1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:07,960 [Eagleman] Human creativity adds the color to our world. 2 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,400 It's our crowning glory as a species. 3 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:15,680 But it's also deeply personal. 4 00:00:16,240 --> 00:00:20,320 I think creativity-- it's a desire. It's-it's a need. 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:24,200 True creativity is about existence and being 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,360 and giving of yourself and being honest-- true creativity. 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:31,640 [Eagleman] Where does this unique human ability come from? 8 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:35,720 How can we harness it in our lives? 9 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:39,800 I've spent the last 20 years of my life 10 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,320 studying the human brain, 11 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:44,280 how it makes us who we are. 12 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,120 Now I'm going on a journey 13 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,840 to unlock the secrets of creativity, 14 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:58,400 to reveal how we can all tap into the neural processes behind it, 15 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,960 and transform our lives for the better. 16 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,200 I am somebody that I never knew I could be now. 17 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,760 [Eagleman] With the help of some of the most creative minds out there... 18 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:13,000 Second sticks. 19 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:17,520 [Eagleman] ...we'll find out what makes them tick... 20 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:19,520 If someone's like, "That's weird", I'm like, "Yes!" 21 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:21,600 And that's always kind of what I'm trying to do. 22 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:23,160 [Eagleman] ...how they struggle... 23 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:26,800 [Nick Cave] You're engaged in-in a kind of battle-- 24 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:29,600 It's not like you kind of sit around on a silken cushion 25 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,920 and ideas kind of come down. That doesn't actually happen. 26 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:37,160 [Eagleman] ...and how we can all unleash our own creative potential. 27 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,800 You have to understand that failure is your friend 28 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:42,120 that you can learn from. 29 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:47,200 [Eagleman] Because creativity isn't the preserve of an elite few. 30 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,560 Creativity is what human brains do. 31 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,880 [Eagleman] If you visited this forest a million years ago, 32 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:16,720 it would be essentially the same. 33 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,360 The animals here haven't really changed their ways. 34 00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:23,120 Generation after generation, 35 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,240 they're doing the same kinds of things. 36 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,800 They're living the same lives they always have. 37 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:32,560 But in the comparative blink of an eye... 38 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,120 humans have transformed our world... 39 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:43,800 and the engine driving all of this is human creativity. 40 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:48,000 Someone having an idea, 41 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:52,800 making something, inventing something. 42 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:57,320 This strong suit of the human brain has propelled our ancestors 43 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,840 from cave dweller to space explorer... 44 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:06,960 ...and has given us the modern world. 45 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:16,880 When we talk about creativity, 46 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:19,560 you might assume I'm talking about the arts, 47 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:22,760 but it's so much more than that. 48 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:26,440 Take science. 49 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,480 I think science is inherently creative. 50 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:37,160 I think you have to be to be able to discover something new 51 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:38,680 that other people have not discovered already. 52 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:40,360 [Eagleman] So, this is your lab here? 53 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:42,960 [Michelle] Yeah, welcome to my lab. We're excited to have you here, guys. 54 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:44,160 Thank you. 55 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:48,920 [Eagleman] Today, all the revolutionary technology 56 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:51,360 in Dr. Michelle Khine's lab... 57 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,880 springs from a creative leap she made 15 years ago... 58 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:00,240 a leap that also saved her career. 59 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,000 What bought me to the point of creativity was desperation. 60 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,680 [Eagleman] At that time her nanotechnology research 61 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:10,720 required specialized equipment 62 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,480 so that she could work in a microscopic scale. 63 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:16,840 But the lab her new job had promised her 64 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:18,760 was still under construction. 65 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:20,680 I was like, "I don't understand 66 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,200 how I'm gonna be able to do my... my work." 67 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:26,400 After you've exhausted all of the known routes 68 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:28,920 to get what you want, then you have to start thinking, 69 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,160 "Of well, what else can I try 70 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,120 if I want to salvage my career? 71 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,920 [Eagleman] This desperation led her to get creative. 72 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,680 She remembered a toy she loved to play with-- 73 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:43,520 Shrinky Dinks-- 74 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:51,800 ...in which sheets are shrunk into small hard plates in an oven 75 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:53,800 without altering their shape. 76 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:56,320 -Fabulous. -Fantastic. 77 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,800 Could she use the same material for her nanotechnology creations? 78 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:04,440 So, this is a Shrinky Dink, 79 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:06,520 so it's a good old-fashioned children's toy, 80 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,400 and you can draw on it 81 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:11,440 or you can put a thin layer of metal on it... 82 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:12,880 -Okay. -...or a material on it, 83 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:15,760 and then we shrink it down in our little tester oven. 84 00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:17,840 This is the shape I want out of metal, 85 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:19,120 but I want it to be smaller. 86 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:20,680 I don't have the tools to make it smaller, 87 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:22,480 so I'm just gonna put it on that, 88 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:23,840 -shrink it down and then peel it off. -Yeah. 89 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:26,000 The beauty of this is that all of that surface area 90 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:28,560 gets squished into this tiny little footprint, 91 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:30,800 and we can make it much smaller than this, 92 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:31,800 but you retain all of that surface area. 93 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:33,880 That's unbelievable. 94 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,800 Michelle's creative genius is to avoid working 95 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,200 at the tiny scales involved in nanotechnology, 96 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:42,960 by starting big 97 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:44,920 and shrinking everything down-- 98 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:48,400 a simple and elegant solution 99 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,160 to an otherwise expensive technology. 100 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:53,720 I'm on a journey to understand creativity, 101 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:55,480 and one of the reasons this caught my eye 102 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:57,120 is because of how creative it is 103 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:58,880 to take a child's toy 104 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,600 and do something with that to make a-a beautiful scientific instrument, 105 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:04,800 and that's the beauty of this, 106 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:07,520 and why it captured everybody's attention 107 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:09,120 in the scientific community. 