2. 考研
  3. Where do good ideas come from? For centuries, all credit for these mysterious gifts went to faith, fortune and some fair muses.

Where do good ideas come from? For centuries, all credit for these mysterious gifts went to faith, fortune and some fair muses.

admin2013-06-26  53
问题     Where do good ideas come from? For centuries, all credit for these mysterious gifts went to faith, fortune and some fair muses. But to assume creativity is some lofty trait enjoyed by the few is both foolish and unproductive, argues Jonah Lehrer in "Imagine" , a smart new book about "how creativity works". Drawing from a wide array of scientific and sociological research—and everything from the poetry of W. H. Auden to the films of Pixar—he makes a convincing case that innovation cannot only be studied and measured, but also nurtured and encouraged.
    Just outside St Paul, Minnesota, sits the corporate headquarters of 3M. The company sells more than 55,000 products, from streetlights to computer touch-screens, and is ranked as the third-most innovative in the world. But when Mr. Lehrer visits, he finds employees engaged in all sorts of frivolous activities, such as playing pinball and wandering about the campus. These workers are actually pushed to take regular breaks, as time away from a problem can help spark a moment of insight. This is because interrupting work with a relaxing activity lets the mind turn inward, where it can subconsciously puzzle over subtle meanings and connections. "That’s why so many insights happen during warm showers," says Joydeep Bhattacharya, a psychologist at Goldsmiths, University of London.
    But this is just one reason for 3M’s creative output. The company also encourages its employees to take risks, not only by spending masses on research (nearly 8% of gross revenue), but also by expecting workers to spend around 15% of their time pursuing speculative ideas. Most of these efforts will fail, but some will generate real profit for the company. The reason why this approach works—and why it has been imitated by other crafty companies such as Google—is because many breakthroughs come when people venture beyond their area of expertise.
    This is why young people tend to be the most innovative thinkers in nearly any field, from physics to music. The ignorance of youth "comes with creative advantages," writes Mr. Lehrer, as the young are less Jill by custom and experience. Still, he reassures readers that anyone can stay creative as long as he works "to maintain the perspective of the outsider". This can be done by considering new problems at work, travelling to new countries or simply spending more time staring " at things we don’t fully understand. "
    This is an inspiring and engaging book that reveals creativity as less a sign of rare genius than a natural human potential. Mr. Lehrer points to William Shakespeare, for example, as someone who was largely a man of his time; the culture of Elizabethan London nurtured quite a few poets—much like ancient Athens gave rise to a glut of thinkers and Renaissance Florence inspired many fine artists. Shakespeare knew his way with a pen, but he also lived in a culture that put a premium on ideas, spread education, introduced new patents for inventions and did not always rigorously enforce censorship laws.
    Mr. Lehrer concludes with a call for better policy to "increase our collective creativity". He suggests allowing more immigration, inviting more risk and enabling more cultural borrowing and adaptation. He also warns that the work demands a lot of time, sweat and gut. Or as Albert Einstein put it: "creativity is the residue of time wasted. "
It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that______is necessary for sparking a moment of insight.
选项 A、constant distraction
B、long time of concentration
C、subconscious meditation
D、relaxing mood
答案C
解析 文章第二段以3M公司为例，介绍了约拿.莱勒关于创造力的第一个观点。当莱勒访问3M公司时，发现公司的员工都在做一些看似与公司不相关的工作，例如打弹球或者四处闲晃。原来3M公司规定员工在工作几个小时后就必须起身休息一下，以激发他们的想象力。这是因为在专心工作一段时间后放松一下能够让大脑进入内省状态，而此时大脑往往能够在无意识中思考一些难以理解的含义或者难以察觉的关联(This is because interrupting work with a relaxing activity lets the mind turn inward，where it can subconsciously puzzle over subtle meanings and connections)。由这几句话，我们可以判断灵感往往不是在大脑专心致志地工作的时候产生的，[B]错误，而是在潜意识的思考过程中产生的。[A]constant distraction．是对regular breaks的曲解。[D]具有一定的迷惑性，文中指出当人们暂时放下手头的工作，参与一些relaxing activity的时候，容易产生灵感。心情放松只是为了让大脑暂时进入无意识思考状态，因此潜意识思考过程是激发灵感的必备条件，[C]正确，而[D]错误。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/LFsRFFFM
0

考研英语一

相关试题推荐
随机试题
最新回复(0)