Creative Process

Published online on Sunday, Sep. 27, 2009

By David Mas Masumoto

I'm not that smart. While others race to solve problems, puzzles and brain teasers, I'm usually stuck. I'm slow. My creative solutions take time. And perhaps that's not bad.

Where do big ideas come from? Often the answers seem to appear out of nowhere. Creativity, the generation of new ideas or concepts, has been attributed to divine intervention, personality and chance. Some claim it can't be taught -- we are born creative; others believe the Muses play a role.

Mark Jung-Beeman, a cognitive neuroscientist, has spent decades trying to figure out what happens to people during an a-ha! moment. He theorized a different creative process, described in an article in The New Yorker by Jonah Lehrer.

First comes a preparatory phase. The brain focuses on a problem, devoting energy and shutting down other sensory areas.

For example, during this time of deep thinking, visual inputs are not required. In fact, added visual simulation may overload our brain, creating distraction. Perhaps that's why we often close our eyes during problem solving.

Second, a search phase begins. The brain starts to look for the solution in the normal places, combining memory and experience with logic and reason. But with difficult problems, frustration grows. Quickly we get stuck; our brains reach an impasse. We can't think of the right word. The answer is on the tip of our tongue. We can't quite picture the answer.

Then, something amazing happens. Just when our brain is about to give up, insight occurs. Studying brain scans, Jung-Beeman discovered a burst of activity during this phase. He and other neuroscientists found the brain labored to create new networks across both hemispheres (a binding of neurons). The result was shedding new light on the problem.

Imagine the left side of the brain desperately searching for an answer, trusting logic over randomness, reason over emotion. Precision is asked for as we focus.

We repeat the question over and over in our minds, tightening our muscles, squinting, grimacing, clenching our fists, gritting our teeth. We believe that if we concentrate hard enough, somehow the right solution will fly out of our mouths.

But then we struggle. We incorrectly assume our focus helps us cut distractions and pay attention only to relevant details. Instead, we suppress options and inhibit creative connections that can lead to a break through.

Finally exhausted, just at the verge of quitting, we pause and take a break. In a resting state, we generate greater right brain activity; the right hemisphere is allowed to join in. Then new brain communication occurs between regions that are not ordinarily connected. A broader, general search party begins, the whole brain hunts for options. Then and only then, Jung-Beeman concludes, can the mental balancing act unfold and creative insight occur.

After intense and frantic concentration, the brain needs to relax, allowing for more remote associations often found in other parts of the brain. Panic had narrowed options. The brain needs to look past fear and expand possibilities. By relaxing, we all open ourselves and welcome the unconventional. We give ourselves time and space to think. In Zen, they call this focusing on not being focused.

This relaxation phase is crucial for discovery. Warm showers, long walks, listening to waves and music, taking a nap, cooking, doing mindless farm work, gardening all methods to let the mind to wander.

In a way, the left and right hemispheres of the brain discover accidental connections. A transformation occurs: The brain keeps working automatically. I believe in automatic invention, concentration first, let the mind wander, then in the middle of something else, the eureka moment occurs, as if the brain just needed time to sleep on it. The answers are there, we just need to find them.

This all sounds contrary to typical behavior of taking stimulants such as coffee and caffeine. I can hear my son lobbying for more creative relaxation moments instead of doing his homework.

But I draw the distinction between learning and insight. Learning is about comprehension, insight is about breakthrough discovery. One is hard work, the other is hard thought. There are no shortcuts to a-ha! moments, they begin with discipline and only after too much concentration do we need to step back and take a break.

I hope educators acknowledge the creative process. Instead of getting stuck on the same wrong idea, students may need breaks, stress has a way of blocking all thought. Then they can return, trying to solve problems both methodically and creatively.

In our technological information age, combined with the current economic distress, creative solutions are demanded more than ever. So when things don't make sense, perhaps we need to step back, take a deep breath and allow creativity to help. Just exhale.