108 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,000 In order to advance science, you have to be creative, 109 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:13,840 because otherwise, you're just creating the same things 110 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:15,400 that have already been created, 111 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:16,520 and you're thinking about things 112 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:18,240 the same way everyone else has thought about it. 113 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:22,800 [Eagleman] Michelle's clever problem solving 114 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:26,120 showcases the creative ability of human beings... 115 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,880 that allowed our ancestors to take what they knew 116 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:31,320 and to build on it-- 117 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:32,840 to improve it... 118 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,160 to forge a new path into the future. 119 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:42,640 So, what's so special about the human brain? 120 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,280 It all starts with our unique wiring. 121 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,440 Well, when you look at the brains of other animals, 122 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:53,200 you find that the input and the output 123 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:54,760 are right next to each other. 124 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,480 There's a direct path between the two. 125 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:03,640 So, when a hamster sees food, 126 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:05,840 it leads to an instant reaction. 127 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:10,480 The input "see food" connects directly to the output "eat food." 128 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:12,720 There's little in between. 129 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:17,600 But humans, we can do something more. 130 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:22,280 Of course, when it comes to food, we can simply eat it, 131 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,200 but we can also disengage our instincts 132 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:27,120 to see food as something 133 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:29,480 beyond its basic purpose. 134 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,560 We can see food as art, 135 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:39,160 tools or even weapons... why? 136 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,280 Because during our evolution, there was an expansion 137 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,880 of the brain regions between input and output. 138 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,600 So, in our brains seeing something doesn't necessarily 139 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,400 lead to an automatic response. 140 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,880 Inputs can mix and collide with what's already there. 141 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,520 Our brains can forge new pathways, 142 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,360 make new connections. 143 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:11,960 We can chew on ideas and think about things 144 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:14,400 and consider possibilities. 145 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,760 The complexity of our brains allows us 146 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:21,520 to process information 147 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,200 in almost limitless ways. 148 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:31,600 And the innumerable pathways through these networks, 149 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:35,160 this is the foundation of our creativity. 150 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:44,800 The expansion of the human brain 151 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,400 gave us one other important creative advantage. 152 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:51,600 With the enlargement of the human cortex 153 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:54,480 came the expansion of this part behind the forehead, 154 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:58,120 the prefrontal cortex, and this it turns out 155 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,520 is the wellspring of human imagination. 156 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:06,760 [man] So what's happening in here, Shaun? 157 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:10,000 [Eagleman] Bjarke Ingels is one of the most visionary architects 158 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:11,560 of his generation. 159 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:17,120 He's spent the last 20 years defying convention, 160 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:21,120 and his imagination is his stock and trade. 161 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,800 [Ingels] I try to materialize as many aspects 162 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:31,560 of the design process as possible. 163 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:35,800 So, you pin up things on huge boards, 164 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:39,320 'cause if you have tons of material to work with, 165 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,400 then you can really give the imagination 166 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:43,720 something to build with. 167 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:45,400 So, what if we don't change the bridge, 168 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:47,960 where we just eliminate that diagonal guy? 169 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:50,400 [Eagleman] Bjarke has designed some of the world's 170 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:52,800 most innovative buildings in recent years, 171 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:55,000 and he's now working in New York 172 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:57,920 designing two World Trade Centre. 173 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:03,000 [Ingels] The ideas that you have, 174 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,640 the concepts that you have acquired in one way or the other, 175 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:10,400 are tools that will empower you to do more than you could without them. 176 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:12,800 Before the Empire State building was built, 177 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,800 someone imagined it, then they built it, 178 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:17,320 and now it's part of the-the real world. 179 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:19,640 And of course, that is what creativity is, 180 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:21,560 that we actually have the power 181 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:26,360 to imagine the world... that isn't our world yet. 182 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:34,880 [Eagleman] Bjarke's ability to imagine is a superpower that we all possess. 183 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:39,120 The prefrontal cortex allows us to imagine 184 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:41,320 what's not directly in front of us. 185 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:46,720 It does this by unhooking from the present place and time 186 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:48,720 and travelling elsewhere. 187 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,120 To try out new ideas, 188 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,000 to consider what doesn't yet exist. 189 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:12,480 So, the expansion of the human brain during our evolution 190 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,320 gave us the ability to rise above our instincts, 191 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:20,480 to consider our options before we decide what to do. 192 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:26,400 And it gave us our imagination 193 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:29,800 setting us apart from other animals 194 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,520 and making us uniquely creative. 195 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:38,200 So, given that we're all wired for creativity, 196 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:41,320 what are our brains actually doing 197 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,440 when we engage with the creative process? 198 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,800 The first clue to the nuts and bolts of the creative process 199 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:58,480 comes from this man-- 200 00:11:58,560 --> 00:11:59,560 OK. So in here. 201 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:02,240 [Eagleman] Nathan Myhrvold-- 202 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,120 who excels in any field he turns his hand to. 203 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,640 Bill Gates once described him as the smartest man he knew. 204 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:19,200 Well, I always have difficulty describing myself, 205 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:23,840 because the sort of things that I do are unlikely enough 206 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:25,760 that putting them together, 207 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,640 just is credibility reducing. 208 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:31,680 You know I write big cook books, 209 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:36,000 and I invented a new kind of nuclear reactor. 210 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:39,560 I do research on dinosaurs and on asteroids. 211 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:42,880 This is our chandelier. 212 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,520 One of the things that is a spark of creativity 213 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:51,320 is taking ideas from one place and applying them another place, 214 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:54,320 maybe in an utterly different context. 