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What boosts creativity? I sometimes used alcohol for song writing purposes. Are there healthier methods?
by k__ 7y ago
What boosts creativity?
I sometimes used alcohol for song writing purposes. Are there healthier methods?
- Tade0 7y agoPoverty. My most recent creative streak was when I had to survive a month on 250CHF in Zürich.
- k__ 7y agoHm, I mostly stagnated depressively in front of the TV when I was poor.
- Tade0 7y agoPerhaps you were unemployed as well. I had (have, actually) a job, but due to absolutely hilarious (in hindsight of course) circumstances had to spend most of my money on a room I got via AirBnB. I even started a technical blog: https://wringing.it/ https://wringing.it/ But I may not be poor enough anymore to continue writing it.
- flyGuyOnTheSly 7y agoI always do my best programming when I am dead broke and the wolves are at the door.
- Proziam 7y agoPressure of any kind is my best motivator as well. A serious deadline to hit with significant consequences (the consequences don't even have to be mine necessarily) often gets the best work out of me.
- pmiller2 7y agoPeople get really creative when they have constraints placed on them, in general. Poverty is a pretty strong constraint on a lot of things.
- s3nnyy 7y agoZurich person here. Tell me about it.
- earthtourist 7y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkA9rz-1YoA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkA9rz-1YoA
- pgt 7y agoSmall doses of psilocybin seems to work wonders.
- ipnon 7y agoIs there any scientific evidence? It could be that microdosers are subconsciously thinking, "I want to be more creative today," when they decide to do the drugs. Any creativity after that point would be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
- cinnamonheart 7y agoCannabis, although I find it's easy to accidentally dive deep on something I didn't mean to on it -- I find combining it with coffee prevents me from getting too focused on one thing. YMMV.
- jermaustin1 7y agoI'm no artist, but I've always felt creativity comes from dysfunction/chaos. My wife (a psychologist) and I discuss this regularly around poetry, music, painting, etc. Some of the most "beautiful" works come from unhealthy emotional states. And that a lot of the sameness we get today in popular culture arises when art is cultivated by large organizations which are inherently are devoid of emotion, and are pushing populism instead of beauty. You can see it very easily today in popular music. If you look back to the 1990s and the rise of alternative music, hundreds of one-hit-wonders, 8 different "Natalie"s, etc. And today where one-hit-wonders don't really exist anymore because Clear Channel has cultivated a sound and artists that don't conform that sound are not going to get airplay, and not have a run-away one-hit-wonder and fade back into obscurity and cult-fandom.
- drenvuk 7y agoYeah that's for most divergent thinking. In the art realm here's an example of Penny Arcade's Tycho talking about anti depressants and the usual lack of creativity that comes with them. https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/01/09/bedeviled https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/01/09/bedeviled Linkin Park's Bennington Talked numerous times about how his drug addictions helped him creatively despite him wanting to be sober. His later more sober songs kinds suck tbh. The thoughts that come from drug tweaked brains are always slightly off. Sometimes though not usually, the thoughts are unique in a novel and attractive way. For creative thinking, dosing on something may be effective but I doubt it's healthy.
- claudeganon 7y agoWe have to be careful about romanticizing mental illness though. As a professional illustrator, I’ve seen more people spiral out of the field from mental illness than succeed because of some visionary ability that illness provided them. There are of course brilliant artists who are nuts, many of whose work I admire. But most high-performing people I know seem to be pretty “normal” and disciplined.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- kache_ 7y agoPsychedelics
- coffeefirst 7y agoBoredom and midnight oil.
- matwood 7y ago> What boosts creativity? For me, anything that makes me a little tired so my thoughts wander. Sitting down after a hard workout for example. Another is that time at the end of the day where I worked hard so I'm a bit tired, but I'm not so tired that it's time to sleep yet. I also have to allow it to happen. Sitting down in front of the PS4 or on my phone is not going to let my mind wander.
- factsaresacred 7y agoAn afternoon nap is the number one 'trick' for me. You get to experience that well-rested clarity twice in the one day.
- anthony_romeo 7y agoWarning: Tangential, rambling thoughts ahead I recall from someone in the field in art therapy who discussed with me the difference between being artistic and being creative. Being an artist implies the pursuit of technical mastery of a certain craft, whereas being creative is the ability to create novel ideas through various means. These certainly aren't mutually exclusive properties, as many of the legendary artists of the past are those who excelled in both. Though it can feel discouraging to perceive that one lacks a natural affinity for either of these qualities (I tend to fall more into the creative side of things rather than artistic), this also gives rise to the long list of successful artistic/creative duos. For example, duos are pretty common in the webcomic community (Penny Arcade being the most obvious example). It's good to strive to improve oneself, but should the right opportunity arise, working together with other people who can make up for those (perceived) shortcomings has at least as much potential as being a solo artist/creative. And being involved with a community can provide new insights which can lead to personal growth in creativity and mastery.
