Northwestern University News: The literary great Marcel Proust wore ear-stoppers because he was unable to filter out irrelevant noise -- and lined his bedroom with cork to attenuate sound.
Now new Northwestern University research suggests why the inability to shut out competing sensory information while focusing on the creative project at hand might have been so acute for geniuses such as Proust, Franz Kafka, Charles Darwin, Anton Chekhov and many others.
4 comments:
The more I think about this concept, the more it makes sense. While creativity is definitely born in your own mind, it's fostered by the environment. Sure, you may be able to pull an idea out of your brain, but you find more ideas by observing your surroundings, and in the case of this article, listening to the irrelevant sounds around you. However, there's something to be said for the benefits of silence. Too much extraneous noise can distract you from the task at hand. It all comes down to the type of work you're doing and whether or not it will benefit from the outside sounds. Music isn't going to aid the paper you're writing for a History of Russian Czars class, but it might aid you in figuring out how to approach a scheduling problem from a new angle. Or, it could be flip flopped. It really depends on your own personal working style, and I don't agree with the statement that creative people physically let in more background noise. I believe they use it to their advantage instead of actually using their ears to hear more.
Uh oh, I hope I'm creative, because I'm fairly certain that I'm decent at filtering out irrelevant sensory information. I actually prefer to work in a common area or group work environment because I find that the pressure of other people looking at me encourages me to work harder than if I work by myself in silence. I don't think I get distracted by other things happening around me even though I am around other people. That being said I do have a tendency to listen to music when working on certain tedious tasks. I'm not sure if that implies I am better or worse at filtering out noise. The music doesn't distract me, but I think I do it so I don't have to listen to the sounds around me. Hmm, definitely a confusing subject. Certainly I can see how an artist who is more apt to take in the environment and world around them can harness that to be more creative. Yet, I can also see how that blessing can be a curse if they have an inability to concentrate. Very interesting, indeed.
I didn't think about this until now, but whenever I have to write an essay or start a new project from scratch, I like to accomplish this task while sitting in the UC black chairs. I originally attributed this decision to the chairs' proximity to food, but now that I read this article, it might be me subconsciously trying to look for inspiration within the abundance of irrelevant noise in the UC. This might also be why I have trouble working in 33. Oftentimes I am working there alone, and I have a lot of trouble being creative when there is no one to work off of and bounce ideas with. I think this study reveals a lot about the subconscious decisions that people make. It's always interesting to see scientific reasons as to why I make some of the choices I do, especially when I don't even know why I make them. I'm very interested in reading more studies about creativity and maybe take some information from them to improve my own creative thinking.
Some of my best ideas come from when I am not trying to think about them. I can get distracted and randomly conjure something up that I think would be really cool then I can concentrate and perfect the idea. It is nice to see some scientific research behind what I have found for myself. I am really bad at filtering out other noises. As I sit here writing this comment I am also listening to Patrick Wilson tell Junior actors that it is OK if they don't get the part they want. Even though I am focusing on what I am writing I am also listening to him. Now, If I wasn’t writing about this I probably wouldn’t have even noticed that I was listening and writing at the same time. Does this mean I’m creative? I like to think I am but does this prove it? I don’t think so. I think the only way to prove creativity (which I think everyone has in some way or another) is by actions.
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