Jonah Lehrer on Genius

Jonah Lehrer will show how creativity is not a singular ‘gift’ possessed by the lucky few. It’s a variety of thought processes that we can all learn to use more effectively.

You have to be a certain type to be creative. And even among those with talent, there are very few real geniuses. The rest of us can only look on in awe. Or at least that’s what we’ve been taught.

Jonah Lehrer is here to break open that narrow thinking. He will show how creativity is not a singular ‘gift’ possessed by the lucky few. It’s a variety of thought processes that we can all learn to use more effectively.

He’ll uncover how we can do that by embracing the rut, thinking like a child, and daydreaming productively. And, in this exciting event that he won’t be repeating anywhere else, he’ll show us how we can experiment with his ideas for ourselves.

Along the way we’ll learn about Bob Dylan’s writing habits, why Elizabethan England experienced a creative explosion, and how Pixar designed its office space to get the most out of its talent.

We’ll leave more certain of our own deep inventiveness and equipped with strategies to deal creatively with the challenges of our increasingly complex world.

Jonah Lehrer is a leading thinker and acclaimed author with an expertise in neuroscience. He is Contributing Editor at Wired and writes the Head Case column for The Wall Street Journal. His books include How We Decide and Proust Was a Neuroscientist. At his sermon he’ll help us put into practice insights from his new book,Imagine: How Creativity Works (Canongate, 2012).

11.30 start, tickets £12.50