215 00:12:55,880 --> 00:13:00,000 This is a new camera system that I designed, and we're building. 216 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:04,720 [Eagleman] Nathan's trick for coming up with this outpouring 217 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,640 of new ideas is to surround himself 218 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,360 with many different influences and inputs. 219 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,000 It's always easier to be a critic than a creator, 220 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:19,640 and if you don't fashion an environment 221 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:24,680 where creators and originators can get things going, 222 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:26,800 you won't have any new ideas. 223 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:29,240 It's really simple. 224 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:30,800 Cool. 225 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:34,560 [Eagleman] Nathan's focus on taking in new information 226 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:37,520 and combining it with what he already knows 227 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:39,320 gives us an important clue 228 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:42,120 to the brain's creative process. 229 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,120 It all goes back to those inputs. 230 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,400 The richer and broader they are, 231 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:52,880 the more the brain has to play with. 232 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,760 The human brain owes its creative success to the fact 233 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:02,560 that inputs are constantly being smashed together with other inputs, 234 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:04,960 so sights and smells and sounds 235 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:06,800 and conversations and ideas. 236 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,600 These are constantly reconfigured in the brain. 237 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:18,800 Every second of your life, 238 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,480 inputs from the world are being rocked on and combined 239 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:24,000 with what's already there. 240 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:30,680 Creativity isn't about one region of the brain, 241 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,240 instead it emerges from the interplay 242 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:39,440 of billions of neurons sending trillions of electrical impulses-- 243 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,200 sights and sounds 244 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,760 are mixing with memories, 245 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:52,560 thoughts, emotions, new and old. 246 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,880 So, every experience you have 247 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:59,120 is raw material for your brain to create with... 248 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,600 ...and all these inputs get fashioned 249 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:08,160 into new ideas... but how? 250 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:14,720 The brain takes in inputs, 251 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:16,880 and then it bends those to make something new. 252 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:18,880 So take the concept of a building. 253 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,400 The idea for it seems straightforward. 254 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:26,800 It's a box, 255 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:29,200 but a building can be bent 256 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:30,840 in countless ways. 257 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,800 Variations on a theme, 258 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,800 and even broken to make new versions. 259 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,360 A building can also become a blend of different ideas, 260 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:48,840 like Bjarke's blend of a Lego with a house... 261 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,560 or his blend of a ski-slope with a power plant. 262 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:02,360 It's often in the combination of seemingly mutually exclusive ideas 263 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:04,120 that if you find a way to combine them, 264 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,440 you actually get a third entity that combines 265 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,960 aspects of both into something that doesn't seem composite, 266 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:15,400 but actually, it's the synergy of the two. 267 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:21,640 Creativity doesn't mean inventing something out of nothing, 268 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:25,480 instead it's about refashioning what already exists. 269 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:38,720 Phil Tippett is an animator and monster maker 270 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,840 who breaks concepts and refashions them 271 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:45,760 into some of cinema's most imaginative creatures, 272 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,320 from Star Wars to Jurassic Park. 273 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:56,520 This is the kind of like things and ideas room. 274 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:00,960 All this stuff is just junk that I've just picked up, 275 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:03,520 that has caught my eye over the years. 276 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:08,760 Things I found at the beach or things my kids made. 277 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,920 It's just random stuff, blah-blah-blah, you know? 278 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:20,400 [Eagleman] He's figured out a way to organize some of his stuff 279 00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:23,360 into an ingenious ideas generator. 280 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:28,560 [Tippett] These were a series of books that I put together. 281 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,520 This one is dated in 1987, 282 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:37,720 and this was a-a thing that I came up with 283 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,560 to just kind of break what I was thinking. 284 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,560 I would just randomly cut out these pictures 285 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:46,000 and just glue them into this book, 286 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:49,000 and then you'll see like a feeling 287 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:51,280 or you will feel something that's like, 288 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:57,520 "I've got it. I've totally got it. I'll try that". 289 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:01,680 [Eagleman] His scrapbooks are a visual representation 290 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:03,960 of what's going on in his brain. 291 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:06,920 They allow him to take disparate inputs, 292 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:11,240 break them apart and put the ones together that he finds useful. 293 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:17,520 Once you start looking for it, 294 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,880 you'll see that bending, breaking, and blending, 295 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:22,720 it's happening all around you. 296 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:26,360 And it's even at the heart 297 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:29,600 of one of the most dynamic musical traditions... 298 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:33,640 ...jazz. 299 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:41,240 Robert Glasper is a Grammy Award winning musician. 300 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:46,480 Jazz is a mutt. 301 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:49,360 It's a music made of a bunch of other music. 302 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:51,800 [Eagleman] In his own remixing of jazz, 303 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:53,720 Robert builds on the traditional, 304 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:56,480 adding in R&B and hip hop. 305 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:58,000 [Glasper] A lot of people have said, 306 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:00,680 "You can't add hip hop to jazz. That's not the tradition". 307 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,680 Hip hop wasn't around when jazz was born. 308 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:08,800 But do you know what was around? 309 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:09,960 Boogie woogie was around. 310 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,400 Classical music was around, the blues was around, 311 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:15,720 gospel music was around. 312 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:20,160 All those things that were around 313 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:22,440 were infiltrated into jazz. 314 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:24,800 The jazz wasn't made by spontaneous combustion. 315 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,400 Jazz is a reflection of the time. 316 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:36,920 The tradition of jazz is actually that it always changes. 317 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,280 [jazz music playing] 318 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,520 If you stop changing it, if it stops growing, 319 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:51,640 now you're not following the tradition. 320 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,560 But if you keep adding to it, it keeps changing, 321 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,120 and the people in the last decade are saying, "You can't do this". 