Choosing to Be Creative

"Generative AI is pretty effective at imitating the cognitive abilities of people, but no one would claim that ChatGPT gets angry, or that an AI could be "self-critical" or have a " growth mindset." People's brains do more than just think. We're emotionally rich. We can reflect on our actions; we have attitudes, experiences, and moods. For example, researchers know that being in the flow state of peak experience is associated with greater creativity."

"Creativity research is good at understanding what psychologists call the "cognitive" aspects of creativity-coming up with ideas, combining and developing concepts, and thinking through problems in rational ways. But creativity researchers tend to neglect another very important part of the human experience: emotions, attitudes, and mindsets."

"There are plenty of creativity books about the cognitive side of creativity, including my book Explaining Creativity. Along with these books, we now have an exciting new book that adds to the cognitive approach by focusing on the emotions and mindsets of creativity. Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle is a Senior Research Scientist at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. She's just published The Creativity Choice: The Science of Making Decisions to Turn Ideas into Action. I loved the book, so I invited her to join me for an interview."

Creativity research explains cognitive aspects like idea generation, concept combination, and rational problem solving, but often overlooks emotions, attitudes, and mindsets. Generative AI can imitate cognitive abilities but lacks emotions, self-criticism, and a growth mindset. Human creativity is shaped by emotional richness, reflective capacity, moods, and flow states, which correlate with increased creative output. Creative self-beliefs boost creative performance. Different moods support different creative tasks, from brainstorming to critique. Managing emotions, cultivating persistence through setbacks, and choosing adaptive mindsets improve the likelihood that ideas move from conception to action.

Read at Psychology Today