Really interesting article from the Research Digest blog on the role of eye movements and boosted creativity.
Short version: if you are strong handed (read: have a dominant hand for most tasks) 30 seconds of horizontal scanning provide a short term boost to creativity. If you are mixed handed as I am, not so much of a boost. But there is good news! Overall mix handed individuals tend to be more creative than their strong handed brethren.
michaelsevilla Cognition, Creative
Can 5 minutes a day recharge your brain and make your mental acuity sharper?
Why not try it and let me know. I started today.
michaelsevilla Decision Making, Short Cuts, Things to watch creativity, idea sparks, Insight, Tools
(left hand raised) I admit it, I do not think in linear progression.
Or I should say, frequently, I do not consciously think in linear progressions. As a rule, I tend to think and process information either verbally, tactically (e.g. writing down initial thoughts and continuing via exploration), or through pictures: I draw insights and conclusions from time and dimensional disparate data.
Mind mapping tools are great for us non-linear, and/or picture centric information processors. Here’s a short video from the father of mind mapping, Tony Buzon.
Want a free version of mind mapping software?
(hat tip to Mike Brown for this post’s inspiration)
michaelsevilla Cognition, Creative Process, Idea Innovation Cognition, creativity, insights, mind mapping, software
When it comes to drawing insights for the purpose of innovation, how do you learn, correlate/synthesize data, extrapolate, and discover meaning?
This video outlines four distinct learning styles, each critical for the innovation process.
I’m a divergent learner. Until today I didn’t even know that term or concept existed!
michaelsevilla Cognition, Drawing Insights, Idea Innovation ethnography, innovation process, Insight
To paraphrase Bill Clinton, it depends what the definition of “thinking” is.
An interesting interview on Seed‘s website with the Jonah Lehrer, author of “The Black Box of Decision Making”
Short version of an article worth reading: do we over think important decisions? The reductive: what is the optimal way to think about important decisions?
It turns out the answer is out is yes, we rely too much on our conscious analytic abilities to make important decisions. Apparently our conscious brains cannot process huge amounts of data (e.g. the rise and weed proliferation of Twitter). Thankfully we do have a cerebral processor that can handle huge amounts of data – our unconscious mental processing: “Research suggests that it’s complex decisions, the ones that involve lots of information, that benefit the most from unconscious emotional processing. The conscious brain can only handle a very limited amount of information at one time?—?seven digits, plus or minus two. Unconsciously, however, you can process tons of information.”
To make matters worse, our self confidence in our conscious analytic capabilities only exacerbate the decisions making process. By ignoring or diminishing the value of new information, we essentially seal our unconscious brain away from new data to process and synthesize into new insights.
The articles recommendation? Be open to new information, go with your gut, and for heaven sake, don’t over analyze those big decisions. Your brain has already done it for you. Just trust it.
michaelsevilla Boulder, Creative Process, Decision Making, Drawing Insights Cognition, consumer behavior, Decision Making, idea sparks, Insight
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