322 00:19:58,200 --> 00:19:59,920 Then you're doing it right. 323 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,520 [Eagleman] And Robert isn't only repurposing musical influences, 324 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:10,120 he's remixing ideas and inputs from his own life. 325 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,760 [crowd cheers] 326 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,360 [Glasper] All of my experiences off the piano 327 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:18,400 have something to do with what I'm doing on the piano. 328 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:20,960 If I didn't have any life outside of the piano, 329 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,520 I'm afraid to know what I would sound like, 330 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:24,760 you know what I mean? 331 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,800 [indistinct] 332 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,400 [Eagleman] Understanding that our brains endlessly remix 333 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:32,880 existing inputs... 334 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:38,840 overturns a commonly held myth about creativity. 335 00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:41,640 Being original is not 336 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:45,800 about generating something out of nothing. 337 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:52,920 Michael Chabon is regarded 338 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,960 as one of the most original novelists writing today, 339 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:57,400 and yet for him, 340 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:01,400 the concept of originality holds no weight. 341 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:09,520 [Chabon] I think originality is bunk. 342 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,440 Um, I think it's-it's nonsense 343 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,680 that there never has been such a thing as true originality. 344 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:20,280 It's in the play with convention that originality arises, 345 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:24,800 it's not in the rejection of convention, to me. 346 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:31,880 [Eagleman] He's a Pulitzer Prize winner 347 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,400 who's unafraid to take his ideas from anywhere. 348 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:38,960 [Chabon] Imagine, I'm gonna write a novel 349 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:40,960 about a-upper middle-class family 350 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,360 struggling to maintain order in a chaotic historical moment, 351 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:47,400 and you know immediately you bump up 352 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,640 against 25 of the greatest novels ever written, right? 353 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,360 The strategy at that point ought not to be 354 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:55,600 how am I gonna differentiate what I'm doing 355 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:57,840 from what Tolstoy did or what Thomas Mayne did? 356 00:21:57,920 --> 00:21:59,440 The thing to do at that point is to say, 357 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,800 "How can I use what they did?" 358 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:08,640 I'm going to allow my knowledge of these-- 359 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:10,960 my predecessors and their work-- 360 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,440 to inform and help shape what I'm doing. 361 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,360 Not because I'm trying to copy them, 362 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,120 but because I know my unique experience on life 363 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:21,320 is gonna inevitably intervene 364 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:22,880 to help me produce a work 365 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:25,600 that is not like its interceding in some way. 366 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:28,960 [Eagleman] For Michael and for all of us, 367 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:31,800 what we create is unique, 368 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,640 because our life experiences are unique. 369 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,280 So, it's not about waiting for the lightning to strike 370 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:47,480 or the muse to whisper the next great idea into our ears. 371 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:54,240 Creativity is about getting out into the world, 372 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:57,240 using what's around us 373 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:03,440 to generate new concepts, new designs, new perspectives. 374 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,520 [Ingels] A big part of creativity is to create 375 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:09,320 the extraordinary out of the ordinary. 376 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:13,280 So, you take a lot of elements that are- 377 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:14,640 that are known to many, 378 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:16,280 but by putting them together 379 00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:21,560 in a yet unseen combination, 380 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:24,360 you actually create something extraordinary. 381 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:35,360 [Eagleman] And though the creative process 382 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,960 often involves making something... 383 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:45,000 it also has the power to remake our lives. 384 00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:53,200 When Ehren Tool returned from the Gulf War, 385 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,120 he was deeply shaken by what he'd seen. 386 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,120 [Tool] The outcome was kind of vast and tragic, 387 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,720 and it's been difficult for me to deal with in some ways. 388 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:13,000 After the Gulf War I knew that being a gun slinger wasn't really for me, 389 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:15,400 so I went to school, took class after class, 390 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:17,200 trying to find something I could do for the rest of my life, 391 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:21,200 and it just kind of happened with ceramics. 392 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,920 [Eagleman] Today, he creates ceramics 393 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:27,720 that address difficult themes-- 394 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:32,640 death, war, and loss. 395 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:34,680 [Tool] I have my stories about what the cups mean 396 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,400 and what the images on them represent, 397 00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:40,760 but I'm always surprised at how people respond to them 398 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:43,320 and the connections that they have with them. 399 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:48,240 [Eagleman] This creative outlet allows him to channel his feelings, 400 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:52,160 to start a conversation, to feel connected. 401 00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:59,800 [Tool] And I resisted for a long time the idea of art as therapy, 402 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:02,520 but now as I'm coming up on 20,000 cups 403 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,200 that I've made and given away, there might be something to that. 404 00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:11,720 [Tool chuckles] 405 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,880 [Eagleman] This healing power of creativity 406 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:20,880 can also be seen here, 407 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,360 in a place seemingly devoid of it. 408 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:31,560 [man] I'm in Seattle, 409 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:36,560 and I made a horrible decision to first pick up-- 410 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:38,360 pick up on drugs at that time. 411 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:40,840 I was addicted to Suboxone 412 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:43,000 which was the worst detox I've ever come off of. 413 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:44,880 It was worse than heroin or anything. 414 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:46,600 I'm here 'cause of myself, 415 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:49,800 you know, I don't wanna blame nobody else-- society or anything. 416 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:56,720 [Eagleman] Here, at La Fayette Correctional Centre in Louisiana, 417 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:00,680 inmates are taking part in a ground-breaking program 418 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:03,960 run by writer Zachary Lazar. 419 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,440 [Lazar] And when I was six years old, my father was murdered. 420 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:17,960 There's two ways you can respond I think, 421 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:19,960 one would be to have a feeling of vengeance. 422 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:24,200 As I grew older I realized that that wasn't gonna bring anybody back, 423 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:28,160 and I had to start thinking more about why things like that happen. 424 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:34,120 Five years ago now, I went to Angola Prison as a journalist, 425 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:35,760 and I thought that I was going there 426 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,400 to find out something about my father's murderer. 