How to Throw the Right Kind of Party

Productivity, creativity, and building rely on the spaces people choose to gather in and the people they gather with. Finding real-world social spaces is becoming harder due to technology, economic pressure, and shifting demographics and social norms. Creativity is shaped by how environments are perceived. The solitary-genius model is challenged by the idea that group settings can support creativity. Parties can help synchronize brain waves, encourage serendipitous relationships, and make happy accidents more likely. Creating intentional social spaces is presented as work that can strengthen society and support pro-human thinking in an AI era.

"Our productivity, creativity, and ability to build are uniquely supported by the spaces we choose to gather in and the people we gather with. And yet, it's getting harder to find spaces worth leaving our screens for. This is partially a consequence of tech advances, partially a function of a difficult economy, and partially exacerbated by changing demographics and social norms. It's not easy to willfully and intentionally create physical, real-world social spaces that nurture the best of what's in us. But it's work that can make or break our society."

"Creativity is partially defined as an act arising out of a perception of the environment. Throwing the right kind of party is not that interesting to those who idealize the trope of the solitary genius, a group that has dominated creativity research for far too long. They urge us to create alone, showing findings that suggest individual ideation is superior to ideati"

"When people ask me for a one-sentence prescription found in the book that can most easily help steer them to a more pro-human direction, I always advise them to "throw the right kind of parties.""

"Parties can sync brain waves, trigger serendipitous relationships, and allow happy accidents to happen."

Read at Psychology Today