"Every block of stone has a statue inside and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."
Few would deny that Michelangelo was one of the most creative people of all time. He imagined statues where others saw stones, sculpting Renaissance art that has awed and inspired generations. Obviously, stones and brains are not even remotely similar, and yet by extending the underlying meaning, rather than the content, of Michelangelo's quote to neuroscience, an analogous argument could be made that every brain has creative thoughts somewhere inside, and it is the task of the self to discover them.
Most agree that creativity exists, but defining it is surprisingly difficult. In the standard definition of creativity, originality and effectiveness are essential components (1). Originality alone is not sufficient, for an original idea or product may be useless unless it is also effective and therefore valued in some way. Likewise, an idea or product may be effective and therefore valued, but if there are other ideas or products out there that achieve the same result then it is not original. Yet even the standard definition quickly runs into trouble, for who is to judge whether something is original or effective?
Normally, the human brain is awake or asleep. During wakefulness, two cognitive states, flow and mind wandering, are associated with creativity. Dreaming during sleep also appears to play an influential role in the creative process.
By observing the ideas of others, creativity may emerge within a group setting. Most people associate group creativity with verbal brainstorming, but surprisingly, this method often limits creative idea generation, largely due to a range of social factors including the fear of being judged by others, conflict among one or more group members, and the inhibition of certain group members by the more dominant personalities within the group (28,29).
Since creativity is processed everywhere in the brain and not localized to a specific brain region, it cannot be measured or quantified through neuroimaging or any other methods (32,33). Despite this, many believe that creativity can be improved, and multiple attempts to do so have arisen over the decades (28). In the end, perhaps the best way to enhance creativity is to optimize time spent in proven creativity-generating situations.
Michelangelo believed that every block of stone contained a potential statue, a statue awaiting release by an inspired sculptor. Perhaps then, it all comes down to just that - the will to believe that not only do you already possess great creativity, but you can improve it.
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