Insights: defining the problem First, start by defining the problem at hand. Keep reframing the problem until it's clear to you and the others working on it. The problem and the path to resolution should be rooted in research and user-validation.

The long-standing view in psychology is that positive emotions are conducive to creativity because they broaden the mind, whereas negative emotions are detrimental to creativity because they narrow one’s focus.

It’s true that attentional focus does have important effects on creative thinking

However, emerging research suggests that the positive vs. negative emotions distinction may not be the most important contrast for understanding attentional focus.

research conducted by psychologist Eddie Harmon-Jones and his colleagues suggests that the critical variable influencing one’s scope of attention is not emotional valence (positive vs. negative emotions) but motivational intensity, or how strongly you feel compelled to either approach or avoid something.

low motivational states facilitate the search for new goals to pursue, whereas high motivational states focus us on completing a specific goal.

Positive emotions low motivational intensity- e.g pleasant broadened the mind (measured by subjects making more holistic matches to a target stimulus)

high motivational intensity- e.g desire narrowed subjects’ scope of attention (subjects made more detail-oriented matches to a target stimulus)

negative emotions low motivational intensity- e.g sadness broadened attentional focus

high motivational intensity- e.g disgust a state of high motivational intensity for avoidance) narrowed focus.

If you want to keep an open mind and see the big picture, it’s probably best if you’re just in a pleasant (or even sad) mood.

If, however, you really need to buckle down and focus on making a new idea practical, high motivational intensity can be just the ticket.

Psychologists studying creativity have discovered that it is based on cognitive processes we all share. Creativity is not the result of some magic brain region that some people have and others don't.

creativity isn't limited to left-leaning designers, artists, and architects alone. Ideas and inspiration can (and should) come from everyone, regardless of their background.

Follow these steps and you'll find creativity can be achieved in just about any context.

Saturation: getting in the mindset Immerse yourself in whatever information is available, then dig deeper for more.

Incubation: letting it all sink in "thinking aside", as you're essentially putting your brain on the shelf and stepping away. By turning off your mind this way, you're allowing the information to set in and that subsequent spark of creativity the necessary room to ignite.

Illumination: the notable 'aha!' moment We know this as the "Aha!" moment that hits when we least expect it. Whether in the shower or in line at the grocery store, it's the unforeseen moment during which that thousand watt light bulb suddenly turns on and the solution seems clear.

Verification: remove any biasOnce you've hooked that brilliant idea, it's time to reel it in and conduct a close-up examination.

Armaments are necessary - or are maintained on the pretext of necessity - because of a real or an imagined danger of war.

An ideal society should be mobile, should be full of channels for conveying a change taking place in one part to other parts. In an ideal society, there should be many interests consciously communicated and shared.

Jokes are a lot about meaning. I think if we understand what jokes mean and why they work, we'd understand everything else. Genuinely I do.

Revenge is a way of life and definitely some thing that we identify with. We all feel cheated in some way about some thing and how nice it would be to do something about it. I mean ultimately it's not the most Christian of sentiments.

Contrary to common belief, Christian fiction did not begin with Catherine Marshall, Janette Oke, or Frank Peretti.

It has been wisely observed by the greatest of modern thinkers that mankind has progressed more rapidly in every other respect than in morality.

The early readers are in-between books for the kids who aren't ready for novels yet but are done with my picture books. It's really rewarding to think that they can grow up reading my books at all the different levels.

Is it possible to succeed without any act of betrayal

My first novel was rejected by some of the most eminent publishers in the world. Starting again was a real wrench.

Being under the microscope meant I was never given any slack. I still managed to screw up plenty in life, mind you, but in the things I really cared about - the legal work, or the stories I was telling as a writer, or the office I built in government - I wasn't left a lot of margin for error. It's kept me driven.

It's things I wouldn't normally do in my real life, so when I go to work and get to beat people up and shoot guns and get waterboarded, those are things I find completely interesting.

I'm sure there's a right way and there's a wrong way. The bottom line is you have to do what you think is right.

We need choices of government, just like we have choices of tables or chairs or cell phones or coffee.

What's the point of doing something good if nobody's watching.

I wear no makeup in real life. I'm very simple. That may be why I go over the top for the red carpet. But otherwise, I'm very plain. I should make more of an effort, actually.

We can choose between the future and the past, between reason and ignorance, between true compassion and mere ideology.

I have no interest in being wrong, so if I am, please correct me. I don't want to be wrong. There's nothing in it for you or for me to be wrong.

The Wreckoning is a darker song. But the record is positive.

Where the mind is past hope, the heart is past shame.

Many of the prophets of Jesus's time were thought to just be mad men, just sort of crazy people who were claiming to channel the divine. Perhaps that means we should be a little less judgmental of some of our own crazies talking about God on the corner. They might actually have found a pretty comfortable place in Jesus's time.

Almost all the early Christian Fathers were opposed to the death penalty, even though it was of course standard practice across the ancient world.

Eco sees the intellectual as an organizer of culture, someone who can run a magazine or a museum. An administrator, in fact. I think this is a melancholy situation for an intellectual.

I was the very first athlete in East Germany allowed to go professional.

As I've grown older, I've developed an appreciation for wines that are immediately gratifying but that can also provide great satisfaction over several years.