Literally Touching Greatness Can Increase Your Creativity

Pacific Standard:

Do you wish you were more creative? Would it help if you played Mozart’s piano, sat down at Dickens’ writing desk, or switched on Steve Jobs’ laptop?

If you’re the sort of logic-driven person who answered “Of course not,” then, no, it wouldn’t. But if your way of processing information is more intuitive, it just might.

That’s the implication of newly published research, which finds handling an object previously used by a highly innovative person can boost the creative output of some individuals, apparently by elevating their confidence level.

“This is the first paper to show that specific abilities can transfer through contagion,” write Thomas Kramer of the University of South Carolina and Lauren Block of the City University of New York. Their work is published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

Read the whole story: Pacific Standard