Inspired: Understanding Creativity: A Journey Through Art, Science, and the Soul
The New York Times's Pulitzer Prize-winning science reporter "unpacks the myths and mysteries of the creative process" (Salon).

How does creativity work? Where does inspiration come from? What are the secrets of our most revered creators? How can we maximize our creative potential?

Creativity defines the human experience. It sparks achievement and innovation in art, science, technology, business, sports, and virtually every activity. It has fueled human progress on a global level, but it equally is the source of profound personal satisfaction for individual creators. And yet the origins of creative inspiration and the methods by which great creators tap into it have long been a source of mystery, spoken of in esoteric terms, our rational understanding shrouded in complex jargon. Until now.

Inspired is a book about the science of creativity, distilling an explosion of exciting new research from across the world. Through narrative storytelling, Richtel marries these findings with timeless insight from some of the world’s great creators as he deconstructs the authentic nature of creativity, its biological and evolutionary origins, its deep connection to religion and spirituality, the way it bubbles in each of us, urgent and essential, waiting to be tapped.

Many of the questions Richtel addresses are practical: What are the traits of successful creators? Under which conditions does creativity thrive? How can we move past creative blocks? The ultimate message of Inspired is that creativity is more accessible than many might imagine, as necessary, beautiful, and fulfilling as any essential part of human nature.

Porchlight Business Book Award Winner (Innovation & Creativity)

"1139827359"
Inspired: Understanding Creativity: A Journey Through Art, Science, and the Soul
The New York Times's Pulitzer Prize-winning science reporter "unpacks the myths and mysteries of the creative process" (Salon).

How does creativity work? Where does inspiration come from? What are the secrets of our most revered creators? How can we maximize our creative potential?

Creativity defines the human experience. It sparks achievement and innovation in art, science, technology, business, sports, and virtually every activity. It has fueled human progress on a global level, but it equally is the source of profound personal satisfaction for individual creators. And yet the origins of creative inspiration and the methods by which great creators tap into it have long been a source of mystery, spoken of in esoteric terms, our rational understanding shrouded in complex jargon. Until now.

Inspired is a book about the science of creativity, distilling an explosion of exciting new research from across the world. Through narrative storytelling, Richtel marries these findings with timeless insight from some of the world’s great creators as he deconstructs the authentic nature of creativity, its biological and evolutionary origins, its deep connection to religion and spirituality, the way it bubbles in each of us, urgent and essential, waiting to be tapped.

Many of the questions Richtel addresses are practical: What are the traits of successful creators? Under which conditions does creativity thrive? How can we move past creative blocks? The ultimate message of Inspired is that creativity is more accessible than many might imagine, as necessary, beautiful, and fulfilling as any essential part of human nature.

Porchlight Business Book Award Winner (Innovation & Creativity)

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Inspired: Understanding Creativity: A Journey Through Art, Science, and the Soul

Inspired: Understanding Creativity: A Journey Through Art, Science, and the Soul

Inspired: Understanding Creativity: A Journey Through Art, Science, and the Soul

Inspired: Understanding Creativity: A Journey Through Art, Science, and the Soul

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Overview

The New York Times's Pulitzer Prize-winning science reporter "unpacks the myths and mysteries of the creative process" (Salon).

How does creativity work? Where does inspiration come from? What are the secrets of our most revered creators? How can we maximize our creative potential?

Creativity defines the human experience. It sparks achievement and innovation in art, science, technology, business, sports, and virtually every activity. It has fueled human progress on a global level, but it equally is the source of profound personal satisfaction for individual creators. And yet the origins of creative inspiration and the methods by which great creators tap into it have long been a source of mystery, spoken of in esoteric terms, our rational understanding shrouded in complex jargon. Until now.

Inspired is a book about the science of creativity, distilling an explosion of exciting new research from across the world. Through narrative storytelling, Richtel marries these findings with timeless insight from some of the world’s great creators as he deconstructs the authentic nature of creativity, its biological and evolutionary origins, its deep connection to religion and spirituality, the way it bubbles in each of us, urgent and essential, waiting to be tapped.

Many of the questions Richtel addresses are practical: What are the traits of successful creators? Under which conditions does creativity thrive? How can we move past creative blocks? The ultimate message of Inspired is that creativity is more accessible than many might imagine, as necessary, beautiful, and fulfilling as any essential part of human nature.

Porchlight Business Book Award Winner (Innovation & Creativity)


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9798200858651
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 04/19/2022
Product dimensions: 5.80(w) x 5.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Matt Richtel is a Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times technology journalist and a novelist. His first book, Hooked, was a critically acclaimed bestseller. His fiction, like his journalism, focuses on the impact of technology on how people live, behave, and love in the twenty-first century. He won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for his series on distracted driving. He lives in San Francisco with his family.


Jonathan Todd Ross is a writer and an Earphones and Audie Award–winning voice actor. He has lent his voice to numerous anime television shows, including Yu-Gi-Oh! and Sonic X.

Table of Contents

Author's Note xiii

Prologue 1

Book I From Cradle to Muse

Heresies 7

Leap of Faith 36

Doubt 51

Seeds of Doubt 68

Creator Takes Shape 88

Author Takes Shape 102

Rise of the Voice 121

Mind Wandering 143

Fear 156

Book II Laws of Nature

View from a Microbe 183

Parable of a Rock Star 201

Enter a Physicist 206

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to a Platinum Record 217

God 228

Pandemic 255

Nature's Call-and-Response 268

Book III Neurology, Physiology, Personality, Chronology, and (the New) Geography

The Brain 285

The Eyes Have It 307

Personality 328

The Coach and the Diamond Head 342

Age 360

Two Short War Stories: One Muse 368

Vocabulary: Four C's 381

Book IV Salvation

The Secret Ingredient 397

Don't Quit Your Day Job 406

Todd 416

Book V Creativity in the Time of Chaos

Two Steps Forward 421

The New Jerusalem 428

Inspired 435

Acknowledgments 443

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