12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Creativity is not intelligence, March 10, 2007
This review is from: The Creative Brain: The Science of Genius (Paperback)
A very engaging book that looks at the components of creativity and the characteristics of a creative person. It becomes clear that creativity is not always appreciated until sometime after the idea itself. Mendel and Copernicus were never classed as creative until after their death. The artist van Gogh was not considered creative until others deemed him to be so. To me, one of the most fascinating chapters is the link between creative genius and socially labelled 'madness'. There appears to be a link between eccentricity, psychiatric disorders and moments of brilliance. Does the brain need some 'disorganisation' before it reorganises the data in a different and unique way to create a genius idea? This and many aspects of creativty are discussed. Whether you are a student of intelligence and thinking, or whether you are curious as to why you or others think differently, then you will throughly enjoy this book by a very clever author who got a PhD in Renaissance English literature before becoming a psychiatrist. That blend of background alone should alert you to a fascinating read. You will learn that intelligence does not make you creative. As a bonus, she even gives you a chapter on how to think creatively yourself. I'd love to have a long lunch with Dr Andreasen.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
When I Grow Up, I Want to be Creative!, September 27, 2009
This review is from: The Creative Brain: The Science of Genius (Paperback)
The objective of this review is to critique and summarize this book for educational purposes: I am taking Introductory Neuroscience at the Georgia Institute of Technology and was assigned to find a book with a topic of interest that pertains to the science of the brain, read it, and summarize my thoughts on it. The topic of creativity is of extreme interest to me and would rather be creative than "book-smart." Overall, the book was easy to read and interesting, although I did find it to be a very surface level introduction into the science of creativity.
The Creative Brain begins with an introduction to what creativity is and is measured in terms of originality, utility (how useful the creation is), and its final product. Author Nancy Andreasen colorfully describes many instances of creative thinking at work, from the moment a person obtained a stone and realized its potential use as a tool, to the creation of beautiful and awe-inspiring masterpieces of artists. What separates these people from others that give them extraordinary creativity that only a handful of individuals possess? According to the author creativity is found and further enriched in terms of nature and nurture. One possible example of "hereditary" creativity is the Huxley family. Thomas Henry Huxley was a notable English biologist. His grandson Julian Huxley was an anthropologist who worked on the theory of evolution. Andrew Huxley was a distinguished physiologist who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on neural impulses and muscle contraction. Aldous Huxley was a novelist who famously wrote Brave New World in 1932. One possible example of nurtures influence on creativity is, as the author describes, the cradle of creativity. The cradle of creativity explains why there exists certain periods of time when creative contributions occur in clusters and then disappear for years after: a nurturing environment, rich in artistic or scientific thinking, are conducive to producing creative outcomes. One such example is the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in the U.S. Inventions like the cotton gin, telegraph, telephone, light bulb, assembly line, and airplane all occurred within a relatively short period of time. Ultimately though, creativity is a product of nature AND nurture, genetics AND environment. An example of this was Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti. These two artists were raised in households with no exposure to art but both displayed a unique ability towards art (nature). Eventually, both were taught and reared by artistic masters who helped these young artists cultivate and train their artistic abilities (nurture). The book also discusses the relationship that exists between creative genius and mental illness. Because creative people view the world with an unbiased point of view they are able to make connections that are otherwise non-existent in normal people. But this same unbiased point of view can sometimes be vulnerable to connections that are dangerous or incorrect. Take mathematic genius John Nash who displayed schizotypal behavior at the age of thirty. He has been quoted saying "the ideas that I have about supernatural beings came to me the same way that my mathematical ideas did, so I took them seriously."
The book gives many examples of different types of creativity and is well organized in thought and structure. Because of her background knowledge in fine arts she offers a lot of knowledge on creative artists. The language used by the author is very easy to understand and it is obvious that she is very passionate about her studies in creativity because it makes the book that much more interesting to read. Most of the studies cited in this book are anecdotal because of the subjective ways creativity can be measured. Andreasen herself has conducted her own studies of creativity through the Iowa Writer's Workshop Study. One of the aspects of the book I found to be less interesting was the last chapter which describes what can be done to increase creativity in adults and infants. For adults, it described mental exercises like learning new things and meditation (that's right, meditation!). For children, it had recommendations like limiting the time available to watch television, interactive reading, and emphasizing diversity and curiosity in the young mind. It was written as if these were the steps that would guarantee a more creative individual. It was particularly obnoxious to learn the tips for increasing an infants' creativity levels because it reminded me of the movie "Nanny Diaries" where a baby-sitter works for a rich family that insists French culture, organic food and museum visits are necessary to raise their young son. Whatever happened to the traditional ideas of childhood like climbing trees, playing with your Sega Genesis game console, and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Ultimately, the last chapter read to me like a self-help/new age themed pamphlet whose objective is to create baby geniuses in five simple steps (!).
Overall, the book was a very interesting read and I would recommend it for people new to the arena of neuroscience and creative thinking. One of my favorite quotes from the book is that:
"A child who reads a book about Robin Hood or Harry Potter is learning to visualize and imagine for herself... once shown to her on film... instead of the many Harrys occurring in the minds of children, there is now one "standard Harry" that will passively adopt rather than create on their own. As Darwin has pointed out, evolution thrives on variation."
The author has a colorful way of describing situations throughout the book that make the actual task of reading it, fly by.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Perspectives on the Creative Brain", December 14, 2007
This review is from: The Creative Brain: The Science of Genius (Paperback)
"The Creative Brain: The Science of Genius", by Nancy Andreasen, Plume Book, NY 2006. ISBN 0-432-28781-2. PC 197/181 pages includes Preface, Biblio., and Index plus 33 photos/Illus. 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" (Prev. publ. as "The Creating Brain")
A delightful, informative and instructive book for anyone interested in or charged with task of optimal nurturing human potential. Dr. Andreasen, PhD (Lit.) also psychiatrist MD, addresses the nature of creativity, tackles the co-existence of genius and insanity issue, queries what creates the creative brain and as denouement, expounds upon building better brains.
The clarity of her writing, reviews of literary material on creativity, presentation of findings of her own research links between creativity and insanities, and concise up-to-date reviews of neuroscience anatomy and revelations provided by mMRI, sMRI and fMRI observations is excellent for both scientist and non-scientists. She concludes on techniques to maximize nurturing to enhance maximum potential of inherent creativity in a manner clearly timely (TV, urbanism, etc.) in a manner pleasureable to read. Having read more than a dozen books devoted to definition and origin of genius/gifted/creative children, this book stands singularly as an excellent read that is both timely and not in need of glossaries for jargon terminology. The inclusion of 'life-changing exercises for your brain' is sufficient reason to read this treatise.
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