Author of the week: Jonah Lehrer

last updated 8 January 2015

Jonah Lehrer has some advice for would-be creative thinkers, said Brian Braiker in USA Today. In his new book, Imagine, the Wall Street Journal’s brain-science columnist explores how innovation occurs. To activate the areas of the brain responsible for creativity, says Lehrer, it’s best to find an escape from stress. “When we’re not relaxed—when we’re really vigilant—our attention is focused on the problem,” he says. “That means we can’t hear the quiet voice in the back of our head trying to tell us what the answer is.” The best artists and innovators, from Bob Dylan to Steve Jobs, says Lehrer, have a sense of when to focus and when to take a shower or drink a cup of coffee and wait for that voice to come.

That’s not to say that you can down an espresso and come up with the iPod, said Bill Tipper in BNRreview.com. Lehrer says that the capacity to create isn’t just about the “aha” moment. “Because creativity has long been associated with the Muses, we’ve assumed that it should feel easy and effortless, that if we’re truly inventive then the gods will take care of us,” he says. “But nothing could be further from the truth.” Lehrer argues instead that creativity is a talent that, like any other human talent, can only be developed through an expenditure of effort. “Even after we’ve learned to effectively wield the imagination, we still have to invest the time and energy needed to fine-tune our creations,” he says. “If it feels easy, then you’re doing it wrong.”