A book Review: Imagine,
How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer
In the book, Imagine, How
Creativity Works, Jonah Lehrer takes the reader on a journey of creativity from
various walks of life. He writes about Bob Dylan’s songwriting to creating new
patents by 3M from masking tape to post-it notes. His chapter on collaboration with Broadway
musicals and animated movies is fascinating.
He wraps up the book with Shakespeare and the climate of education in
that time of London that nurtured the son of a glover to create timeless plays
that make contemporary audiences pause. He adds a section on Arts and Science High
Schools and how that influences young creative minds. An extensive list of notes on his research
for the book adds depth and breadth to the accomplishment of Imagine.
The book begins with Bob Dylan and how Dylan planned to give
up songwriting—go and live in the woods.
Dylan had been touring in Europe extensively. People loved him but he was exhausted. He wanted to quit. He drove his motorcycle to his tiny cabin in
Woodstock, New York and planned to quit writing songs. He told his manager that he was going to
write a novel. After a couple of days of
quiet, words came to him. He grabbed a
pencil and began to write. They were the
lyrics for his next songs.
In another chapter, Lehrer writes about how “a creative
problem is so difficult that it requires people to connect their imaginations
together; the answer arrives only if we collaborate. That’s because a group is not just a
collection of individual talents.
Instead, it is a chance for those talents to exceed themselves, to
produce something greater than anyone thought possible.” (p. 139). This chapter has a focus of the creation of
productions on Broadway and movies at Pixar Animations Studios and how creative
minds can work magic together. What
combinations of creative people make that work?
Lehrer dives into some research that supports productive collaboration.
New Orleans Center of Creative Arts, NOCCA, a public high
school with an emphasis on the arts exposes students to need for persistence with
their work. They learn to stick with a
project—they learn about ‘grit’. Another
school, called High Tech High, a San Diego Charter School emphasizes learning
by doing. Their tools are scrap metal
and computer programing. Lehrer says, “What schools
like NOCCA and High Tech High demonstrate is that the imagination is too important
to be ignored. When children are allowed
to create, they’re able to develop the sophisticated talents that are required
for success in the real world… they learn how to cope with complexity and
connect ideas, how to bridge disciplines and improve their first drafts. These mental talents can’t be taught in an
afternoon—there is no textbook for ingenuity, no lesson plan for divergent
thinking. Rather, they must be
discovered: the child has to learn by doing.” (p.235-236.)
Lehrer concludes,
“But we must also be honest: the creative process will never
by easy, no matter how much we know about neurons and cities and Shakespeare. . .
The mystery is this: although the imagination is inspired by
the everyday world—by its flaws and beauties—we are able to see beyond our
sources, to imagine things that exist only in the mind. We notice an incompleteness and we can
complete it; the cracks in things become a source of light.
Every creative story is different. And every creative story is the same. There was nothing. Now there is something. It’s almost like magic.” (p. 252-253.)
Imagine, How Creativity Works is available for borrowing from the Winona Public Library and for purchase from fine book sellers everywhere. Enjoy.
