science as creativity, science is creativity

The Science of Creativity. (minus all the math)

Eric Schulze, PhD @SciencEric

be utterly fascinating

Eric schulze, pHD Creative director & chief nerd

what is

Thirst Is a social experiment

That changes the way you learn.

science of creativity

The Science of Creativity. (minus all the math)

Eric Schulze, PhD @SciencEric

create.

Gain a practical use for Science.

Turn complex Math into stupid pictures.

Creativity.

motivation to do something that has not been done before… in thought, action, or belief

And must meet some criteria of usefulness

There is little evidence that the ‘toiling genius’ model works.

I could give you all the sciencey terms and jargon…

but I hate doing that.

Instead…

Creativity is, to a very large

extent, Scientific.

Random is not what you think it is.

“Truth is stranger than

fiction, but it is because Fiction

is obliged to stick to

possibilities; Truth isn’t.”

Yay nerds!

Yay nerds!

Telling the truth is hard!

anecdote is not science.

The plural of anecdote is not scientific evidence.

So, I’m a scientist.

I went from this…

. . . to this

. . . to this

everyone needs to re-learn how to

learn.

PhotoscourtesyofTonyHitchcock

Science.

Why science?

&%#!

approved messaging ✔

because science is

rigorous, reliable, & directive.

Why would you want to engineer

a Nobel Prize-winning idea?

Because each represents the most creative,

insightful glimpses into the natural

world.

Does Creativity Have a Logic?

Science is the rational investigation into the creative.

Science = art = music = literature

A B C 42

This process argues that creativity is a truly random, environmental +

(epi)genetic process.

A Z

A Z

This argues for a strictly logical, nearly algorithmic creative process.

What are agreed-upon creative

traits?

Independent Nonconformist

Unconventional Many Interests

High Openness High Boldness

Cognitive Flexibility

psychopathology.

idea combinations.

How do you measure quality?

This is tough. Not gonna lie, even within science

it’s hard to agree

10 years or 10,000 hours

approved messaging

✔

15 40

Does creativity have a logic?

Does creativity have a logic?

Why do I care?

terrible.

Creativity is a stochastic, constrained behavior.

#HellYesScience

unconstrained creativity

constrained creativity

Adding carefully selected restrictions increases the likelihood of creative ideas

Independently replicating others’ results is a significant sign of

improving creativity.

(IOW Don’t be discouraged.)

Why does [restriction]

work?

Why does [restriction]

work?

grouped, logical events can produce behavior that appears

devoid of logic.

#DarwinIsTheShit

internal vs external validity

do we want scientifically controlled studies…

or results that mirror the real world?

internal vs external validity

“IRL” meta-analysis, playa!

Successful Creativity is

allowing restricted chance give way to new knowledge.

analogy formation

exposure to distant

information

exposure to serendipity

effective critical evaluation skills

“early talent”

&

sustained productivity?

H = cT2

Read Voraciously & Widely

Allow Ideas to Incubate aka “Prime”

@carylannataylor

distribution of productivity

Price law √

Be the person (or community) others feel compelled to tell their ideas.

Your Creativity is Largely Community-Determined

Experts & Creators are necessary for successful

creative communities.

the Paris-Kim hypothesis

10% Output determines serendipity

57x

hang around really smart

people.

Know thy audience.

Know thy audience.

this is bullshit.

Know thy message.

Increase the nerdery in your community.

create the community for the ideas you want.

create. nerds.

thank you.

@SciencEric

be utterly fascinating