Description:
Neuroscientist and bestselling author David Eagleman on the brain science behind creativity, what actually causes writer's block, and how pre-commitment strategies like the Ulysses contract can help writers finish what they start.
You'll learn:
- Why creativity isn't a rare gift, and what's actually happening in every brain when it absorbs and remixes the world around it.
- The three core algorithms behind creative thinking, and how to use them deliberately when you're stuck on a project.
- What's really going on in the brain when a writer feels blocked, and why the fix might be simpler than you think.
- A compelling case against the "shower idea" myth, and why sitting down to work may be where your best thinking actually happens.
- How a concept from ancient Greek literature can help you set up contracts with your future self to finish what you start.
- A surprising writing routine behind roughly a million published words, and why it happens at the same chain restaurant every time.
- A method for juggling multiple creative projects without losing momentum on any of them.
- Why switching genres and feeling like a beginner is one of the best things you can do for your brain as a writer.
- How to think about the difference between fiction and nonfiction when it comes to what AI can and can't replace.
- The moment at age 13 that shaped an entire career in science communication, and what it reveals about writing for an audience.
Resources & Links:
About David Eagleman:
David Eagleman is a neuroscientist at Stanford University and an internationally bestselling author. He is co-founder of two venture-backed companies, Neosensory and BrainCheck, and he also directs the Center for Science and Law, a national non-profit institute. He is best known for his work on sensory substitution, time perception, brain plasticity, synesthesia, and neurolaw. His books include Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives, The Runaway Species, and Livewired. He is the writer and presenter of the Emmy-nominated PBS series The Brain with David Eagleman and hosts the podcast Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman.
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