brain area becomes active before the solution hits: the right anterior superior temporal gyrus. (Unfortunately, the book's diagram labels this area incorrectly.) More troubling is Lehrer's failure to grasp some fundamental principles of scientific thinking. He uncritically accepts studies whose results support his argument, rarely bothering to discuss whether or how often they have been replicated. On the basis of one experiment, for instance, he claims that "being surrounded by blue walls makes us more creative." Maybe, or maybe not. The researchers actually displayed questions on a computer screen with a blue background, and research on such "color priming" effects is hardly settled science. Perhaps Lehrer thinks the findings must be valid because they appeared in a prestigious journal. Unfortunately, real science is a messy business in which this assumption is often incorrect, and good science writers should explain as much. Again, this is not hairsplitting. The goal of "Imagine," according to its subtitle, is to tell us "how creativity works" - to offer a scientific, mechanistic account of a seemingly ineffable phenomenon. And what distinguishes the scientific from other modes of thinking is not its technology, level of detail or even subject matter, but its ability to discover reliable cause-and-effect relationships. The clarity of physics and chemistry is rare in social science, but this is no license for presenting interesting speculations as settled truths. LEHRER often errs in drawing causal conclusions from data that is merely correlational. For example, after describing a study that found that highly creative employees consulted more colleagues on their projects than did less creative employees (a correlation between creativity and social interaction), Lehrer concludes, "office conversations are so powerful that simply increasing their quantity can dramatically increase creative production." But it seems equally plausible that productive people who are brimming with ideas will be chattier than their unproductive, blocked fellows. Just as chattiness might lead to creativity, so might creativity lead to chattiness. As the study is described, either could be true. But Lehrer does not acknowledge this possibility, let alone tell us whether it has been tested. The nadir of his book's logic is reached when even the anecdotes don't support the conclusions Lehrer draws from them. The lesson of "Just Do It" is said to be "the importance of incorporating a little weirdness into the creative process." But Dan Wieden's story - an everyday example of creativity emerging from unexpected associations - in no way establishes that deliberately adding weirdness would have any value at all. The only weirdness here is the connection between a killer and an athletic shoe, and no one incorporated it into any process. The best way to think about "Imagine" is as a collection of interesting stories and studies to ponder and research further. Use it as a source of inspiration, but make your own careful choices about whether to believe what it says about the science of creativity. To gauge creative potential, psychologists use tests that are more than 40 years old and far from widely admired. Christopher Chabris is a psychology professor at Union College and a co-author, with Daniel Simons, of "The Invisible Gorilla, and Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [May 13, 2012]
Review by Booklist Review
Creativity a flash in the pan or 99-percent perspiration? A-list journalist Lehrer (How We Decide, 2009) tackles the question in broad strokes, covering topics as diverse as office layouts, urban planning, drug use, and brain chemistry. It turns out that the question isn't easy to answer, for it seems that a method used by one creative person doesn't translate for another. Lehrer describes the creative activities of such luminaries as David Byrne and the CEO of Pixar, then dissects why each approach works for that individual or group. Some examples are a bit of a stretch. The section on Shakespeare, for instance, is eye-rollingly speculative. But, just as Lehrer points out that explicit instruction is anathema to creative play and discovery, he seems to say in each section, Isn't this neat? and leave the bulk of the work to the reader's imagination. In that sense, Imagine is a great introduction for anyone curious about the nature and dynamics of creativity.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Journalist and pop-science phenom Lehrer (How We Decide) muses on the development of "our most important mental talent: the ability to imagine what has never existed." Arguing that "the standard definition of creativity is completely wrong," he reveals the ways in which innovative thinking is a profusion of processes rather than a singular element of cognition. Stories of groundbreaking artists, ideas, and inventions are interwoven with discoveries from the forefront of modern neuroscience to support the notion that moments of great insight are always preceded by long slogs of hard work. The science offers new ways to understand the various methods humans have used to prepare their minds when confronted by seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Conditions that we've long understood to enhance creativity (e.g., urban mingling, drug consumption, travel), but whose mechanisms escaped us, are explored in detail, on both the individual and group level. Other seldom-acknowledged elements come into play, too, like possessing an amateur's ignorance, letting go of the fear of failure, or the benefits of a "drowsy brain." Along the way Lehrer also debunks the myth of brainstorming, and demonstraties how companies like 3M and Pixar have become so successful. He concludes with a discussion of several "meta-idea[s]"-such as intellectual property, education, and a willingness to take risks-which Lehrer deems crucial to fostering a culture of imaginative innovation. (Mar. 19) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Library Journal Review
In his new book on creativity, Lehrer (How We Decide) presents captivating case studies of innovative minds, companies, and cities while tying in the latest in scientific research. He recounts the sometimes surprising origins of hugely successful inventions, brands, and ideas (e.g., the Swiffer mop, Barbie doll, Pixar animation) and reveals unexpected commonalities in the creative experiences (e.g., the color blue, distractedness, living abroad). The book combines individual case studies with broader psychology to provide new insights into creativity, much like Sheena Iyengar's The Art of Choosing. Many of Lehrer's insights are based on emerging scientific practices and are thus fresh and especially applicable to modern life. He emphasizes innovative companies and experimental approaches to education and includes historical factoids that reveal the backstories of everyday items. VERDICT Lehrer's findings can be used to inform the design of innovative programs or to structure a productive work environment at home or at the office. This book will appeal to educators, business administrators, and readers interested in applied psychology. [See Prepub Alert, 10/15/11.]-Ryan Nayler, Univ. of Toronto Lib., Ont. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Wired and Wall Street Journal contributor Lehrer (How We Decide, 2009, etc.) explores creativity from the inside out, looking at the mechanics of the brain and the effects of mental states from sadness to depression to dementia. He takes readers to laboratories where neuroscientists and psychologists are conducting controlled experiments on creativity, and he gets inside the talented minds of songwriter Bob Dylan, graphic artist Milton Glaser, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and engineer/inventor Arthur Fry. Lehrer examines how social interaction and collaboration promote creativity within a company, using Pixar studios as an example, and how these factors operate in communities, citing Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv as places that foster innovation by enabling people to interact, converse with strangers as well as colleagues and encounter new ideas. Shakespeare's London was just such a place, and the author presents factors that made it so, such as a critical density of population and an explosion of literacy. Lehrer also explores what he calls the outsider factor, showing how newcomers to a field or people working in tangential areas generate new approaches to old problems. America, he writes, can increase its collective creativity if it so chooses. The author points out that our schools already do so with athletes, encouraging and rewarding them from a young age, and the same steps can be taken to nourish our brightest, most imaginative children, as demonstrated by the success of schools like the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and San Diego's High Tech High. Further, Lehrer argues for policy changes to enhance our nation's creativity: immigration reform because immigrants account for a disproportionate number of patent applications in the United States, and patent reform, in order to reward and thereby promote innovation. Lehrer writes with verve, creating an informative, readable book that sparkles with ideas.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.