427 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,680 I felt this connection to a lot of the people I spoke to, 428 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,240 um, that surprised me. 429 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,880 And... that's why I'm here. 430 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:48,120 -Hi. -[woman] Hi. 431 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:49,360 How's it going? 432 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:54,000 There was a huge abundance of creative people in that prison. 433 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:55,440 It just seemed so obvious to me 434 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:58,600 that part of the way to prevent people from being in prison 435 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:01,360 is to harness that creativity somehow. 436 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:03,760 Final projects-- 437 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:05,760 -they're due tomorrow. -[man 1] Yes. 438 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:07,480 -We all good with that? -[man 1] Yes, sir. 439 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:08,800 -Yeah? -[man 2] Yes, sir. 440 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,160 [Eagleman] Zachary works with the inmates 441 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,120 to nurture their creative writing skills. 442 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:17,440 [Lazar] From what Oscar was just telling me about it, 443 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,800 all that writing has also helped him think differently about things, 444 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,400 think differently about himself, think differently about people. 445 00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:27,320 Um, and that's the most important thing I think. 446 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:29,760 I don't care about virtuoso technique 447 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:31,920 as much as I care about what's being transmitted. 448 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,760 [man] I find myself when I write, you know, uh-- 449 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:37,400 I create a whole another world, 450 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:40,000 the world that I'm supposed to be living in. 451 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:44,600 [Lazar] They are in a very concrete way doing things 452 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,800 and reading things that show them that they're important, 453 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:49,720 that they're-- that their lives matter, 454 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:53,200 um, and that other people are paying attention to their lives. 455 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,400 I'm 60 years old, and there's a whole lot in my life 456 00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:16,280 that has, um-- it's a blur. 457 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:19,960 My pregnancy at the age of 15 whilst still in school 458 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:21,160 changed my life forever. 459 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:24,280 And when I write, I'm able to... 460 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:29,280 to put things in-in order, 461 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:31,200 uh, so to speak. 462 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:35,160 ♪ Woke up early this morning ♪ 463 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:37,360 ♪ Just to see your face ♪ 464 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,720 Once I got interested in, you know, crime and punishment 465 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:46,840 and how that-- those narratives work and how they reduce people, 466 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,760 um, you know they reduce people to the worst thing they've done, 467 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:53,960 um, I find that unacceptable. 468 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:57,440 When I write, my pen just starts to move, 469 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,640 and I can't control myself. It just writes itself. 470 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,680 [Lazar] It's allowing people to see themselves 471 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:09,240 and... appreciate themselves. 472 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:11,000 [stutters] It's hard for me to talk about it, 473 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,480 because I really? I think it is deep. 474 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:16,920 ♪ You're the reason ♪ 475 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:21,800 ♪ I'm alive ♪ 476 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,840 [woman] Because of this experience in my life, 477 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:26,640 I was able to be reborn inside, 478 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,320 and I am somebody that I never knew I could be now. 479 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,880 [Eagleman] Transforming prisoners' lives through creativity... 480 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:44,200 Second sticks. 481 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,760 [Eagleman] ...is something of great interest to Tim Robbins. 482 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,440 He played a prisoner in The Shawshank Redemption, 483 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:57,200 and today runs acting workshops with prisoners in California. 484 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,800 The human potential in prison is extraordinary. 485 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,440 The creative minds in prison-- extraordinary-- 486 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:07,160 but we don't think about that. 487 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:10,800 We don't wanna think about that. "They made a mistake, 488 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:12,440 so therefore, for the rest of their lives 489 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:14,360 they have to be defined by their mistake. 490 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:16,840 And they have nothing to offer us." 491 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:18,240 Well, that's not true. 492 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:20,200 They have a lot to offer, 493 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:23,240 and having been through what they have been through, 494 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:26,360 they have something to offer from a perspective 495 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:28,840 that very few of us understand. 496 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:30,280 How do you know that 497 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:33,400 having the creative education helps when they're-- 498 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,440 I know it because I've seen it first-hand. 499 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,960 We witness on a regular basis the transformation of human beings 500 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:42,920 by their involvement in the creative process. 501 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:45,600 By them being told, for the first time some of them, 502 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:48,440 in their lives, that-that voice inside, 503 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:52,000 the emotions that they are suppressing are legitimate emotions. 504 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:54,400 That they are legitimate people, 505 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:56,760 that they have a right to express those emotions, 506 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,760 that they are not, um, in this room that we work in, 507 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:03,280 they are not defined by their crime. 508 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:06,120 They're defined by who they are as human beings. 509 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:10,600 And given that situation, given that environment... 510 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:13,960 amazing transformation can happen. 511 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:25,360 [Eagleman] And this transformation has a real-world effect. 512 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:29,680 Prisoners who take part in creativity-based programs 513 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:33,160 are up to 80 percent less likely to reoffend, 514 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:36,960 and these gains aren't just for prisoners. 515 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:39,520 [Robbins] Pretty much every person that is involved 516 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:41,680 in a creative process will tell you 517 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:46,680 that they feel whole when they're in their, um, creative-- 518 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:48,680 uh, at their creative best. 519 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:51,520 I think everyone is like that, 520 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:53,160 regardless of what you do for a living, 521 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:55,960 creativity and the creative part of your being 522 00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:58,560 is essential to your happiness. 523 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:00,600 I wonder how many people know that, 524 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,560 maybe what that empty feeling they have 525 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:06,680 or the depression they're going through, 526 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:10,680 maybe it has something to do with a lack of... 527 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,600 creat-creative sparks. 528 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,440 [Eagleman] Given creativities power to improve our lives, 529 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:23,400 how can we harness it? 530 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:26,640 How can we become more creative? 