New research from the lab.
Here’s a wonderful new book, The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone. The authors, professors Philip Fernbach and Steven Sloman, argue that it’s “a misunderstanding of knowledge” to think that “it goes on between our ears.” What really sets human beings apart is not our individual mental capacity. The secret to our success is… Read More We Never Think Alone
Christopher Mims predicts that artificial intelligence will increasingly put white collar, professional workers out of work. That means people who blog. 🙂 Muriel Clauson, of Singularity University, says “Education is often touted as the answer to the skills gap, but it is generally a blunt instrument.” She recommends this system: First, break down every job… Read More What Will We Do After AI Takes Our Jobs?
When are brilliant scientists the most brilliant? What age are you likely to be when the Nobel committee comes calling? Pick one of the following answers: You need a lot of expertise and wisdom to make a big breakthrough. You need professional connections, lots of research money, and big laboratories. Scientific breakthroughs come from people in… Read More Are You Too Old to Be Brilliant?
There’s almost no research on group musical improvisation, and I’ve wondered about that for years. I’m a jazz pianist, and I’m fascinated by how different people can come together, and collectively create something that no one could have thought of alone. So I’m excited to see a new study, of group free improvisation in music… Read More Free Improvisation in Music Groups
Brain imaging studies do not show that creativity is located in a specific part of the brain.… Read More Creativity is not Localized in the Brain
I just delivered the keynote address “Educating for Innovation” at this big event in Calgary, with teachers, school leaders, education professors, and policy types: After the keynote, I did a breakout session where I shared my research on how art school professors teach. Then, I asked the audience to work in small groups to apply these practices… Read More Sawyer keynote at IDEAS conference in Calgary, Canada
I thought the market for complexity books had been saturated, but here’s another one: A Crude Look at the Whole by John H. Miller. (WSJ review here.) The first wave of complexity books was in the mid 1990s: 1993. Mitchell Waldrop’s Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos 1996. Stuart Kaufman’s At Home… Read More Books About Complexity and Emergence
Professor Marvin Minsky of MIT died at 88 on Sunday January 24. He was one of most important scientists in artificial intelligence (AI): a field of research studying how to develop computers that simulate human thought and behavior. Minsky founded the world’s first AI Lab at MIT in 1959, along with John McCarthy. Minsky was… Read More Dr. Marvin Minsky, Artificial Intelligence Pioneer
A provocative claim: in any country, immigrants are statistically more likely to generate exceptionally creative works. There’s a long list of immigrant geniuses: Victor Hugo, W. H. Auden, Vladimir Nabokov, Nikolas Tesla, Marie Curie, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein. But single cases don’t make a scientific argument. Do we have any statistical data on this? Eric… Read More Are Immigrants More Creative?
Creativity researchers have shown that serendipity plays a big role in creativity, and that serendipity is more likely to happen when you seek out new experiences and become more aware of what’s going on around you. My 2013 book ZIG ZAG is filled with creativity advice based on this research. One of my chapters is called “LOOK: How… Read More Inventology: a new book by Pagan Kennedy
The Creativity Guru 