Scott Barry Kaufman - Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind

Advance Praise for Wired to Create

Wired to Create is an empowering manifesto for creative people. Endlessly relatable and chock-full of wisdom, Kaufman and Gregoires study of the creative personality will have you saying over and over again, This is Me!

Susan Cain, Quiet Revolution cofounder and New York Times bestselling author of Quiet

With cutting-edge science and timeless wisdom, Carolyn Gregoire and Scott Barry Kaufman shine a light on the habits, practices, and techniques that can help us tap into our deepest creativity.

Arianna Huffington, New York Times bestselling author of Thrive

Scott Barry Kaufman has just written the go-to book on creativity and genius. He puts together the newest scientific findings from the brain, from mental life, and from the messy world of emotion to whiz us to the cutting edge of the highest human accomplishments.

Martin Seligman, director of the Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania

There are numerous books telling readers what they can do to become more creative. For the most part, the suggestions are made up: They have no basis in scientific fact. This book is unusual and perhaps unique not only in explaining what creativity is but also in showing scientifically how people can unlock and develop their creative talents. If you are interested in unleashing your own creativity, you will want to read this book!

Robert J. Sternberg, professor of human development, Cornell University, and author of Successful Intelligence

Wired to Create is an exquisite tour through the science of that most prized but often frustratingly ineffable quality: creativity. By weaving research through portraits of the lives of great creators, Kaufman and Gregoire bring creativity into our grasp, and provide a rubric for how each of us can have more of it in our lives.

David Epstein, New York Times bestselling author of The Sports Gene

Through science and storytelling, Kaufman and Gregoire reveal the inner workings of the creative mind. It all adds up to a fascinating and instructive read.

Robert Greene, New York Times bestselling author of Mastery

One of my favorite thinkers and one of my favorite writers came together to write a book about one of my favorite topics: creativity. There is so much here, start now.

Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle Is the Way

At last there is a book on creativity that is accessible, engaging, and highly readable that does not sacrifice scientific rigor in the name of communication. Filled with stories and anecdotes, this is a must read.

James C. Kaufman, author of Creativity 101

A lively, intimate glimpse into the creative mind from one of the most creative psychologists I know. Dont miss it.

Angela Duckworth, professor of pyschology at the University of Pennsylvania, cofounder and scientific director of the Character Lab, and 2013 MacArthur Fellow

Wired to Create is the state of the science on the personalities behind innovative ideas. It cleans up the messy minds of creative people.

Adam Grant, Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take

Wired to Create looks to be the place to go for a highly synthetic, readable account of personal creativity and the psychological behaviors known to support it. Understanding our messy minds, as Kaufman and Gregoire help us do, may very well be the first step to enhancing creative potentialin ourselves and in our children.

Michele Root-Bernstein, author of Inventing Imaginary Worlds and coauthor of Sparks of Genius

This book will create a shift in the approach to creativity, how it is fostered in childhood and continued throughout our lives. It is a fascinating read and an important scientific contribution on how creative people use the whole brain, and find ways to deal with the joy and struggles of living creatively.

Bo Stjerne Thomsen, PhD, director of research and learning, the LEGO Foundation

The mysteries of creativity have been unearthed by two eminent thinkers. Readers will be rewarded with cutting-edge science, great stories, and new insights into the multiple roads that lead to one of the most valuable human endeavors.

Dr. Todd B. Kashdan, professor of psychology at George Mason University and author of The Upside of Your Dark Side

More than ever we need creativity in our lives and to answer the pressing challenges of our times. Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire paint a brilliant portrait of the many faces of creativity: a fusion of seemingly contradictory mental states that can be limpid and messy, wise and crazy, exhilarating and painful, spontaneous and yet arising from sustained training. Fascinating all the way.

Matthieu Ricard, humanitarian and Buddhist monk and author of Altruism

Wired to Create is both broadly entertaining and deeply informative. Few books on creativity integrate the two so well!

Dean Keith Simonton, editor of The Wiley Handbook of Genius

Scott Barry Kaufman is the leading researcher who Im watching for the next paradigm on how the creative mind works. This very well-crafted book, written with Carolyn Gregoire, lays the foundation.

Peter Sims, cofounder and president of Silicon Guild Inc. and author of Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries

This book brings a very fresh perspective to a field that has, inexplicably, been struggling to create new ideas for several decades. With scientifically based research on imagination, daydreaming, intuition, and mindfulness, it opens up new avenues of thinking about this critical human capacity. It is a must read for both scientists and anyone else interested in the inner world of creativity.

Rex E. Jung, PhD, editor of the forthcoming Cambridge Handbook of the Neuroscience of Creativity

Groundbreaking creativity scholar Scott Barry Kaufman and talented science journalist Carolyn Gregoire shed light on one of the most mysterious phenomena of the human psyche: creativity. Wired to Create is a page-turner that masterfully blends cutting-edge research with historic and contemporary real-world examples of artists and geniuses, inspiring the reader to get in touch with her own inventive spirit.

Emma Seppl, PhD, author of The Happiness Track: How to Apply the Science of Happiness to Accelerate Your Success and science director of the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education

PERIGEE

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375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

Copyright 2015 by Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire

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eBook ISBN 978-0-698-19125-9

First edition: December 2015

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