Just Because An Idea Is

...new Ideas Are Merely Several Old Thoughts That Occur At The Exact Same Time.

How Do We Regulate Our Emotions? The Answer Is Surprisingly Simple: By Thinking About Them. The Prefrontal Cortex Allows Each Of Us To Contemplate His Or Her Own Mind, A Talent Psychologists Call Metacognition. We Know When We Are Angry; Every Emotional State Comes With Self-awareness Attached, So That An Individual Can Try To Figure Out Why He's Feeling What He's Feeling. If The Particular Feeling Makes No Sense—if The Amygdala Is Simply Responding To A Loss Frame, For Example—then It Can Be Discounted. The Prefrontal Cortex Can Deliberately Choose To Ignore The Emotional Brain.

Even When Alternative Views Are Clearly Wrong, Being Exposed To Them Still Expands Our Creative Potential. In A Way, The Power Of Dissent Is The Power Of Surprise. After Hearing Someone Shout Out An Errant Answer, We Work To Understand It, Which Causes Us To Reassess Our Initial Assumptions And Try Out New Perspectives. “authentic Dissent Can Be Difficult, But It’s Always Invigorating,” Nemeth Says. “it Wakes Us Right Up.”

Distance And Difference Are The Secret Tonic Of Creativity. When We Get Home, Home Is Still The Same. But Something In Our Mind Has Been Changed, And That Changes Everything.

In Fact, The Only Way To Remain Creative Over Time--to Not Be Undone By Our Expertise--is To Experiment With Ignorance, To Stare At Things We Don't Fully Understand.