THE RUNAWAY SPECIES

How we create.

Composer Brandt (Music/Rice Univ.) and neuroscientist Eagleman (Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, 2011, etc.), the director of the Center for Science and Law, describe the tools and strategies responsible for the “runaway inventiveness of our species.” Unlike wild creatures, which operate largely on autopilot, humans usually avoid repetition, seeking novelty. And we achieve it, write the authors, by absorbing the best existing ideas and making then better: “Whether inventing an iPhone, manufacturing cars, or launching modern art, creators remodel what they inherit.” We do so by engaging in three basic strategies by which all ideas evolve: “bending, breaking and blending.” “We take the raw materials of experience and then bend, break and blend them to create new outcomes.” In a book astonishing for its simplicity in explaining the threads that link creativity in the arts, sciences, and technology, the authors combine text and images to show the “basic routines in the software of invention” at work. They offer innumerable examples of ways in which creators have processed the available past to produce new outcomes, from better smartphones to artistic interpretations of classic images. No matter what medium they work in, creative readers are likely to recognize immediately how breaking things into “workable chunks” or blending them into surprising combinations (such as sushi pizza) can foster creative outbursts. With the pleasing pace of an extended essay, the book offers surprises and insights at every turn, and the authors argue convincingly that basic strategies inform most creative behavior. The narrative is filled with tips on how to produce successful ideas: practice. Experiment. Have many ideas, and let most die. Do not commit to the first solution. Always generate options—a “cornerstone” of the creative process, as in Hemingway’s 47 endings to A Farewell to Arms.

Essential—and highly pleasurable—reading for anyone who cares about ideas and innovation.