The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World

In my opinion, the title "The Runaway Species" doesn't do its book justice. At least the subtitle "How Human Creativity Remakes the World" is a better fit.

The beginning of this book discusses two types of creativity (Picasso painting one of his masterpieces and NASA saving the crew of Apollo 13) that seem wildly different but aren't. Eagleman states there are three ways we can creatively alter something: by "bending" or distorting it, by "breaking" it into components, and by "blending" it with something else. (I can attest to the latter, as I tend to throw several different ideas into a single story.) He lists several examples of each type of change. We can adapt to new things very quickly (witness how much we're tied to our smartphones), so the pleasure we find in getting something new fades. On the other hand, something too different from the status quo will be rejected by society. (The example given in the book was Beethoven's Grosse Fugue, which was the finale of a quartet. Contemporaries hated it so much Beethoven had to remove the fugue from the quartet and publish it separately. Luckily, society caught up with Beethoven, and we are able to listen to the Grosse Fugue today.) One of the reasons we change things so much is to seek the sweet spot between familiarity and novelty. This is a constantly moving target, which is why companies must continue to innovate even when they're currently very successful.

The second part of the book discusses how to cultivate a creative mentality. Part of this requires coming up with many different options, working in a variety of fields, and being able to accept failure. The final section deals with creativity in schools, in companies, and in the future.

Anyone interested in creativity will find this an interesting book to read. The hard part, as always, is implementing its ideas in daily life.