531 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:31,360 Coming back to how our brains work, 532 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:36,400 there are three ways we can take advantage of how we're wired. 533 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:50,000 First, it turns out that being creative 534 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:54,520 means fighting a fundamental quality of the human brain. 535 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:57,520 The human brain weighs only three pounds, 536 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,640 but it takes up 20 percent of the body's energy. 537 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:04,960 Because we're mobile creatures that run on batteries-- food-- 538 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:07,840 we have to act as efficiently as possible, 539 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,480 and as a result the brain is always gonna go for the easiest thing first. 540 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:13,800 It's gonna choose the most obvious answer. 541 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:17,160 It takes the path of least resistance. 542 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:20,120 [Eagleman] Our brains naturally default 543 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:25,160 to the neural pathways that represent what we've done before. 544 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:41,720 Creativity emerges when we get off the path of least resistance. 545 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:44,240 All of the good ideas are in there, 546 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:47,720 but you have to dig deeper into your neural networks. 547 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,200 So, the first way to get more creative 548 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:52,440 is to dig deeper, 549 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:56,200 to get off the path of least resistance. 550 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:01,480 To try something new... 551 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:07,240 ...like changing career... 552 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:10,160 [singing] 553 00:34:10,240 --> 00:34:15,120 My name is Kelis, and I am a singer, songwriter, chef. 554 00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:23,240 [Eagleman] Having gained international acclaim 555 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:25,760 as the singer with hits like Milkshake, 556 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:29,800 Kelis Roger's completely changed creative tact... 557 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:37,320 ...when she retrained as a chef. 558 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:41,120 [Kelis] You know, when I went to culinary school, 559 00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:42,440 I was already an adult, 560 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:45,800 and I had already put out huge records, 561 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,160 and here I was standing in a room 562 00:34:49,240 --> 00:34:52,960 of people who were striving for something, that felt cool. 563 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,840 And then it's really humbling, because I didn't excel here yet. 564 00:34:58,560 --> 00:34:59,920 [Eagleman] Changing direction 565 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,240 gave her a whole new creative challenge. 566 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:06,800 Music, you can tell me you don't like it, 567 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:08,640 but you can't tell me it's wrong. 568 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:10,800 Food is different. 569 00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:13,680 You can completely mess it up, 570 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,600 like it can be absolutely wrong. 571 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:19,160 It's beautiful. 572 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:22,560 So I think if you're able to step out 573 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:26,400 of what you're comfortable and what you know, 574 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:28,840 you would be shocked at what it will bring 575 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:31,400 to everything around you. 576 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:35,480 I never felt like I had to choose one thing 577 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:37,000 on anything. 578 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:44,240 [Eagleman] Walking away from our jobs isn't always possible... 579 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:49,920 but there are other ways we can try something new, 580 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:52,120 by learning a new skill. 581 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,400 [Myhrvold] The world rewards specialization, 582 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:00,880 but specialization comes at a cost. 583 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:04,960 You learn more and more about less and less 584 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:07,800 until you know everything about nothing. 585 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:11,560 [Eagleman] Not being bound by specialization 586 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:13,880 has allowed Nathan to make discoveries 587 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,360 in a wide variety of fields-- 588 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:18,400 physics... 589 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:20,440 energy, 590 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:22,800 and even cooking-- 591 00:36:23,240 --> 00:36:24,840 but he's the first to acknowledge 592 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:28,200 that learning new subjects is not easy. 593 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:31,920 [Myhrvold] Part of that learning is you have to be confused. 594 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:38,000 So, I'm very often frustrated and confused 595 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:41,160 and think of myself as being really stupid, 596 00:36:41,240 --> 00:36:43,800 because I'm not getting it. 597 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:45,000 I guess it kind of looks pretty on the inside. 598 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:49,720 To be creative, to think outside the proverbial box... 599 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:51,160 Getting close. 600 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:53,360 ...you have to be willing to be wrong. 601 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:55,800 Let's see what we have here. 602 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:57,640 You also have to be willing to be right 603 00:36:57,720 --> 00:36:59,680 and yet have everyone think you're wrong. 604 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:04,400 And so-- here we go. 605 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:13,480 [Eagleman] So, while forcing our brain 606 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:15,120 to try something new 607 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:17,360 can make us more creative, 608 00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:19,240 there is another facet of the brain 609 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:22,200 that can interfere with our creativity. 610 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:25,000 Our brains are novelty seekers. 611 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:27,640 They crave what's new and exciting, 612 00:37:27,720 --> 00:37:31,880 because what's old and familiar becomes less and less stimulating, 613 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:35,840 so creative ideas have to exist in a balance 614 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,360 between the familiar and the new 615 00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:43,280 which brings us to the second way we can become more creative. 616 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:47,320 We have to push boundaries. 617 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:49,400 [man over radio] The eagle has landed. 618 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:51,360 The challenge is, there's no easy way 619 00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:54,440 to tell exactly where that sweet spot lives, 620 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:56,680 because if you do something that's too boring, 621 00:37:56,760 --> 00:37:58,440 the world's gonna pass you by. 622 00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:00,360 And if you do something too crazy, 623 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:01,960 no one's gonna follow you there. 624 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:06,600 The trick is to explore the range of possibilities, 625 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:08,000 pushing boundaries everywhere 626 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:11,000 to figure out the limits of what works. 627 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:23,520 Pushing boundaries is something Nick Cave has done 628 00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:26,600 consistently during his 30-year career. 629 00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:32,000 As a musician who has won every major award 630 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:35,560 from Best New Album to Songwriter of the Year. 631 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:38,280 ♪ You fell from the sky ♪ 632 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:40,320 ♪ Crash landed in a field ♪ 633 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,000 ♪ Near the River Adur ♪ 634 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:44,160 [Cave] What I am genuinely pleased with 635 00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:46,520 is that we've continued to make records 636 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:49,640 that are dealing with-with different sorts of things 637 00:38:49,720 --> 00:38:51,840 and different styles of music, 638 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:55,320 um, and gone on all sorts of paths, 639 00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:58,240 where the audience has to really rethink 640 00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:01,200 whether they like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds all over again. 