Unexplored Strategy to Boost Creativity: Delve into Obituaries
Uncovering Creativity Through Obituaries: A Journey Across Life's Unlikely Tapestries
An enduring fascination with the lives of the deceased, as conveyed through obituaries, has opened up a wider world of inspiration for Keith Sawyer, a renowned creativity researcher. Instead of a mere assembly of dates and achievements, obituaries serve as rare glimpses into lives that defy expectations.
While seeking to boost creativity often involves acquiring new, disparate information, our modern habits typically follow a familiar pattern, aligning with our interests or areas of expertise. This loop can hinder the discovery of the unexpected and unlooked-for. The solution, Sawyer suggests, may lie in the pages of obituaries.
In an interview for his podcast "The Science of Creativity," Sawyer discusses the work of Yoed Kenett, a scholar focusing on high-level cognition and creativity. Kenett's research highlights the importance of establishing conceptual networks in the mind, consisting of connected ideas that aid in the generation of new and original thoughts.
This idea is grounded in the work of psychologist Sarnoff Mednick from the 1960s. Mednick proposed the associative theory of creativity, suggesting that creative individuals possess a memory structure that encompasses a wider range of ideas and encourages the forging of more unlikely connections. During a classic 1962 experiment, less creative participants provided predictable responses to prompts, whereas more creative respondents managed to conjure more startling associations.
Evidence of the power of distant connections in generating invention is observed in the origins of well-known inventions, such as Velcro, Post-It notes, the X-ray, shatterproof glass, the microwave oven, and silly putty. These innovative ideas emerged from seemingly unrelated ideas or sources.
Similarly, the psychologist Dedre Gentner found that pairs of distant concepts produced the most creative combinations, as participants demonstrated a capacity to manipulate properties and structures from one concept and apply them to another.
Reading a diverse array of obituaries can nurture the ability to create remote associations, aiding in the cultivation of creative cognition. By deliberately exposing oneself to an assortment of information from distinct domains, one can stretch one's mental boundaries and foster the development of novel and intriguing ideas.
Of particular interest are the more modest obituaries found in the New York Times Sunday edition, which describe the lives of the uncelebrated yet no less remarkable. Reading these accounts exposes the reader to a medley of fields such as broadcasting, aerospace, esotericism, oral hygiene, database design, prenatal publishing, among others – a potent combination unlikely to be encountered in everyday life.
To maximize the creative potential of this practice, it is suggested to read the obituaries diligently, without a predisposition for resembling the reader's own life. By doing so, one can absorb a broad range of disparate information, inspiring fresh ideas, connections, and insights.
Keith Sawyer, the Morgan Distinguished Professor in Educational Innovations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has authored over 20 books, including "Group Genius," "Zig Zag," and most recently, "Learning to See."
Exploring the realms of fashion-and-beauty, education-and-self-development, personal-growth, and lifestyle, one can enhance creative cognition by regularly reading diverse obituaries. The unexpected associations formed through this practice, as found in the uncelebrated but remarkable lives described in the New York Times Sunday edition, can inspire fresh ideas and insights.
