{"id":4269783,"date":"2021-04-01T13:12:17","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T11:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deptagency.com\/insight\/why-youre-creative-and-your-mom-isnt\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T13:43:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T11:43:12","slug":"why-youre-creative-and-your-mom-isnt","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.deptagency.com\/en-au\/insight\/why-youre-creative-and-your-mom-isnt\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you\u2019re creative (and your mom isn\u2019t)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\n\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tBack to all articles\t\t<\/span>\n\t\n<\/button>\n\t\tWhy you\u2019re creative (and your mom isn\u2019t)\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\n\t<\/div>
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\tEver since your first drawing was proudly displayed on the refrigerator door, you are the most creative person on the planet. According to your mom, that is. She always knew you would become the creative professional that you are today. And it\u2019s not just your mother. Others also admire your creativity: \u201cIf only I were that creative.\u201d Meanwhile, you\u2019ll probably think \u2018well guys, I\u2019m not that creative\u2019. But what is \u2018creativity\u2019 exactly? And what makes you more creative than others? It\u2019s time for answers.\t<\/h2>\n\n\n\t\tCreativity: is it a mystical power that\u2019s in the air? A power that some merely \u2018tap into\u2019 and use to do amazing things with, whereas others aren\u2019t able to access it at all? No. That\u2019s the Force \u2013 a completely different story. Luckily for us, creativity is more down to earth than you might expect and well-researched by science. An answer should be obvious.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tSo, what is creativity then?\t<\/h2>\n\n\n\t\tWhoever opens up the dictionary to look up \u2018creativity\u2019, will probably find something like \u2018using imagination to create\u2019. Congratulations, the dictionary almost makes you sound like a god-like figure. The scientific definition of creativity offers a bit more nuance: ideas have to tick three boxes to be deemed \u2018creative\u2019.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tThe very first box \u2013 which is quite obvious \u2013 is that something has to be \u2018new\u2019. Something you\u2019ve never seen before is by definition \u2018creative\u2019, right? Not necessarily. For instance, we have this great, new idea: what if every employee was to get a giraffe as their salary from now on? This must be creativity in its prime, right? Although some might actually enjoy owning a giraffe, dragging one along with you wherever you go isn\u2019t very practical; Management if you happen to like this idea, I consider myself more of an \u2018emu-person.\u2019 The mere fact that an idea is new, does not make it desirable.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tThis brings us to the second condition of creativity. Your new idea needs to have added value. And please interpret \u2018added value\u2019 in a very broad sense. It could mean that you designed a website that\u2019s very user-friendly, you\u2019ve enjoyed looking at an exquisite piece of art or you\u2019ve created a hilarious Facebook post that went viral. \u2018Value\u2019 is a subjective term.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tNow, whereas \u2018new\u2019 and \u2018valuable\u2019 are like the salt and pepper of creativity, we still need the main ingredients: ideas. Even though the dictionary may think you\u2019re god-like, we simple human beings are unable to create something entirely new. Just try, for instance, to come up with an entirely new colour out of the blue (pun intended). It\u2019s impossible. You can only create something new if it\u2019s being linked to something you\u2019ve seen, felt, heard or experienced before. Without this third component, your creativity gets nowhere.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tIn the mix of these three components lies the secret to your creativity. You are able to pick several existing ideas, only to reshape and merge them into a new, valuable idea. From the numerous pieces of the puzzle in your brain, you have a talent in picking the right ones. In the end, you\u2019re not god-like after all, but more like a talented puzzler. But why \u2013 of all people \u2013 are you better at it than others? Well, thank your brain for that.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tGrey, yet creative.\t<\/h2>\n\n\n\t\tYou\u2019ve probably heard someone say: \u201cOh my gawd, according to this online test I am a person with a dominant left brain, so that makes me \u2013 like \u2013 super creative, you know.\u201d Wrong. The notion that you\u2019re either left or right brain dominant is a myth. Your brain is such a complex organ that it uses many different areas across both halves simultaneously. However, three things differ in the brain of the Homo-Creativus (not an official term, but I think that it has a nice ring to it).\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tFirst of all, a creative person\u2019s brain possesses more cells (a.k.a. grey matter) in those areas associated with creativity. On top of that, the connections between these areas, the so-called synapses or white matter, are stronger than those in the brains of lesser-creative people. In other words, you have more computational power in the creative hot spots of the brain and information is more easily transmitted between these areas. Congratulations with your brain, you.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tBut it\u2019s not just your \u2018hardware\u2019 that\u2019s different, your internal \u2018software\u2019 also differs from that of non-creatives. Everyone has two dominant networks in their brains: brain areas that are strongly connected and often cooperate. The first network is your \u2018default network\u2019. This network makes sure that when you\u2019re driving, you don\u2019t have to actively think about shifting gears (unless you\u2019re American), you don\u2019t forget that you have to suck in some air every now and then, and \u2013 most importantly \u2013 that you mindlessly walk to the coffee machine every morning. The other network is the \u2018salience network\u2019. It\u2019s this network that you use for more intensive tasks like calculations or important discussions like why Burger King is superior to McDonald\u2019s.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tAs a creative you tend to use these networks in a different way. In the brains of \u2018normal\u2019 people, just one of these networks is active at a time. But not in yours, you creative mastermind. Sometimes both your networks are active at the same time. The consequence of this is that while you are daydreaming (default network), you are simultaneously able to judge the value of potentially creative daydreams (salience network). It also means that you\u2019re easily distracted. For example, when you\u2019re in a conversation with your loved one, who apparently, has asked you a question. And now you have to respond without knowing the question. Luckily, you still have your giraffe. He won\u2019t judge you.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tBut wait, there\u2019s more! The third difference of the creative brain lies in the \u2018thalamus\u2019. Imagine your thalamus as the Project Manager of your brain. This brain-PM determines what you consciously register and what not. For instance, your thalamus decides that it\u2019s not worth to pay attention to a conversation that\u2019s happening in a distance. However, if your colleague asks you a question, then you\u2019re all ears all of the sudden (at least, that would be greatly appreciated by said colleagues). So what makes the \u2018creative\u2019 thalamus any different? Well, it simply filters fewer signals and let\u2019s more input through. You basically have a lazy PM in your brain. Luckily, this also means you have more ideas entering your brain. And these are, of course, the raw materials you forge into brilliant, new, valuable concepts!\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\u2026and your mom?\t<\/h2>\n\n\n\t\tWell, she\u2019s probably hasn\u2019t got all those things. She\u2019s got a thalamus that doesn\u2019t allow extra \u2018noise\u2019 to pass through, she has two well behaved neural networks that wait to take turns \u00e1nd she might have more grey matter in the brain areas needed to write embarrassing Facebook comments underneath your profile picture. And your drawings? Those probably activated her brain areas responsible for motherly love. I don\u2019t know your mom, though, so feel free to fill in any other person that fits this description. Be creative with it, I\u2019d say.\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t