Right Brain, Talent Way Overrated in the Creativity Equation

Finally. I will get to read my galley proof of A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age by Daniel Pink for an 800-CEO-READ blog review now that I whipped out the first draft of the More Space essay. (Uh, I don't even want to talk about it right now; to date it's 17K words long so it's not going on the blog - it'll go on wiki tomorrow.)

Pink is trying to make his case for the reclaiming and integrating the "right-brained" skills for success in the future: design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. 

And then what should I see on the counter lying about but the March 2005 National Geographic, "What's In Your Mind?" issue (excerpt only for non-subscribers) that makes the most excellent point (the snippet below is from "Extreme Expression" article in the great series):

[T]he key role of the temporal lobe in hypergraphia [an obsessive writing affliction perhaps exhibited by some bloggers] may offer a window into the neural underpinnings of literary creativity, and creativity in general. According to popular wisdom, the right hemisphere of the brain is more creative, while the left brain is more logical and objective. While there is some basis for this belief, it is certainly an oversimplication. As [neurologist and writer, Alice] Flaherty discusses in her book, The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain [Jerry's snippet from book], more important to creativity may be the connections through the limbic system - the more primitive, emotional part of the brain - between the temporal lobes on the sides of the brain and the frontal lobes behind the forehead. While the frontal lobes may be important for providing the judgment and flexibility of thought that underlies talent, structures in the temporal lobes and limbic system supply drive and motivation, which Flaherty believes are more important parts of the creative equation than talent itself. This applies not only to writing, but to all kinds of creative ability.

"To be truly creative chess player," she says, "probably just loving the game and playing it ten hours a day may be more important than having some special pattern recognition ability in your brain."

Comments

[rdg]

I'm a bit tech-tarded--how can I access your wiki work? (The "More Space Essay" link didn't work)

[Evelyn Rodriguez]

RDG- Not you. I didn't mention the link since last week or so. It's not up yet as apparently I have to chop the essay into sections. It was too large as is to fit on one page (at least in the version I have). I am in need a break and will divide it up and post tomorrow.

Check back tomorrow: http://evelyn.jot.com (username and password are both same: morespace)