The Mother of Invention: Studying the Roots of Creativity

Located in the valley of the Pinturas River tucked in an isolated spot of the Argentine Patagonia is Las Cueva de las Manos. 

These caves contain some of the earliest known forms of human art. 

Handprints framed in reds, purples, whites, yellows and blacks reach out across 10,000 years. 
The artists used different mineral pigments to make the prints, likely blowing them through bone made pipes.

The story of human creativity is unique. Some birds, like Victoria’s Riflebird, may demonstrate exceptional dancing skills when seeking a mate. Many animals; from octopuses to sea otters, gorillas to elephants, use tools to assist with getting food or navigate their surroundings.

But humans express creativity for a variety of reasons and through multiple evolving mediums.

To study creativity is to study an important aspect of our evolutionary history and potential.

The Mother of Invention

Creativity is often assumed to arise from necessity. The old adage is after all, “necessity is the mother of invention”. 

If we look at our primate relatives there is evidence of this, they mostly use tools to access food, with some gorillas using sticks to determine the depth of water.

But recent evidence indicates that while certainly some inventiveness is necessary in adaptability and dire circumstance, the truth is more complicated than the adage. 

In studies of orangutans¹ primatologist Carel van Schaik of the University of Zurich points out that, “When food is scarce, orangutans go into energy-saving mode. They minimize movement and focus on unappealing fall-back foods”.

This is the opposite of innovation, but it makes sense. “Trying something new can be risky—you can get injured or poisoned—and it requires a serious investment of time, energy and attention, while the outcome is always uncertain,” van Schaik explains.

Studies have also shown orangutans capable of more creativity in captivity:

“If food is provided for and predators are absent, they suddenly have a lot of time on their hands, free from such distractions,” van Schaik explains. 

Furthermore, in their highly controlled environments, exploration rarely has unpleasant consequences, and there are many unusual objects to play around with. Under such circumstances, orangutans appear to lose their usual fear of the unknown. 

As van Shaik puts it, “If you ask me, opportunity is the mother of invention”.

The Creative Brain

Moving from adages about creativity to classic dogma, you are likely familiar with the notion that the left brain is for analytics and logic while the right brain is for emotions and creativity.

But advances in neuroscience indicate that this view is far too simplistic. When thinking creatively fMRI data² shows the brain switching between the Default Mode and Central Executive networks. 

There are also studies linking creativity to the personality trait of openness. These demonstrate individual differences in openness are correlated with cortical thickness.³  

Artists and Mental Illness

There is an active cultural association, with some scientific backing, linking creativity and mental illness. Most often with artists. 

Neurologist Alice W. Flaherty’s book The Midnight Disease⁴ illuminates the role that mood disorders play in the lives of many writers. It draws on both her research and personal experience with postpartum mania. She is careful to note, “As I have mentioned, though, the people who are the most creative-or at least productive-are not the mentally ill but their close relatives”.

Such distinctions are important. There is a danger in romanticizing links between mental illness and creativity.

Even among artists with mental illness their greatest creative output rarely comes during periods of mania or depression but in the stable periods between. And experts express concern⁵ over patients potentially not taking their medicine out of a fear of losing their creative edge. 

How to be More Creative

1. Put away your phone. As mentioned in our piece on Raising Digital Natives, always holding a mobile device can amount to holding a leash for creative thinking. This is as true for adults as it is for children.
2. Allow yourself to be bored. Without distraction you will likely sit in the discomfort of boredom for awhile. Allow yourself to be in this place. You are far more likely to find creativity here than passively distracted.
3. Do something creative daily.
4. Allow yourself to be bad at it. It doesn’t have to be “good” what is most important that you do it.
5. Seek novelty. Occasional breaks in routine can lead to inspiration.

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Sources

1. Where Creativity Comes From By Tim Vernimmen
2. The Circuitry of Creativity By Alison Koontz
3. Structural correlates of Openness and Intellect: Implications for the contribution of personality to creativity.
4. The Midnight Disease, by Alice W. Flaherty
5. Creativity in Bipolar Disorder: Fabulous or Fatal? By Michael G. Pipich MS, LMFT
6. Featured photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash