AN ARTICLE
OUTSIDE
THE
BOX
BY: HESHAM YASSER
creativity, like designing a school experiment out of
pepsi cans, and “little-c” creativity like improvising a
funny joke for your friends.
Creative icons —like Einstein— are known to
have higher IQ (Intelligence Quotient) levels
than ordinary people, but are their brains wired
differently?
In an attempt to discover the correlation between
creativity levels and brain connections, a group of
scientists in Harvard university made a study on
163 volunteers using the “Divergent thinking” test,
a test which assesses the ability of brainstorming
and deciding on unconventional ideas and solutions
with originality for a particular problem. For instance,
if I asked each reader of this article about non-
traditional uses of a plastic cup, one may simply
suggest using it as a container, while the other
might propose making a plastic cup phone out
of it. According to the test, the first person’s idea
shall be graded “low”, as it lacks authenticity. On
the
contrary,
the
second
one’s
gets
a
“high”
rank,
ave you ever wondered about creativity?
as it “diverges” from the traditional use of the cup.
What is creativity? How does our brain work
Similarly, scientists conducted the test on volunteers
when we think outside the box? Is creativity
in
fMRI
(Functional
magnetic
resonance
imaging)
to
inducible? If yes, then how? I admire your curiosity
discover the connection among different brain lobes
and shall answer your questions one by one.
and correlate them with test results. These brain
connections were therefore called “High-creative”
“Creativity”, what comes to your mind when you
network, and they were found to be stronger in
hear such a word?
people
getting
high
grades
on
the
“Divergent
If you are a cartoon addict —like me—, the first thing
thinking” test.
you may envision is that glowing lamp appearing
above the head of genius characters like Jimmy
Neutron and Dexter. However, if you are of the
realistic type, the first thing to encounter your mind
may be creative icons like Picasso and Einstein. With
different perspectives, we all agree that creativity
can be defined as getting a new, yet dazzling idea or
solution for our daily life problems and situations.
“EVERYDAY, WE USE LANGUAGE
Actually, we come up with creative ideas more than
TO SPEAK SENTENCES THAT HAVE NEVER
we imagine. “Everyday, we use language to speak
BEEN SPOKEN BEFORE. WE EXPRESS
sentences that have never been spoken before. We
express thoughts that have never been expressed.
THOUGHTS THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN
All of this is so deeply ingrained that we don’t notice
EXPRESSED. ALL OF THIS IS SO DEEPLY
how creative it is.” says Art Markman, co-editor of
INGRAINED THAT WE DON’T NOTICE
the book “Tools for Innovation”. These creativity
HOW CREATIVE IT IS.”
tasks we do are classified by scientists according to
— ART MARKMAN
their degree of creativity into two main types: “big-c”
H
28
The Recap Magazine
As a future neurologist, I’m obsessed with
everything regarding our brains, and I will be
pleased to give you a glimpse of the “High-
creative” network. The network itself includes three
brain systems: the default, the executive control,
and the salience. To have a better understanding
of these networks, let me remind you of a famous
childhood puzzle: The boat crossing puzzle. The
puzzle includes three men and three monsters who
are willing to cross to the other side by boat, as two
individuals at a time can cross to the other side.
Trying to solve the puzzle, you initially brainstorm all
the possible solutions spontaneously like two men
at a time, two monsters at a time, or a man and
a monster at a time. This is done by your default
system. Then, you evaluate your proposed solutions
to check whether they will actually wor