641 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:07,640 [Eagleman] Pushing audiences into new musical territory 642 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:10,640 is what keeps his music fresh. 643 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:13,440 [Cave] Our new record, the timing is terrible, 644 00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:16,920 it's out of tune, because it's basically improvised. 645 00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:20,280 For all its mistakes, 646 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:23,200 people responded to that, you know. 647 00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:26,800 Now, if we were to say, "Wow, that kind of thing 648 00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:28,960 about playing really out of time and all that sort of stuff, 649 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:32,120 the kids love it. Let's make another record like that," 650 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:34,160 it would be a disaster, 651 00:39:34,240 --> 00:39:38,920 and, um, the thing is we need to turn our back on that 652 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:40,000 and to go-go-- 653 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:42,520 just to go somewhere else. 654 00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:50,720 [Eagleman] And this need to go somewhere else, 655 00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:52,400 to push boundaries... 656 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:57,800 ...also defines the music of Claire Boushey. 657 00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:01,960 She's developed an alter-ego called Grimes 658 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:05,800 that allows her to push the limits of her creativity. 659 00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:10,280 ♪ I got in a fight ♪ 660 00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:11,960 ♪ I was indisposed ♪ 661 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:15,240 ♪ I was in despite All the wicked prose ♪ 662 00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:17,440 ♪ But I'm only a man ♪ 663 00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:21,280 Hey, I'm Grimes. I'm a musician and artist. 664 00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:23,560 Uh, that kind of sums it up. 665 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,720 ♪ B-E-H-A-V-E Arrest us ♪ 666 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,480 ♪ Italiana mobster Looking so precious ♪ 667 00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:36,600 [Grimes] I think whatever Grimes is, it's definitely not me, 668 00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:38,920 it's definitely something else, but it's kind of good, 669 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:40,640 because it's a vehicle for doing things 670 00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:42,800 that I feel uncomfortable doing. 671 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:48,400 Like, I think Claire wants to make, like, aggressive noise music 672 00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:50,200 and I think Grimes wants to make, like, pop, 673 00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:52,000 and I think, like, they can meet in the middle. 674 00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:57,600 [Eagleman] To discover what works, 675 00:40:57,680 --> 00:40:59,680 she's continually pushing the boundary 676 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:01,400 between the familiar... 677 00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:04,760 and the weird. 678 00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:08,480 [Grimes] To me, like, when I show people things they think it's weird, 679 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:10,480 it's just 'cause it's just something they're unfamiliar with, 680 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:11,720 which-- that is good, 681 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:13,600 if someone's like, "That's weird", I'm like, "Yes!", you know. 682 00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:15,120 'Cause it means they don't know it, 683 00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:16,400 they're unfamiliar with it, 684 00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:18,400 and that's always kind of what I'm trying to do. 685 00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:22,000 For me a lot of the time I'm trying to, like, 686 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:23,880 do something that feels wrong or feels bad, 687 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:26,160 because I know I'm pushing myself into a new direction. 688 00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:43,360 [Eagleman] Pushing at the boundaries of comfort is risky, 689 00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:46,960 but it can also be the most rewarding. 690 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:51,960 There's a-- there's a spectrum between things that are too familiar 691 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:54,160 and things that are too far out and wacky 692 00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:56,600 and there's sort of this-this border of the possible. 693 00:41:56,680 --> 00:41:59,160 So how do you know when you're near there? 694 00:41:59,240 --> 00:42:02,120 That's a good way to-to express that really. 695 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:05,640 There is a knife edge certainly that we're-we're moving on. 696 00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:10,400 The line that's really exciting is the shameful line, 697 00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:12,480 or the line like, "I really can't say that," 698 00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:16,440 or-or something that genuinely starts to make you feel uncomfortable. 699 00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:22,800 Writing a song is agonizing and excruciating, 700 00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:26,440 because you never know until the end, if it's any good. 701 00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:30,800 The amount of times I've written a lyric 702 00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:32,240 that I think is just the greatest thing, 703 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:33,480 and I take it into the studio, 704 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:35,440 and the whole thing falls in on itself, 705 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:37,400 and it never makes it as a song. 706 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:50,720 [Eagleman] Creating something can be agonizing and excruciating, 707 00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:52,800 because we risk failing... 708 00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:56,400 which takes us to the third way 709 00:42:56,520 --> 00:42:59,920 our brains can interfere with the creative process. 710 00:43:01,240 --> 00:43:04,480 Failure feels awful and so we often avoid it... 711 00:43:05,720 --> 00:43:07,760 but we need to do the opposite. 712 00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:14,960 Don't be afraid of failure. 713 00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:20,920 The reality is that most people's successes rise 714 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:24,400 out of the ashes of their previous failures. 715 00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:29,480 Someone who knows all about this is the co-creator 716 00:43:29,560 --> 00:43:32,400 of one of the most successful shows of all time... 717 00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:35,800 Game of Thrones. 718 00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:39,360 What is the role of failure in your creative process? 719 00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:44,840 Well, I failed very consistently for-for many, many years. 720 00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:47,560 The sort of the bedrock of my life process. 721 00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:52,120 If you subtract the air date of pilot of Games of Thrones 722 00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:55,200 from the day I graduated college and the number you get, 723 00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:58,280 that's the failure portion, for me. 724 00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:02,560 Sometime after college, it started to dawn on me 725 00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:06,760 that I saw myself as someone who did this thing, 726 00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:10,800 I saw myself as a writer, but I wasn't very good. 727 00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:13,800 And so that... that freaked me out, 728 00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:17,720 and I was very attached to the words that I wrote, 729 00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:19,800 because I wrote them. 730 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:21,520 It's like a part of me. If I don't like these, 731 00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:23,280 I-I don't like me. 732 00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:28,440 [Eagleman] For Dan, the key was to be less worried about failing. 733 00:44:28,960 --> 00:44:31,880 But I gradually slowly came to the realization 734 00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:35,720 that it doesn't really matter what you type into the computer 735 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:37,280 and they are words, 736 00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:40,800 and you can type new ones into the computer just as quickly. 737 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:42,600 All the failures contribute 738 00:44:42,720 --> 00:44:46,520 to your overall ability to do this thing. 739 00:44:47,760 --> 00:44:49,280 [Eagleman] And "to do this thing," 740 00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:54,240 it still involves a degree of failure when he's scriptwriting. 