The Eureka Factor: AHA Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain

User Reviews

• Sonia Grunenwald
  1 June 2017 at 10:09 pm

  We have all heard the stories of Archimedes screaming “Eureka” after jumping out of the bathtub where he discovered his principle, and of Newton, who discovered gravity when an apple fell on his head. If we believe them, these scientist’s important discoveries happened in an instant, popping up in their brain. Such creative brainwaves are not solely attributed to famous scientists but to those in other fields as well, like Sir Paul McCartney, who is alleged to have once woken up in the middle of the night and composed the Beatles’ song “Yesterday”. Almost everyone has had such ‘a-ha’ moments. The Eureka factor explores how these creative sparks that we often refer to as “insights” happen, so that its readers can learn how to have more of them.

  The authors, John Kounios and Mark Beeman, propose a clear and catchy introduction to this concept. Since our world is facing increasingly complex and interconnected problems, creative insights are “desperately needed,” the authors claim. Understanding the nature of these insights and how the readers can create the frame of mind to favour their emergence are crucial questions that make the book a compelling read for young professionals wishing to develop more creative strategies in their fields. Its accessible style makes the advice provided relevant to anyone, including those without any prior knowledge of neuroscience or any grasp of the concept of insights.

  At the beginning of the book, the authors define these insights as a surprising recombination of elements that happens in an instant, and they identify four conductive phases. First, you think about the problem (immersion). Second, you are drawn out of the problem (diversion), but still think about it unconsciously, with your brain working on new connections between elements of the problem (incubation). And, finally, a new combination emerges, leading to an awareness of these creative insights (illumination). Despite the somewhat arbitrary nature of these definitions, they reflect the fact that scientists do not have a full understanding of this topic and have yet to reach a consensus on the matter. In any case, the definitions are a good enough approximation of what is happening in the brain for the book to achieve its purpose: giving readers a flavour of the origins of insights and helping us to have more of them.

  Next, the authors revisit the previous three stages from the point of view of a neuroscientist. While incubating, the right hemisphere of the brain—where each neuron has “expansive social circles”—is still working, increasing the odds of making a new creative connection. After that, right before the ‘a-ha’ moment, a burst of brain waves (called alpha waves) occurs on the right side at the back of the brain, corresponding to a smaller visual intake of the environment and allowing the connection to be spotted. Finally, the solution becomes conscious, due to a burst of electrical activity (gamma waves) in a part of the brain called the anterior superior temporal gyrus – an area known to be involved in making distant connections (e.g., understanding metaphors). This explains the “illumination” phase that arises suddenly.

  The deliberate choice made by the the authors to break down the mechanism into three simplified phases is quite an effective approach to aid the reader in grasping the concept. However, it may come across as being too simplistic to neuroscientists. Skimming superficially over so many themes may leave some readers somewhat dissatisfied with the level of details provided. Some may want to dig further to understand where the gamma waves come from and how they appear.

  In the third part of the book, the authors explain how each individual reader can increase the likelihood of having a creative insight for themselves. They detail several techniques. For example, a change of environment can increase the number of new stimuli and the amount of information entering our brains, helping us increase the number of possible connections to solve a given problem. Another method is simply sleeping, as this allows the mind to connect with memories. Wandering conscious and unconscious thoughts, as well as pre-existing connections, can then mingle and resurface. The authors recommend this approach as an efficient incubation technique.

  Despite its eloquent simplicity of style and structure, which allows the book to reach its goal, one of its main drawbacks is that it does not propose enough empirical evidence or references to support the proposed theories. As is often the case in neuroscience, the topic requires more research—such as direct links in neuroimaging, or experiments on a large sample of people—before the statements included in the book can be proven.

  Overall, the book presents a good introduction to creative insights that makes the reader more aware of what is happening in their brain. The diversity of tips and methods proposed to facilitate the occurrence of insights, despite some lack of empirical evidence, makes the reader excited about applying them to try and solve problems more creatively than analytically.