Many scholars have noted how Einstein sought beauty in his theoretical work. “As soon as an equation seemed to him to be ugly, [Einstein] really rather lost interest in it and could not understand why somebody else was willing to spend much time on it. He was quite convinced that beauty was a guiding principle [ Read more … ]
albert einstein
Fundamental change depends on our capacity to engage with metaphor
Metaphor is at the core of nearly every scientific breakthrough throughout history, and celebrated scientists like Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman and Albert Einstein relied on metaphor to help them make new discoveries. At all levels of society—personal, cultural, scientific, social, political—fundamental change depends upon our ability to engage with metaphor. Aristotle claimed that his soul [ Read more … ]
Finding your image
For many years, I led creative writing workshops. Early on I noticed that some writing prompts tended to keep people entrenched in their thinking mind… and their subsequent writing was heady and dry. These writing prompts often involved using a word or newspaper headline to write from. Their writing might have been slick and witty, [ Read more … ]
Making friends with your imagination
Imagination is indirect, nonlinear, and fuzzy. It’s more about taking you to a “new place” and providing a fresh perspective than providing a numerically clear solution or quick fix. Further, when we open up our imaginations, we challenge traditional norms. Our creative process comes up with ideas that are often at odds with standard procedures. [ Read more … ]
Five Disconcerting Qualities of Creativity
Newsweek magazine just came out with a cover article on creativity. Apparently, a poll of 1500 CEOs said that creativity was the most important skill of the future. Authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman write, “The necessity of human ingenuity is undisputed.” The article goes on to lament that creativity scores are declining and we [ Read more … ]
