Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer

Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (March 2012)

256 pages, Audiobook (purchased myself for $19.95)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

Creativity has been thought of as a gift to a privileged few. Jonah Lehrer, in his new book "Imagine" tries to dispel that myth.  Using the latest studies in science and psychology, Jonah uses an array of studies and experiences to help describe the creative processes and where it comes from. 

Jonah starts out the first part of his book on looking at the different parts of the creative process and how they all fit together. He first looks at insight, and with the help of the latest research in neuroscience shows how insight is found through the making of new neurological connections which is the primary job of the right hemisphere. 

Insight, however, is not the end of the creativity process. Jonah then goes over how time is an extremely important component to the creative process, and how drugs like Benzedrine could help artists and poets refine their art by allowing them to greatly focus on their art over long periods of time. 

The last part of his book, Jonah writes on how our environment and culture affect our creativity. He cites research on how urban density, if done correctly, helps produce creative ideas. He also looks at how some highly creative companies have changed their work environments to help foster the creative processes discussed earlier in the book. 

Some more empirically driven people might not like Jonah's approach. There are many scientific studies cited in the book, but there is quite a bit of references to experiences and insight from many who do not wear a scientific lab coat. Good ideas can come from anywhere, and Jonah did an excellent job researching this book

Imagine is an insightful and readable book that will help anybody with an open mind better understand creativity and where it comes from.

Note: This book has recently become unavailable through the publisher due to allegations that the author falsified some quotations that were included in the book (specifically quotations attributed to Bob Dylan).