You’re Creative, and I Can Prove it (with Science!)

“I’m not a creative person.”

Does this phrase sound familiar?

Have you ever said these words or heard them said by your friends or family? You’re not alone. Only 3 in 10 people feel they are living up to their creative potential.

But I’m here to show you that you ARE creative, even if you don’t think so.

For me, this year has been all about discovering what creativity means. I’ve set out to gain new experiences, stretch my skills, and speak with as many people as possible about what creativity means to them.

I want to figure out why some people appear to be more creative than others and to find ways everyone can learn to be more creative or rediscover the creativity within them.

Whether you feel like you don’t have a creative bone in your body or you’re overflowing with ideas, this is an important discussion to have, and I hope you’ll find it meaningful.

So, buckle up, grab your lab coat, and prepare for science!

Why is Creativity Essential?

Creativity isn’t just a “nice treat to have” or something to work on if you’re an aspiring artist. Creativity is essential in communication, problem-solving, and even avoiding boredom. It’s not just about what you create; it’s about thinking differently.

Learning to see the world differently is what creates compassion. It allows us to imagine the world from other perspectives.

Have you ever tried to cook from a recipe book, and found yourself short an ingredient?

Coming up with a good substitute for that egg you swore you had… this takes creativity.

Ultimately, creativity is essential for all of us.

Are you creative? Divergent thinking test

I have an experiment I’d like you to try:

Try to come up with as many creative things you can do with this cardboard box in no more than 30 seconds. Ready? Go!

Post your ideas in the comments below! How many ideas did you come up with? Did your ideas flow like water, or did you find yourself getting stuck?

Did you feel like your ideas were unoriginal/uninspired, or were they truly… outside the box?

In my recent video, “You’re Wrong About Creativity,” I gave Sam (Wendover Productions) and Laurie (The Icing Artist) this task. They suggested using it to hold cupcakes, wearing it as a single shoe, or making an ineffective paper airplane ✈️. I thought of making the box into a diorama or turning it into a treasure chest. Check out the video here to see how they felt during this challenge!

We aren’t the first to conduct this experiment, or at least one very similar to it.

Creative Thinking: A Divergent Thinking Study

In 2018, a group of 11 neuroscientists led by Roger E. Beaty wanted to find out if they could predict individual creative ability by looking at patterns and connections between different areas of the brain. They gave 163 participants a common object (like our box) and gave them 12 seconds to come up with unusual or creative uses for it, all whilst being monitored using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), which measures and images metabolic changes in the brain over time.

The answers participants gave were categorized as either creative or non-creative. For example, if the object was like our box, a non-creative answer would be ‘using it to store things’, whereas a creative answer would be something like turning it into a mini puppet theatre or a fun mouse maze .

They found that people who came up with more unique, novel, or creative answers showed different results in their brain activity.

You can read the full study here.

Are you a right-brained thinker?

You may have heard the concept that you are either more ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained,’ with the left being more logically driven and the right being more creative.

This is an oversimplification of what happens in your brain when you are being creative.

Many are calling this concept a myth entirely.

Scientists now understand that creativity uses the whole brain.

“The reality is that creativity involves an interaction of lots of different brain networks that rely on both the left side and the right side of the brain.”
– Scott Barry Kaufman: American cognitive scientist and author.

The Science: How Our Brains Are Wired for Creative Thinking

In the divergent thinking study by Roger E. Beaty, they noticed an increase in activity in the 3 different brain networks that had previously been suggested to be involved in creative thinking: The Executive Attention Network, The Default Mode Network, & The Salience Network

Each of these networks are made up of several different parts of the brain from both the left and right sides.

The Executive Attention Network activates when we try to focus on a specific task. It helps us concentrate, problem-solve, plan, strategize, and use our working memory. It can block out distractions and help us to maintain focus or make complex decisions.

The Default Mode Network helps us to understand stories or experiences, reflect on our emotions or the emotions of others, and imagine other perspectives. It often activates “by default” when we are relaxing or don’t have a specific task to do. You know those moments when you find yourself lost in a memory? Or deep in thought about the future?

That’s the default network working as your mind wanders – which explains why it’s also known as the “imagination network.” This network is especially important for brainstorming or coming up with creative ideas, but it can’t work on its own, or we’d never get anything done.

