Imagine (Lehrer) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
1. What does every creative journey begin with according to Lehrer? What phase, which precedes a breakthrough, do we tend to overlook when we speak of the creative process? 2. What is the major function of each hemisphere of the brain? What role does each side play in the creative process? Which hemisphere is a “connection machine”? What are the three general phases of the creative process?

3. The first chapter of Imagine is entitled “Bob Dylan’s Brain,” but what is so significant about Bob Dylan’s brain? What is important about Dylan’s composition of his hit “Like a Rolling Stone” in particular? What does it reveal about creative blocks and the role of the right hemisphere?

4. What lessons can we learn about creativity from Dick Drew’s invention of masking tape? What does it tell us about the impact of interrupting one’s thought process or having a relaxed state of mind? How do these relaxed conditions affect the activity of the right hemisphere and the rhythm of alpha waves in our brain, and how does this ultimately influence our creative output?

5. How does mood affect our ability to have insights? Why does there seem to be a link between major depressive orders and artistic achievement? What scientific explanation does Lehrer give for the close association of bipolar disorder and creativity?

6. What is horizontal sharing and conceptual blending? How does the latter correspond with philosopher David Hume’s thoughts on the essence of imagination? How can we get better at conceptual blending?

7. Discuss the varied effects of alcohol, stimulants, and amphetamines on the creative process, and, more specifically, their impact with respect to our ability to generate insights. What are the effects of color? Of light or time of day? Of architecture? What effect does daydreaming have on our creative process?

8. What is “working memory” and how large of a role does it play in our creative process? What is the major function of the prefrontal cortex? What other parts of the brain does the prefrontal cortex work with most closely? What does Earl Miller’s experiment reveal, however, about the importance of the primitive mid-brain?

9. What are the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s two archetypes of creativity? What does Lehrer say they are called in modern science?

10.  The artist Milton Glaser says that “we’re always looking, but we never really see.” What does he mean by this? What does the slogan of Glaser’s studio tell us about creativity? What does he mean when he says that “creativity is a verb”? What does Glaser’s most famous design project reveal about creativity, perseverance, and the refinement of ideas?

11. What is “the unconcealing”? Why is this such an important part of the creative process?

12. What is Lehrer speaking about when he references “letting go”? Which part of our brain is responsible for hindering this? What does this tell us about the constraints that we place on our own creativity? Can these restraints be overcome? What can we learn about this concept from the musician Yo Yo Ma, jazz improvisation, the surfer Clay Marzo, or comedy powerhouse Second City?

13.  Are we “biologically destined” to get less creative as we age? What practical advice does mathematician Paul Erdos offer to maximize our creativity? What effect does being an outsider or thinking like an outsider have on our creative development? How can travel influence our creative output? Why does Lehrer say that we “must constantly forget what [we] already know”?

14.  What do Professor Ben Jones’s analyses reveal about trends in scientific teamwork? How should we work together, and what are the ideal strategies for group creativity? What does sociologist Brian Uzzi’s study of musicals tell us about teamwork and group creativity?

15.  What is the power of Q? How do levels of “social intimacy” affect levels of creative success?

16.  What lessons can we learn from Pixar? Consider their refusal to form an independent production company, the architecture of their workspace, and their creative methods. What accounts for their unlikely, repeated success?

17.   Although advertising firm partner Alex Osborn’s technique of positive brainstorming is perhaps the most popular creative method, is it the most effective means of fostering creativity? What problems are associated with this method? What does the research of psychologists Keith Sawyer and Charlan Nemeth reveal about the effectiveness of brainstorming? What does it tell us about the effects of debate and criticism on innovation, imagination, and the generation of ideas? What is “plussing,” and why should this be incorporated in critical discussions?

18.  Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “third places.” What are “third places,” and what role have they played in the history of new ideas?

19.  What is urban friction and how does it affect our creativity? What can we learn from the research of author and urban activist Jane Jacobs and her ideas about “knowledge spill-overs”? What does physicist Geoffrey West’s research reveal about urban patterns of productivity? What does West say is “the single most important invention in human history”?

20.  Lehrer speaks about the development of the Route 128 area in Massachusetts versus the development of Silicon Valley in California. What can be learned about creativity, exchange, and innovation from a comparison of the two?

21.  What accounts for the Israeli technology boom? What does this example tell us about the importance of social circles, information sharing, and face-to-face interaction?

22.  According to the research presented in Lehrer’s book, how important is physical proximity between collaborators? What does Lehrer say, then, is the job of the internet and technology?

23.  Statistician David Banks says that geniuses arrive in tight, local clusters, but why is this the case?

24.  What is the Shakespeare paradox? What can we learn about genius from a consideration of Shakespeare’s background? What cultural factors played the biggest role in facilitating his success, and what can we conclude about the role of culture and external factors in determining creative output?

25.  Lehrer says, “For Shakespeare, the act of creation was inseparable from the act of connection.” There are many other examples, however, of this concept of the link between creation and connection provided in the text. Discuss this concept. What kinds of connections are useful or necessary in fostering our creativity?

26.  Discuss economist Paul Romer’s claim that ideas are an inexhaustible resource—a “nonrival good.” While ideas may be an inexhaustible resource, Lehrer calls for us to consider how we can “create a multiplier culture.”  Is a dense population or geographic area sufficient to multiply our creative output? If not, what else is required?

27.  What are meta-ideas and what role do they play in influencing creativity? Discuss some of the examples of important meta-ideas offered in Lehrer’s book. What were the most important meta-ideas of sixteenth-century England, for instance, and how did they influence levels of creative or artistic achievement? What four meta-ideas does Lehrer say we need to embrace today? In the Coda to his book, what does Lehrer claim is the most important meta-idea of all?

28.  What does Lehrer’s book reveal about traditional methods of education and their effect on creativity? What lessons are offered through a consideration of schools like the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and High Tech High? Can creativity be taught? If so, what tactics or methods can schools implement in order to cultivate and support the creativity of their students?

29.  Lehrer says that “[w]e need to innovate innovation.” Considering the many lessons and observations offered in this book, what are some of the steps that we can take to accomplish this?
(Questions issued by publisher.)

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