How the principles of biological innovation can help us overcome creative challenges in art, business, and science
In Life Finds a Way, biologist Andreas Wagner reveals the deep symmetry between innovation in biological evolution and human cultural creativity. Rarely is either a linear climb to perfection--instead, "progress" is typically marked by a sequence of peaks, plateaus, and pitfalls. For instance, in Picasso's forty-some iterations of Guernica, we see the same combination of small steps, incessant reshuffling, and large, almost reckless, leaps that characterize the way evolution transformed a dinosaur's grasping claw into a condor's soaring wing. By understanding these principles, we can also better realize our own creative potential to find new solutions to adversity.
Ultimately, Life Finds a Way offers a new framework for the nature of creativity, enabling us to better adapt, grow, and change in art, business, or science--that is, in life.
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Here is the scientific proof for why 'teaching to the test' for standardized testing is hurting our students and jeopardizing our future -- and what can be done about it. Creativity is a necessity not a luxury, says Andreas Wagner. In a tour of genetics, scientific breakthroughs and artistic peaks, he draws parallels to the human processes that generate leaps of progress: analogy-making and metaphor, among others. He makes the definitive case for embedding creative thinking in the classroom, if we are to see the survival of the fittest.
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Kerry Ruef, founder of The Private Eye Project