In fact, scientists have discovered that people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often struggle to focus and are easily distracted by new ideas or imaginative thoughts because their default network remains active more than it should and competes with the executive attention network. (More on this below)

The Salience Network processes all the information that comes through our brain – from our senses, experiences, and thoughts – and sends that information to the other networks. It helps us decide which information to pay attention to, whether it is interesting or useful, and which information should be ignored. It helps us to stop daydreaming so we can get back to focusing on a project, and it helps keep us motivated.

How Our Brain Networks Work Together

The Salience Network switches between the default and executive networks. These usually operate at different times and are activated or deactivated depending on what we need for the task we are working on. But when we are thinking creatively, these networks activate and deactivate more quickly than usual and are sometimes all active at once.

Just like creativity is messy, these networks connect in a messy, complex way – allowing us to focus, daydream, and be selective with our attention.

In short, we use our Default Mode Network to think of ideas, the Salience Network to decide what to focus on, and the Executive Attention Network to help us stay on task. Then, we refine our work and remember our training or past experiences to bring our goals into reality.

Creativity involves constantly switching back and forth between these networks in our brains or using them all at once.

Researchers suggest that creative people can switch between these networks more quickly than people who aren’t typically creative thinkers and that people with stronger or more efficient connections tend to produce more original ideas when trying to think… outside the box.

Creativity and ADHD

It’s not surprising to discover that so many highly creative people are also diagnosed with ADHD at some point in their lives.

In people with ADHD, the salience network is weaker, so the areas of our brain that help us to focus are constantly competing with the imagination network. This is why kids with ADHD often find it hard to stay still or focus in school and are easily distracted.

It also explains why even the smartest people can make quirky mistakes: Interestingly, scientists have discovered that before it is made when looking at the default network through EEG & fMRI.

However, people with ADHD might have an advantage when it comes to thinking more creatively. Research has established that people with ADHD are exceptional at brainstorming or coming up with ideas that are new or unique.

When it comes to an activity like trying to think of other uses for a box (I’ll spare you another pun, pinky swear ), people with ADHD are more able to think outside the b-… break away from what we already know about a box and invent something new.

Let me give you another example study from 2018.

Holly White is a research scientist in the psychology department at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She compared college students with and without ADHD on 2 tasks. In the first, she asked students to invent names for new products in 3 categories. They were given 6 examples of current products that shared the same endings in their product names and then asked to invent a new name that didn’t include any part of the examples already provided. Students with ADHD were able to complete the task with more descriptive and imaginative names than students without .

In a similar task, when asked to draw and describe a fruit that might exist on a planet very different from Earth, ADHD students were more likely to include unusual features like antennae, tongues, and hammers!

Overall, their fruits were rated as more original and less like earth fruit. Some even thought to make their fruit poisonous, showing thinking that was even further… outside… the… box!

We all have access to creative thinking. It’s not exclusive to special individuals – it’s in the way our brains connect between each of the networks that we all have, and these networks can be strengthened. It’s just a matter of practice and patience.

So, what IS Creativity?

I recently discussed what it means to be creative with Thomas Frank, video creator and Notion expert. He described his understanding of creativity as connecting the dots; collecting observations, lessons, and experiences and then putting them together in novel ways.

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.”
-Steve Jobs: Co-founder & Former CEO of Apple INC.

I love this definition of creativity. Connecting different ideas to create something new. It’s this kind of creativity that brought us smartphones, hybrid cars, – even the spork.

The more dots you have, the more variations of ideas you can develop. Sometimes, your ideas might feel like something that already exists -and sometimes, your idea might be so different that you don’t even know where it came from.

The microwave was invented when Percy Spencer, an engineer, was working on radar technology and discovered that the microwaves melted the candy bar in his pocket, leading him to the idea of using microwaves to cook food.

In 1941, George de Mestral, another engineer, went on a hike and noticed how burrs clung to his dog’s fur – which led him to invent Velcro.

When you start making connections with the things you’ve already experienced and allow your mind to imagine new scenarios – you might be surprised at the creative ideas that start to come to mind.

Sometimes, it involves taking risks, and other times, it involves paying closer attention. And not every idea is going to be a good one. But creative thinking is available – to all of us.

So Why Are Some People More Creative Than Others?

If creativity is available to everyone, why do some people find it so hard to be creative? Why are some people so much more creative than others?

