Are The Most Distracted People The Most Creative?
“Birds in the head and fly … where the windows are always open” says a beautiful song by Ismael Serrano. Have you ever been told that it seems that you are in the clouds and not with your feet on the ground? Then you may be part of a group: that of creative people.
People who are inattentive or wandering in their imaginations are often “branded” as unproductive, unintelligent, or unable to succeed. Since we are children, we are required to be focused on what the teacher and our parents say. When we grow up we punish ourselves if we spend more than 5 minutes thinking about the future or our dreams.
Did you know that history’s leading artists and scientists had “trouble” concentrating? We are talking about Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein, nothing less than very creative people.
This has been the subject of study at Harvard University for a long time. The conclusion they have reached is that having more than one idea hovering in our head at the same time helps us to understand certain phenomena more easily and quickly, as well as to have an immediate and valid response to our questions. questions.
“I get distracted by everything”
It may seem like the confession of a person who has attended therapy or is undergoing treatment to quit an addiction. Saving the distances, we usually think that being distracted is a bad thing, but in reality it is a reaction of the brain to rest, to stop doing a task that it does not like, to want to advance in other aspects, etc.
Those with the problem (or the ability) to be distracted even when a fly passes by, can now blame the neurons of the upper parietal lobe of the brain. That’s right, since apparently the more distraction there is in our life, the more gray matter we have.
One of the hypotheses being analyzed these days is that as the brain matures, some neurons and nerve connections are also destroyed. This process helps in the control of attention. Following this idea, those with more gray matter in the brain would be more distracted and “childish”.
It is also worth noting that we can have times of greater or lesser distraction due to new projects, anxiety, stress, fatigue or nerves. However, when a person is naturally distracted there is something that goes beyond a temporary blur. The same will always happen to you no matter what.
The unusual relationship between distraction and creativity
Although our culture and education urge us to always stay focused and focused, we cannot always do so. We are not robots or machines. Creativity is often coupled with distraction. How can this be possible?
According to a study, people who cannot keep their attention on a task have more “leaks” in the sensory filters. That is, the barriers that allow us to isolate ourselves from everything that happens around us when undertaking a particular task. They have the ability to detect nearby stimuli, but discard them to help us not be distracted.
Although it is true that these leaks affect the ability to concentrate, they also allow ideas to be put together and translated into a project, something key to being creative people. Distractions can come from all the places there have been and because they have and are related to each of the senses, especially hearing, sight and smell.
Have you ever been told that you have birds in your head or that you are on the moon? Congratulations then! It is a compliment and not a criticism, if you know how to take advantage of it. You are part of the creative people!
