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Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

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Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#11

Post by k__ »

Tade0 wrote: post #8
k__ wrote: post #5

What boosts creativity? I sometimes used alcohol for song writing purposes. Are there healthier methods?

Poverty. My most recent creative streak was when I had to survive a month on 250CHF in Zürich.

Hm, I mostly stagnated depressively in front of the TV when I was poor.

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#13

Post by vsareto »

nscalf wrote: post #10
UtMan88 wrote: post #2

At Game Jams I would always start things off with my "2 beers, 2 coffees" method. After the theme was announced, we'd go out and discuss ideas over a few beers (just not enough to get trashed), then, come back, flesh stuff out, get our coffee and go back to work. Worked out pretty well for generating some pretty wild ideas while not making ourselves disfunctional. Drink responsibly.

Write drunk, edit buzzed, then?

Beer code tends to forget about edge cases in my experience, so yeah

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#15

Post by RichardHeart »

I think focusing your mind is like focusing a magnifying glass, you can go broad, or narrow, but not both. How far do you go down a path till you switch and try another? I think stimulants increase how far you'll remain engaged on one idea. Related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathfinding

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#16

Post by flyGuyOnTheSly »

Tade0 wrote: post #8
k__ wrote: post #5

What boosts creativity? I sometimes used alcohol for song writing purposes. Are there healthier methods?

Poverty. My most recent creative streak was when I had to survive a month on 250CHF in Zürich.

I always do my best programming when I am dead broke and the wolves are at the door.

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#17

Post by flycaliguy »

As a graphic designer my advice for people looking to convert a stimulant into divergent thinking fuel is building yourself a framework for developing creative ideas. Not exactly rocket science, but I do see where this article is coming from.

Lots of thumbnail drawings and constructive criticism from a teammate is the meat of it.

Also... be naturally good at divergent thinking I guess? I love working with people who are naturally divergent. They tell the funniest jokes.

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#18

Post by cinnamonheart »

k__ wrote: post #5

What boosts creativity? I sometimes used alcohol for song writing purposes. Are there healthier methods?

Cannabis, although I find it's easy to accidentally dive deep on something I didn't mean to on it -- I find combining it with coffee prevents me from getting too focused on one thing. YMMV.

Re: Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates

#19

Post by jermaustin1 »

k__ wrote: post #5

What boosts creativity? I sometimes used alcohol for song writing purposes. Are there healthier methods?

I'm no artist, but I've always felt creativity comes from dysfunction/chaos.

My wife (a psychologist) and I discuss this regularly around poetry, music, painting, etc. Some of the most "beautiful" works come from unhealthy emotional states. And that a lot of the sameness we get today in popular culture arises when art is cultivated by large organizations which are inherently are devoid of emotion, and are pushing populism instead of beauty.

You can see it very easily today in popular music. If you look back to the 1990s and the rise of alternative music, hundreds of one-hit-wonders, 8 different "Natalie"s, etc. And today where one-hit-wonders don't really exist anymore because Clear Channel has cultivated a sound and artists that don't conform that sound are not going to get airplay, and not have a run-away one-hit-wonder and fade back into obscurity and cult-fandom.

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