We know we all have this creativity inside us; we see it in our children. I doubt anyone would argue that children aren’t creative, and it’s a trait they all carry. That means we all carried this trait at one point, whether we’ve held onto it or not.

“As children, we experience much less interference between receiving ideas and internalizing them. We accept new information with delight instead of making comparisons to what we already believe; we live in the moment rather than worrying about future consequences; we are spontaneous more than analytical; we are curious, not jaded. Even the most ordinary experiences in life are met with a sense of awe. Deep sadness and intense excitement can come within moments of each other. There’s no façade and no attachment to a story.”
– Rick Ruben: Author of “The Creative Act: A Way of Being.”

It makes sense that, just like any skill, if you haven’t used your creativity in a while, you’re going to be out of practice. Some of us haven’t used these creative muscles since we were children and so we require a bit of training before we can make these parts of our brain more efficient. But we all have access to it.

To further complicate the problem of not feeling creative, it doesn’t help that the modern education system is based heavily on academic ability, as Sir Ken Robinson discussed in his 2006 Ted Talk.

The subjects that are taken seriously are the ones that are seen to be the most useful for work. Because of this, you were probably steered away from certain subjects you liked when you were a child. You were probably given reasons like you “would never get a job doing that,” “Don’t do music, you’re not going to be a musician,” or “Don’t do art, you won’t be an artist.” Advice that, had I taken, I wouldn’t be writing this blog today.

The point here isn’t to blame the education system for our lack of creativity as adults, but maybe we need to regain an appreciation for the value creativity provides and refocus on creativity in our schools, so the next generation doesn’t experience the same loss of creativity that many of us have.

The debate as to whether schools nurture or hinder creativity continues. On the one hand, the structure of schools can help us build good habits and expose us to all the possibilities for the future. But on the other hand, kids are taught to conform, not make mistakes, and do things a certain way.

When I was in school, I jumped from 8^th grade to 10^th grade. I excitedly chose a range of creative subjects like art, visual design, and media and was quickly told that it would be a waste of my talents and that I was only allowed to skip 9th grade if I studied history, geography, and the sciences. These ended up being my least favorite subjects, and my lack of motivation showed in my grades.

At least at my own school growing up, all the ‘creative’ subjects were marked down in the end-of-year results, and children were encouraged to increase their grades by focusing on more academic subjects.

On the flip side, I had some incredibly supportive teachers who encouraged my creative thinking and let me submit homemade board games and creative videos as homework instead of the written projects that were assigned. They gave me room to think differently and explore new ideas, and those were the projects I poured my energy into.

Imagine how different our world would be if creativity was celebrated as much as academics.

Using Your Creative “Muscles”

We all have access to creativity, even if it’s something you’ve never really explored. Creativity is not a personality trait, it’s a skill that can be developed by anyone.

I often talk about using your “creative muscles.” Your brain isn’t literally a muscle, but when it comes to creativity, muscles give us a perfect analogy .

If you stop using your muscles, your body will start to break them down, making them smaller and weaker. But with exercise and specific training, you can grow your muscles and strengthen them far beyond their usual capacity.

If you haven’t been actively exercising your creativity, it’s no surprise that you don’t feel creative.  Brainstorming meetings can feel like you’re running a marathon after sitting on the couch for a month. But it doesn’t mean you can’t be creative, and it’s not too late to start rebuilding those skills.

Chances are you are already expressing creativity in areas you don’t generally associate with being creative.

Let me ask: how do you organize your furniture in a room? How do you dress when you’re going out somewhere fancy?

Ever planned an event? Solved a complex problem? Cooked a different kind of meal?

All these activities require creativity; without it, you couldn’t complete them.

• By organizing your furniture into a desirable configuration, you’re creating a space to feel comfortable in.
• By putting together an outfit for an occasion, you are creating a look that matches your personality and tastes.
• By planning an event, you are creating that very occasion.
• By solving complex problems, you are creating
• By cooking a different meal, you are creating

The list goes on and on. Can you think of more ways people are creative that aren’t traditionally seen as such?

If you want to see this discussion about creativity in more detail, I’ve published this conversation, including numerous interviews, in this video deep-dive about creativity on YouTube. You can also watch the extended version on Nebula.

So, are you creative?

I say you are creative.

Whether you are well-practiced or not, it is within you just waiting to be brought out.

It’s baked into everything we do, and this, I believe, proves it.