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

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)

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.

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.

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.

When you lose your face..., it is like dropping your necklace down a well. The only way you can get it back is to fall in after it.

Believe it or not, one of the first poets I was aware of was Yeats. I recited 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' at a verse speaking competition when I was eight or nine.

The hardest part about acting is realizing it doesn't matter.

I can be described as many things, but no description of me is complete without saying 'Englishman.' My parents were from Liverpool and emigrated to Canada before I was born.

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A powerful attraction exists, therefore, to the promotion of a study and of duties of all others engrossing the time most completely, and which is less benefited than most others by any acquaintance with science.

Sagittarians are aliens disguised as humans

If someone is alone reading my poems, I hope it would be like reading someone's notebook. A record. Of a place, beauty, difficulty. A familiar daily struggle.

I've had to wean myself away to make sure that any choices I make are grounded in myself rather than the seeking of approval.

I've made a bit of a career taking daunting projects out of Lego. I've done things like a dinosaur skeleton and stuff like that.

The more we can grow on already cultivated land, the better.

I thought, I'm out in my life, that doesn't involve my public life.

Deciding to commit yourself to long term results rather than short term fixes is as important as any decision you'll make in your lifetime.

My thing is, I like to do things as long as they're relatively fluid or easy. Not to say that there isn't any effort involved in making something happen, but I don't like to push things or force things too much.

Music is like the soul of the planet.

My father never once told me he loved me. I told him I loved him only one time - that was when he was sick. It was hard, the way he showed his love. I didn't understand what he was trying to teach me. Now I know, but it came too late for him to see it. After he was gone, I realized he was trying to strengthen my mind to make me better.

No religion makes more use of color than Hinduism, with its blue-skinned gods and peony-lipped goddesses, and even the spring festival of Holi is focused on color: Boys squirt arcs of dyed water on passersby or dump powder, all violently hued, on their marks.

Reason enables us to get around in the world of ideas, but cannot prescribe our thoughts.

You have to continue to grow and evolve as individuals in order for your marriage to evolve. It takes two pillars to support a structure. If those two pillars become one, you have a structure that teeters.

If I were to say what I really think I would be arrested or shut away in a lunatic asylum. Come on, I am sure that it would be the same for everyone.

I quickly realized I had to have my own style and strategy and find my own way.

Who made these laws? That's what I want to know. So that's why I wear two crosses now. I call it double cross. I believe in God-not religion.

Wherever we play golf, people come out here to get autographs. They obviously come out to watch us play and see us in action, but they also want to interact with us.

Part of the reason I joined Joy Division was so that I really wouldn't have to grow up.