741 00:44:56,280 --> 00:44:58,760 And something that seemed great to you 742 00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:01,400 and that you were willing to go to the mattresses floor 743 00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:03,880 and really fight to protect, you'll read six weeks later and say, 744 00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:05,800 "What is this shit and who wrote it?' 745 00:45:05,880 --> 00:45:07,600 And then you'll, "Oh, yeah, that was me, I wrote it. 746 00:45:07,680 --> 00:45:11,400 Okay, well, that's terrible." And no one would ever say that. 747 00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:12,880 [Eagleman laughs] 748 00:45:19,560 --> 00:45:21,480 [Eagleman] So, to be more creative 749 00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:25,400 we need to try something new 750 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:28,960 and challenge ourselves to get off the path of least resistance. 751 00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:33,320 To push boundaries... 752 00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:39,520 to create something that's not too new or too familiar, 753 00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:42,800 but somewhere in between. 754 00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:43,640 [Myhrvold] 'Cause it kind of looks pretty on the inside. 755 00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:47,160 [Eagleman] We need to not be afraid to fail... 756 00:45:50,360 --> 00:45:55,120 and by doing that we can all learn to become more creative. 757 00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:07,600 [cat meowing] 758 00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:13,920 So, giving creativities importance 759 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:16,200 and our ability to cultivate it, 760 00:46:16,280 --> 00:46:19,880 shouldn't we all be taught to embrace it from the beginning? 761 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:25,840 Well, that's what they're doing here at this school in Vermont. 762 00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:32,000 Ten years ago, H. R. Wheeler was on the verge of being shut down, 763 00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:35,720 a school on the poor side of the tracks, it was failing. 764 00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:39,720 We had the lowest test scores, 765 00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:41,360 some of the lowest test scores in the state. 766 00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:43,480 They were talking about closing our school. 767 00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:48,560 [Eagleman] To save the school 768 00:46:48,640 --> 00:46:51,160 they came up with a radical new approach, 769 00:46:51,240 --> 00:46:56,480 to put creativity and the arts at the heart of every subject. 770 00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:00,160 [Riley] When can kids learn? When they're engaged, 771 00:47:00,240 --> 00:47:01,840 and when you focus on the arts 772 00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:04,160 and the process of the artistic experience, 773 00:47:04,240 --> 00:47:07,480 it allows children to blossom in very unique and special ways. 774 00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:10,320 So, what we're focusing on is the process 775 00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:13,240 of experiencing the arts or learning through the arts. 776 00:47:15,200 --> 00:47:17,240 [Eagleman] Take a subject like math. 777 00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:23,000 The children are learning geometry through the medium of abstract art. 778 00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:26,480 [man] Today, for Math, 779 00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:29,800 we're gonna start off with some visual thinking strategies? 780 00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:32,920 And when you do it in a greater arts unit, 781 00:47:33,160 --> 00:47:37,320 um, you're hitting on all those ways that kids learn differently. 782 00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:39,320 Um, you know some are more visual, 783 00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:42,200 some are more spacial, some are very cognitive. 784 00:47:42,880 --> 00:47:44,400 Mateus? 785 00:47:44,120 --> 00:47:47,400 It's not a realistic picture of like a person walking around. 786 00:47:47,480 --> 00:47:49,400 Right. What more can we find? 787 00:47:50,680 --> 00:47:54,400 You're hitting all those different avenues of learning that kids, 788 00:47:54,120 --> 00:47:57,320 uh, are able to, uh, access information. 789 00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:00,600 I noticed there's two shades of green, 790 00:48:00,680 --> 00:48:04,160 it's sort of darker toward, um, the bottom part. 791 00:48:04,240 --> 00:48:05,440 [Thibault] Great. 792 00:48:06,160 --> 00:48:08,440 Even though I had my art work up on the board, 793 00:48:08,520 --> 00:48:12,920 not a single kid created the same piece of art work, 794 00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:14,920 and that's what's beautiful about our world, 795 00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:17,400 and, uh, you know we need to do 796 00:48:17,120 --> 00:48:19,640 a better job of teaching kids about that. 797 00:48:19,720 --> 00:48:21,400 Here's what I recommend doing first, 798 00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:23,520 but then you guys are such amazing artists. 799 00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:25,560 [Eagleman] And it's not just math-- 800 00:48:25,640 --> 00:48:29,400 with creativity at the heart of every subject, 801 00:48:29,320 --> 00:48:32,640 the children are learning a creative mindset. 802 00:48:33,480 --> 00:48:36,000 [Thibault] Yeah. You're doing such a good job, buddy. 803 00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:37,400 When you're teaching through the arts, 804 00:48:37,480 --> 00:48:39,480 and the kids are really expanding their mind 805 00:48:39,560 --> 00:48:41,360 and really critically thinking about things, 806 00:48:41,440 --> 00:48:42,720 you're really pushing them. 807 00:48:42,800 --> 00:48:44,840 Let's do a quick minute, you can walk round 808 00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:47,320 and see where people are at, maybe you'll get an idea, 809 00:48:47,400 --> 00:48:49,160 maybe you'll see something you like. 810 00:48:49,680 --> 00:48:53,200 Go ahead... before we keep going on this. 811 00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:54,600 [Eagleman] They're being taught 812 00:48:54,680 --> 00:48:57,280 to get off the path of least resistance, 813 00:48:57,360 --> 00:49:01,280 to push boundaries and that it's OK if they fail. 814 00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:04,680 Remember, we're all taking a rest. We're all just trying. 815 00:49:05,840 --> 00:49:08,520 We all make mistakes, but that's how we learn, 816 00:49:09,480 --> 00:49:11,680 and you can't be afraid to take risks. 817 00:49:11,760 --> 00:49:14,120 What do you have to do to be able to join in? 818 00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:17,120 You have to-- I'm thinking of something specifically. Jacobi? 819 00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:18,600 [Jacobi] You have to try your best. 820 00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:21,000 You have to try your best, and you have to take risks? 821 00:49:21,800 --> 00:49:22,440 -[Jacobi] Yeah. -Exactly. 822 00:49:23,680 --> 00:49:25,800 [Riley] These fourth graders-- are they gonna remember 823 00:49:25,160 --> 00:49:27,320 what their test scores were when they were fourth graders? 824 00:49:28,200 --> 00:49:30,320 When they're adults, when they're our age? No. 825 00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:32,200 So, I want you just to take one minute 826 00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:34,680 to just look at what you see here. 827 00:49:34,760 --> 00:49:37,560 [Riley] Are they gonna remember the process 828 00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:40,160 that helped them develop their understanding of the world around them? 829 00:49:40,240 --> 00:49:43,400 Absolutely, and that's the part that, um-- 830 00:49:43,120 --> 00:49:45,360 that really allows them to grow as human beings-- 831 00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:47,760 the skills that are embedded in the artistic experiences 832 00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:50,960 are making them better people, more so than a standardized test 833 00:49:51,120 --> 00:49:53,440 or some sort of assessment in math or literacy will ever do. 834 00:49:54,120 --> 00:49:55,360 So, there is one... 835 00:49:56,200 --> 00:49:59,680 and I'm gonna put this one over here for now. 836 00:50:01,160 --> 00:50:04,000 [Eagleman] Empowered by this creative ethos, 837 00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:06,320 the transformation has been astonishing 838 00:50:06,400 --> 00:50:09,520 with improvements in test scores across the board. 839 00:50:10,880 --> 00:50:13,680 And in math, they've more than doubled. 840 00:50:14,600 --> 00:50:17,960 Now people wanna come here. We have a wait list of 80-90 kids, 841 00:50:18,400 --> 00:50:21,360 and they wanna be in our school because of what we're offering. 842 00:50:21,880 --> 00:50:24,200 [Thibault] I'm not gonna tell you how many angles. 843 00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:25,920 You guys are the artists. 844 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:29,800 [Riley] The arts is empowering all of them. 845 00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:32,000 It engages staff in a different way. 846 00:50:32,800 --> 00:50:33,840 It engages students in a different way, 847 00:50:33,920 --> 00:50:36,640 and it really changed our community in many positive ways. 848 00:50:38,480 --> 00:50:39,480 [Thibault] Awesome job. 849 00:50:51,400 --> 00:50:54,840 [Eagleman] Creativity belongs to all of us. 850 00:50:56,800 --> 00:51:00,160 It's the most potent transformative tool 851 00:51:00,240 --> 00:51:01,960 that we have at our disposal. 852 00:51:06,480 --> 00:51:08,880 It can change people's lives. 853 00:51:10,440 --> 00:51:12,440 It can transform the world... 854 00:51:14,680 --> 00:51:19,800 and we now live in an era of unparalleled creative potential. 855 00:51:24,560 --> 00:51:27,880 [Eagleman] We live in an explosion of creativity, 856 00:51:28,000 --> 00:51:29,960 and the pace is only accelerating. 857 00:51:30,400 --> 00:51:32,840 The jobs that will exist in 20 years from now, 858 00:51:32,920 --> 00:51:35,800 we don't even have names for those yet. 859 00:51:35,520 --> 00:51:39,600 To succeed in that future, we need to cultivate creativity 860 00:51:40,400 --> 00:51:41,440 to proliferate options, 861 00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:43,760 to get off the path of least resistance, 862 00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:47,160 to take risks, and in this way, 863 00:51:47,240 --> 00:51:51,320 we can take advantage of what it is to be a human, 864 00:51:51,400 --> 00:51:54,680 to drink in the world and produce something, 865 00:51:55,160 --> 00:51:59,000 anything, that has never existed before.