- pmiller2 7y agoAnd yet, the Greek root word we derive the word “technique” from encompasses both skill and creativity! See https://www.etymonline.com/word/technique https://www.etymonline.com/word/technique
- adrianmonk 7y agoI completely agree with your distinction, but I'd subdivide things on another level too. Being artistic is about craft, but it's also about expression. There is something floating around in your mind that you want others to experience. It might be an emotion or thought or aesthetic experience that you had and want others to share. It can even be "asymmetrical" in the sense that perhaps you yourself haven't had the experience but it's one you want someone else to have. Craft is all about the "how" of art, and expression is about the "what" and the "why". Expression can be a way of connecting with people because what you feel or think becomes something they feel or think too. If you have art that is all craft and no expression, it can be a little empty or dull. For example, a pianist who plays all the right notes but doesn't put any feeling into it. Art with all expression and no craft isn't always great either. If a painter wants to capture the beauty of a person's face but can't draw noses, the effect probably won't be beauty.
- 52-6F-62 7y agoSome writer and artists would use the following: Hold a key in one of your hands and hang your hand down by your side while you let yourself fall asleep while sitting in a chair (honestly this first part sounds the most difficult). When you fall asleep—or rather the trance-like borderlands between awake and sleep— you should naturally drop the key (or whatever metallic, noise-making object) which should spring you back awake retaining some of that state you just fell into, or any insights sprung into mind during that state. I'm sure everyone's had mornings where they woke up after dreaming but without feeling quite awake—it's related to that feeling that they'd chase. Maybe someone has a link on hand to a better write-up about it. I don't.
- jordan314 7y agoDidn't Benjamin Franklin sleep at his desk with a stick propped under his elbow, so when the stick fell out he would invent stuff? I remember hearing that somewhere but now I can't find it
- selimthegrim 7y agoMaybe Franklin did this with the key and it gave him the lightning rod idea
- 2snakes 7y agoMaybe but IIRC Tesla would hold a ball in his hand before dozing and dropping.
- petargyurov 7y agoI would be willing to try this if it didn't take me 20 minutes to fall asleep, probably even longer if I had to do it on a chair in the middle of the day.
- dana321 7y agoOr just move next door to some noisy neighbors that randomly wake you up with bangs.
- 1_player 7y ago
- adrianmonk 7y agoA long time ago in a gifted kid program, I was taught a method which I like. Just now I learned it's apparently just brainstorming, but specifically the original Osborn method (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainstorming#Osborn's_method https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainstorming#Osborn's_method). The gist (as I was taught it) is that when generating ideas, you separate things into two phases. In the first phase, you focus solely on coming up with a lot of ideas. And here's the key part: during this phase, you avoid all judgment, evaluation, and negative thinking (maybe even excessive positive thinking) about ideas. If you're trying to generate ideas that solve a problem, for example, you don't worry about whether it will work. Just write it down. In the second phase, you then go through and evaluate which ideas are good and bad. Many of them won't make sense, and of course you toss those out, but it's good that they're on the list because it confirms you did it right. I think doing it this way this gains you two things. One, in the first phase, you stay focused on idea generation. Every moment your brain is occupied in evaluating merits is a moment your brain is not working on creating ideas. It's very easy to get sidetracked exploring an idea in depth. Avoiding evaluation helps ensure you actually allocate time to idea generation. Two, it helps emotionally. Judgment, even if done constructively and in good faith, tends to kill the moment/mood (which is relatively fragile), whether it is self-judgment or from others. Coming up with ideas feels good and you get a little emotional reward as you create them. But negative thoughts or responses tend to make you want to hold back. Last time you offered (to yourself or someone else) an idea, it was partly a negative experience, so why repeat that? You can do the two-phase thing individually in your own head or in groups. Practically speaking, this isn't necessarily easy to do in groups. Many people already have preconceived notions about how brainstorming or idea generation is supposed to work, and it's hard to get them to try a new way or understand the difference between this and how they normally do it. Also, some people have trouble sticking to it. Sometimes because of impatience or wanting to look smart, but also because evaluating later can give you a feeling that you'll forget an important thought if you don't express it now.
- barrenko 7y agoZen anon here. First step is just recognizing you can't force it and have to let it come to you, OR be ok with it not coming.
- cvaidya1986 7y agoHot chocolate.